GM eyes on small car segment

Mumbai: Enthused by the sales of Chevrolet Spark and UVA, General Motors India is planning to come out with more offerings in the small-car segment.

“Mini cars are extremely important for us in India. We will definitely have more offerings in that segment,” said Mr Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, General Motors India.

Commercial production at the GM’s second plant in India at Talegaon in Maharashtra is likely to begin in August. The trial production will start in the next week.

The company sources indicated that they would start production with a mini car. GM has invested more than $300 million in Talegaon facility which will have an initial capacity of 1.4 lakh units.

Currently, GM’s small cars Spark and UVA are contributing more than half of the total sales. GM sold 5,563 cars in February. It comprised 2,229 units of Spark and 1,102 units of Aveo.

The company targets to sell 90,000 units in 2008 and expects that more than half of it will come from small cars.

General Motors has plans to increase component sourcing from India. “The Indian auto component industry has matured now. We are currently sourcing components worth $300 million and this will be increased to $1 billion in two years,” said Mr P. Balendran, Director, Corporate Affairs.

On the completion of five years of GM’s flagship brand Chevrolet in India, the company plans to have 125 sales points and 135 service points.