Nearly two decades have gone that China tried its best to penetrate the Indian auto market. Now the decks are being cleared with the JV arrived with General Motors India for a possible car manufacturing. The JV between GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corpn is currently in operation in China for GM segments – Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and Saab. Two or three more models will accompany these in the Indian market. SAIC’s JV with GM is in the series of Korean Ssang Yong Motor Company and Chinese Nanjing Automobile.
The company Chairman said that it likes to leverage on individual brands as well as JVs in the Chinese market and to have the same sting in other markets too, particularly India, which is a potential car market on par with China. Under the 50:50 share with GM, the company will design and deal with Buick in the Roewe platform. SAIC’s plan of activities include intruding the Indian market with small cars- Roewe and Buick; the Korean Acyton hatchback, the entry-level Rodius SUV, in addition to Soyat, and the sporty MG Rover(owned by Nanjing Automobile group).
SAIC is a part of three-fold JV among SAIC-GM-Wuling, under which GM is to illuminate its Spark in India soon. This car will stand along the low-cost cars prevalent in India. Wuling has made its presence with its vans in North Africa, South America and the Middle East under Chevrolets. GM is launching the Wuling portfolio under N200 and N300 to penetrate the potential market dominated by Maruti Omni and the ongoing O2 segment from Maruti itself.
GM will carry on with Wuling pick-up trucks(single/double cab) as well as mini van passenger carriers to match Tata ACE Magic. SAIC happens to be the first car maker to enter into India officially as other companies Chery Automobile and Dongfeng Motor Corporation are polishing their wheels to enter at any time. GM will retain its hold, in spite of equal share, and will capitalize on the price sector Rs5-7 lakh.
The topnotch officials from GM revealed that a majority of Chinese cars on the development stage and the hatchback models may see freezing process. The time span focused for the Chinese cars is two years and in the meantime the freezing of hatchbacks and sedans will be on. Further, light trucks in 1 tonne category is mooted amidst efforts for customizing the manufacturing to suit for Indian market, said GM India President.
The R&D will be given due weightage with a headcount of over 1000 in the Bangalore facility for the Chinese products. SAIC will take along the Talegaon plant (capable of producing 2.2lakh cars annually) for delivering the cars for India. The Halol in Gujarat (production capacity of 80000 units will be allocated for utility vehicles and trucks). GM sees the sale to triple with the arrival of Chinese models, by pinning 70000 units by the end of this year, which may be taken to 2 lakh in the next two years.