The Hindu Business Line : GM to base new cars on its global platforms

The General Motors India President and Managing Director, Mr Karl Slym, told Business Line that in future not all models in India will be based on the Daewoo platform.

“Some of them will remain, some of them will go,” Mr Slym said. He pointed out that the India Engineering Centre of General Motors had started supporting these global platforms.

GM DAT or General Motors Daewoo Auto & Technology based out of South Korea produces about 1.75 million vehicles every year and 90 per cent of that is exported.

“What is important to note is that in future you cannot say that a particular model came from a particular country. Our vision is that the Indian operations becomes a key wheel in the General Motors’ machine,” Mr Slym said.

Options for Spark

Mr Slym said General Motors might launch several variants of its Chevrolet Spark and one of them could be powered with sub-1 lt engine. “We might come out with various options. We want to be a strong player in the volumes’ game,” he said.

He said once the needs of the domestic market are met, General Motors could look at exporting models which are volumes-driven.

Sales target

General Motors India has set itself a sales target of 200,000 units by 2010. Its existing plant in Halol can produce 85,000 cars while the new plant in Talegaon in Maharashtra has the capacity to produce about 3 lakh units in two phases.

General Motors has invested about $300 million for setting up the Talegaon plant. The local content in its models ranges between 50 per cent and 95 per cent.

Sourcing strategy

Mr Slym said currently General Motors purchases about $330 million worth of components from Indian auto parts’ manufacturers which is set to increase to about $1 billion in another couple of years.

He said the suppliers’ optimisation team in India was working closely with the auto parts’ makers to increase their role in the company’s global sourcing strategy.

General Motors plans to increase the number of dealerships in the country to 125 by the end of the year from the current level of 100.

It also plans to increase service outlets which is currently at 112 and service points which is currently at 108 by about 25 per cent each by the end of the year.

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