General Motors has put its investments on new models for the country on a hold after facing struggles to make a turnaround in India. The US auto major which had announced plans in 2015 to invest USD 1 billion to enhance manufacturing operations and roll out 10 locally produced models, has not put any timeline for lifting freeze on investments on the new products.
"Given the shift in customer preferences in India, we are conducting a full review of our future product portfolio and have put on hold future investment in our all-new vehicle family for the market until we firm up our product portfolio plan," an official spokesperson from General Motors said. Company CEO Mary Barra, while announcing USD 1 billion investment for India, had said that they would strengthen business in the country, China, Mexico, and Brazil, through the development of a new family of vehicles known as Global Emerging Markets platform.
The company's arm, General Motors India, currently sells a range of vehicles, including hatchback Beat, sedan Cruze, and multi-purpose vehicle Enjoy, among others. "If GM is going to make significant investments, we need to be certain that they will generate significant shareholder value," the spokesperson said. "Moving forward, our priority remains to establish the right business conditions for sustainable profitability." When asked about GM scaling down India operations and downsizing manpower across verticals, including dealer development, sales and marketing, and after sales, the official refused to comment. "We are consolidating our manufacturing in Talegaon for both domestic market and exports. Exports continue to be an important aspect of our operations in India indeed," they added.
General Motors is currently in the process to sell its Halol plant in Gujarat to China's SAIC Motor Corporation after it decided to stop production in the area as part of consolidation of its manufacturing operations in India.
