Everything is not as good as it seems. Taking a U-turn, General Motors India is re-evaluating the USD 1 billion investment in India. It has also halted its plans to introduce a new car platform in the country. Initially, the company was enthusiastic about investing in the fast growing auto market in order to boost its infrastructure, increase its market share and launch vital products that would eventually allow the company to work as a global export hub from the country.
Jack Uppal, Vice President, Marketing, GM India, said, “The billion dollars was committed based on a certain product portfolio. As the product program could change, the amounts that are required to invest would also change.”
GM India currently constitutes for less than 1 per cent share in the domestic passenger vehicle market. The company hasn’t been performing too well in India; their sales in India have dropped by nearly 40 per cent in the current fiscal year. To add to this, restriction of diesel driven cars has further hampered the sales figures for the company. It has made GM rethink its USD 1 billion strategy that originally included the launch of the Spin MPV. In June, the company announced that it had cancelled the launch of the multi-purpose vehicle and that it will bring in the all-new Chevrolet Beat Activ instead.