Car manufacturing company General Motors is all set to penetrate into light commerical vehicle (LCV) segment. The manufacturing of the LCVs will be done at the Halol unit and the LCVs will be launched by the end of 2011. The company has collaborated with Shangai Automobile Industrial Corporation (SAIC) for the project.
?About 5,12,332 cars were sold in the small car segment in 2008, which increased to 5,96309 in 2009. We expect the sale of small cars to reach around 7,21,500 in the current year. The sales figures itself suggest that the demand for the small car will continue,? said GM vice-president & director (corporate affairs) P Balendran while rolling out the 1,00,000th Chevrolet Spark at Halol on Wednesday.
Revealing the strategy of the company, he said, ?Since day one, we personally believe and promote safety features. Value for money proposition, fuel efficiency, low maintenance and styling has also been our USP. We give three years or Rs 1lakh no maintenance assurance in Spark, which no other company offers.?
After a report was spread that the company?s JV partner would control the board, GM India president & CEO Karl Slym refuted any such possibility. ?GM and SAIC will have an equal number of representatives on the board from both companies. This is a 50:50 JV and therefore it will be equally represented.
?While the passenger cars from the JV would come under the Chevrolet brand, a decision is yet to be taken on the branding of LCVs. The CVs would also require a separate network.?
The company is also focusing on the development of E-Spark, the electric car, which will be launched by the end of year 2010. GM has already invested about Rs 5,000 crore at its Halol and Talegaon plants. ?With the increasing demand and development of new products in the pipeline, the company is planning to invest about Rs 2,500 crore in a span of about two years?, Balendran added.
GM India has registered a record growth of 127% in sales in March, 2010, compared to the corresponding period last year.