General Motors India is staunch in its prospects of striking the alliance with Shanghai Auto of China. GM is now improved to have the options from the partners in China where it has two firms – SAIC and the SAIC-Wuling –GM Automobile, of which the former is for passenger cars and the latter is for light trucks, said MD of GM India. It is to be mentioned that GM and SAIC have made a JV on 50:50 for India to have an access of the plants in Halol and Talegaon in India.
The new venture will see the retailing of SAIC light trucks in the form of Wuling series. (GM refuted the possibility of sport version of Chevrolet brand). The JV between GM and SAIC is already on the export venture of Wuling series N200 and N300 to South America, the Middle East and North Africa on Chevrolet brand. The company is firm on having exclusive dealerships for passenger cars and trucks; GM-SAIC sees competition for light trucks from Tata and M&M. GM has the advantage of more cars with the blessing of SAIC’s large sector of passenger cars. And the latest to be launched is Beat, a compact car ready for launch next month.
Under the JV, Halol plant will be allocated for making light trucks and Tavera utility vehicle whereas Talegaon will be for cars. This set up is for making both the plants benefit out of the deal. Halol has the capacity of 85000 units and Talegaon has twice that much(140000 units) and is to be upgraded to make 300000 units. The pact will benefit GM much with higher number of car line up and increased market share in the years to come. GM is clear that SAIC versions will be devised to suit the Indian market.
The pact enhances export potential for GM with more numbers coming from SAIC from the Indian plants. To begin with, Beat will fly to Europe as much as the Opel did in 2000. This followed the success story of Chevrolet under GM-Daewoo pact for the promotion of Optra and Spark. GM sees much potential in SAIC’s link to stabilise its base in the car race. GM-Daewoo is to be carried on for future prospects like M300 (Beat) from the units of Korea. GM always exponentially seeks design centres for its cars. The one at Bangalore displays the charm of designing, said CEO.