I found it remarkable that at a recent Barron’s roundtable discussion in New York where a number of prominent strategists and portfolio managers had gathered, India—the world’s second-most populous country, with more than a billion people and an economy that is growing at around 8% per annum—wasn’t mentioned once. In the year to March 2009, India added 125 million mobile phone subscribers! And whereas Indian auto sales are tiny compared to China’s vehicle sales (running currently at an annual rate of over 12 million units and up over 90% year on year), they are nevertheless up 39% year on year, with an annual rate of 1.6 million sales.
India’s middle class is estimated at 170 million (half the population of the US), and the country has one of the lowest vehicle-penetration rates in the world. Given that India also has one of the youngest populations—half of its 1.1 billion-plus people are less than 25 years old, compared to 42% in Brazil, 36% in China, and less than 30% in the developed nations—car sales will undoubtedly continue to soar in the next few years. In this respect, we should also take into account that India’s population will continue to grow rapidly and will exceed China’s population before 2030.
- Dr. Marc Faber
www.gloomboomdoom.com
http://online.barrons.com
Spot on.
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