General Motors entered India in 1996 and to this date, the company hasn’t been able to understand the market. The American car maker was among the first few to enter India after the economy was opened to foreigners in 1991, with majority of manufactuers entering India after 1998. GM has two plants in the country, both of which are under utilized (only 38% utilisation). The company initially entered with Opel branded cars (Corsa and Vectra), which were a nightmare when it came to repairs, since parts were imported from Germany, thereby costing a fortune.
In early 2000s, GM discontinued the Opel range and brought in Chevrolet, with the launch of the Forester and Optra. Later the Aveo twins,the Captiva and Tavera followed. GM then brought the Spark, Beat and Cruze to the Indian market. Just recently the company launched the Sail twins. In just three months of launch, GM has announced price cut on the Sail hatchback, which has been very poorly received by Indians. The vehicle looks very bland and has been developed by SAIC of China. Despite GM India’s marketing team urging them to bring the Sonic twins, GM went ahead with the Sail.
What this has resulted in is high amount of losses. GM posted a loss of Rs. 746 crore ($138 million) last fiscal and lost Rs. 67,600/- ($1250) on every vehicle they sold. No wonder TTAC put it rightly last year, GM does live and die with China.
Faisal Ali Khan is the editor of MotorBeam.com, a website covering the automobile industry of India.
“GM does live and die with China.”
Not with regards to profits. It should be “GM lives and dies with the U.S.”
AutoTribute, GM is surviving solely on China currently. Hence!
Over half of GM’s GLOBAL profits come from GMNA – that means the REST OF THE GLOBE contributes the other half. Fact!
Not really, GM is accumulating losses in many parts of the world.
Regardless, GM is NOT relying entirely on China…
I wonder if GM’s Brazilian offerings (Onix, Prisma, Agile, Cobalt) might do better in India? From what I understand both markets have similar requirements in terms of toughness (poor roads) and affordability. If the ethanol-optimized engines would have to replaced I could see that being a stumbling block, but otherwise…
SV, diesel engine is a key criteria in India. The Brazilian offerings will need to be powered by diesel motors.
I wonder if the Spin could do well in India. It has a 1.3l diesel version. Manual only, alas, but that shouldn’t be a problem in India, right? It’s just launched here in Indonesia, though it’s not known how successful it is going to be. The buzz from the ‘net is quite positive, however.
They are getting the Chinese Enjoy MPV.
So in 96 maybe you could’ve imported a tough Roadmaster there. Ha!
Wouldn’t help, after sales service a big issues with GM’s earlier offerings.
A Roadmaster has been known to solve all problems.
(jk)
Well let’s see. Every Indian that lives in my apartment complex (and there are many) drives either a Nissan (any kind, but mostly Altimas) or a Toyota Camry. The only Hondas they seem to drive are Odysseys. Only one of them drives an American car, and he must be a gear head because it’s a late 90’s Camaro. I’m guessing American cars don’t register with these folks at all.
Did I mention that their driving skills do nothing to dispel stereotypes?
SaulTigh, please don’t say American cars. GM sells no American car in India, all are Chinese and Korean.
SaulTigh – Its the Indian Hive-mind! (jk)
Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans have a solid reputation of reliability in the Indian community in United States. And, its common wisdom to avoid any American brand (I don’t know why, but American brands are associated with terms like cheap & unreliable). German automobiles are acceptable if you are wealthy, but only Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Acuras are another favorite.
Also, in general, it is hard to find automobile enthusiasts in the Indian community in the US.
Source: Countless roommates
Observe the parking lot of any busy Indian Grocery Store or Indian Restaurant on a weekend, and count the number of non-Honda/Toyota products. You’ll be surprised :)
Indyb6, the obsession with Honda and Toyota is in India as well. People buy Honda, Toyota blindly, even Suzuki for that matter. They stay away from Ford and GM though.
Faisal, what is replacing the Ambassador as the taxi vehicle of choice, now that they can no longer be livery vehicles?
You think the Panther taxi was on an old platform? The Ambassador dates back to the Morris Oxford III of the 1950s.
Corntrollio, the Ambassador is being replaced by a multitude of products, including the Renault Logan (Mahindra Verito), Suzuki SX4, Toyota Etios, etc.