In the wake of acquisition of major luxury brands-Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors and major global players setting up production centers here, India is all set to emerge as a major player in the global auto market, according to a study by Scotia bank of Canada.

According the study reports, Brazil, Russia, India and China will soon emerge as top auto producers and replace North America from the number one position. As per the study, these four nations will also be called “BRIC” nations which are expected to produce 20 million vehicles in 2008. North America consisting of USA and Canada is expected to produce 17.4 million vehicles during the same period, the study says.

The Scotia Bank study points out that North Americas auto industry’s production has already come down by 2 million units from the 19.6 million units’ peak in 2002. The fall reflects the closure or shift in production to BRIC nations.

The study notes that India produced 600,000 units in 2000 including luxury cars, small cars, SUVs and sedan. The turnout was 1.2 million in 2007. As the sales of small cars, hatchbacks, compact cars and sedans is soaring, major global auto players like Nissan, Ford and GM are setting up their plants there, giving indication that India is fast emerging as a big player on the world auto market.

The Canadian study also points out that there has been sharp rise in car sales in Brazil and China and the fall in demand in United States. There has been a 30 percent sales surge in Brazil and 20 percent in China that fueled the rise in global car sales. At the same time there is a slump in car sales in US leading to cut in second -quarter production plans in US.