The Hindu Business Line : GM may set up product development centre in India

Mr Lawrence D Burns (left), Vice-President, Research & Development and Strategic Planning, General Motors and Mr Alan Taub, Executive Director, at a press conference in Bangalore on Tuesday. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Dec. 13

THE world's largest carmaker, General Motors, expects to set up a full product development centre in the country, which includes a car design centre and a test track.

"We really can't say how soon it will be because it is entirely dependent on the sales of GM cars in the country," an official with General Motors told Business Line. GM's India Science Centre near Bangalore, where the product development centre is expected to come up, is already scaling up its operations. While the engineering division which is part of the centre, will see the strength going up to around 500 from 300, the R & D division will add another 25 employees to its current staff of 75 by 2006 end. The India Science Centre, set up two years ago, and the youngest among 12 such centres worldwide, has already filed 20 records of invention with the parent organisation which will now be presented for getting patents.

"The foundation has been laid. The India centre is on track and it can be scaled up to become a full product development centre," the official said. Quoting the China operations as an example, the official said in China where General Motors sells around 7 lakh annually and exports 10 lakh cars, the carmaker is building a test track at its research centre, which will be the largest in Asia. "The China centre is five years ahead of India and the scale justifies the expansion of the operations there," he said.

He said once the scale of operations goes up, it will justify the need to have a full product development centre in India. "The scale of operations will allow us to start designing cars for the Indian market," he said. For example, the India centre has already carried out some work on its multiorts utility vehicle Tavera, which is sold in India. General Motors already has a small test track at its plant in Halol.

The official said more work is being given to the India centre, particularly the engineering division. It will start work on human body modelling for the crash tests which will replace dummies. "Now we will have virtual human body model for carrying out crash tests," he said.

General Motors had earmarked $20 million for the India Science Centre during the first phase, but Mr Lawerence D Burns, the Vice-President for R & D and strategic planning, told a press conference that the entire amount had already been invested. "We are a bit ahead of the investment we had earmarked for the centre," Mr Burns said.