General Motors Company, the American automobile marque, has started its maiden production of a Chinese-designed car dedicated towards the Indian car market. The American multinational is working on a new strategy, according to which the company will increase its production in those auto markets where other international car makers found it hard to gain a foothold.
The Indian car market has been widely regarded as major small car market due to extensive love among Indians for the segment. Regardless of the economic situation, the small car sales remain decent and easily outpace the sales of any other segment in the country. The different auto makers operating in the country have been baffled by the Indian obsession with the small cars and have accepted the fact that in order to capitalise in the Indian market, they would have to launch products in the small car segment as well.
Lowell Paddock, President, General Motors India, stated that the company's upcoming Sail car will be launched in both hatchback and sedan variants in the country. He also revealed that the soon to be launched compact Sail is the company's first car to be designed by its Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corporation. Reportedly, SAIC Motor Corp. will also design a passenger van for the Indian market whose production is expected to commence in India by this year's end.
Speaking in an interview about the company's latest offering Sail, Paddock said, “What (SAIC) bring to us is more of a regional focus and more of an emerging market focus. Sail is in some ways perhaps the first vehicle designed with primarily Asian customer requirements.”
The situation in China regarding foreign auto makers is completely different from India, as GM and Volkswagen together account for 30 per cent of all the passenger vehicles in Chinese auto market. However, with the exception of Hyundai, all the foreign makers operating in India account for less than 25 per cent of the overall vehicle passenger vehicle market, a sharp contrast from China market.
Despite heavy investment and years of struggle, the foreign auto companies have failed to entice Indian car enthusiasts, which left them with lesser Return On Investment (ROI) than they anticipated. Several premium auto majors like General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen failed to strike the right chords with Indian buyers due to their premium car line-up when most of the Indians resolve to buy only fuel efficient and value-for-money products.
According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), General Motors recorded a drop of 11 per cent in its sales figures during the period January and June this year and will leave no stone unturned in its quest to boost its sales in the country.
