Sep 12 2014, 02:41 IST
SummaryGeneral Motors (GM) hopes to use India as an export hub for markets like Australia
General Motors (GM) hopes to use India as an export hub for markets like Australia and South America as it looks to utilise capacity amid slow domestic sales. GM India, which started exports this month with Chile, is the oldest global carmaker to start local assembly � in 1928 � and currently operates two plants in Maharashtra and Gujarat with a combined annual installed capacity of 2.80 lakh units.
Stefan Jacoby, Gm executive VP and president, GM International, said on Thursday, �Australia is one of the options for exports from India, we are investigating this. We can't go into the details.�
Last year, GM announced it would halt production in Australia, where it sells the Holden brand, by 2017, due to high costs and strong currency. Ford has already announced the same, and the only other manufacturer Toyota is expected to soon follow suit. With a market size of over 1 million units a year, this is seen as a big opportunity for Indian car exports.
Arvind Saxena, president and MD of GM India, said, �We are just starting exports and yesterday we had the first rollout for Chile. The next two markets we have identified are Mexico and Columbia for parts exports. This is an opportunity to show that we are able to make high-quality cars which are acceptable in other markets�.
For GM India, exports make strong sense as it currently utilises about 20% of its installed capacity. GM's domestic volumes fell 8% to 80,890 units in FY14, and are down 33% in April-August FY15 at 24,284 units.
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