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GM India will launch the diesel variant of the Beat on Monday, Mr Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, General Motors India, has said.
The company, which has invested about $1.5 billion so far in its Indian operations, plans to invest $250 million each in its two plants at Halol (Gujarat) and Talegaon (Maharashtra) over the next 18 months.
Speaking at a news conference in Coimbatore on Wednesday on the sidelines of the opening of GM’s second dealership in the city and the 250th in the country, he said GM had established the design, development and manufacturing capabilities for vehicle manufacture in India and its distribution reach has expanded to most of the country with a strong brand recall in rural pockets. It was the fifth largest car maker in the country with sales of 1.1 lakh vehicles last year and hopes to sell 1.4 lakh cars during the current year.
Mr Slym said the diesel variant of Beat would be launched on Monday next and the car was specifically designed for the Indian market offering good ground clearance. Without revealing details about the new model including its price, he said it would be a 1 litre vehicle.
On making GM India a global outsourcing hub for the company, Mr Slym remarked that at GM’s design centre in Bangalore that employs around 2,500 engineers, only 10 per cent of the work was done for India while 90 per cent of the work related to GM’s global operations. It was growing at the rate of 25 per cent per year.
With respect to GM’s manufacturing facilities, only 2 per cent of the vehicles produced in India were exported to neighbouring countries whereas the rest was sold in India. With the establishment of an engine plant in the country, the option of exporting engines was there. But his priority was to increase GM’s vehicle sales within the country though he would also look at exports.
Mr Slym said GM had invested so far about $1.5 billion in its Indian operations and plans to invest about $250 million each in its Talegaon and Halol plants over the next 18 months for capacity addition and to bring in new models.
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