According to a recent Yahoo! News report, General Motors says it will invest over $200 million in an engine
plant in India, in an effort to double
its share of a fast-growing and increasingly competitive
market.
The facility, which will be located in Talegaon in western
Maharashtra state at the site of GM’s second vehicle plant in
India, will have a capacity of 160,000 units a year that can
be expanded to 300,000 units, GM said in a statement.
The plant will make petrol and diesel engines and is
expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2010, it said.
"We cannot remain a global industry leader without a strong
presence in India," GM’s India head Karl Slym said in the Yahoo! News report.
"This will enable us to capture more opportunities in one
of the fastest growing vehicle markets in the world," he said.
GM, which makes the Chevrolet-badged Tavera, Optra, Aveo
and Spark in a plant in western Gujarat state, will have a
capacity to make 140,000 vehicles in the new Talegaon car
plant, taking its India capacity to more than 225,000 units.
"This is just one of a number of investments GM has made
over the course of the last few years in emerging markets
around the world and is an important component of GM’s global
strategy," Slym said in the report, adding India investments have exceeded $1
billion.
GM expects to double its market share in
India to 10 percent by 2010.
GM will launch a new small car in India in the second half
of 2009, Slym said, but it has no plan to take on Tata Motors’ mini Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car and
scheduled for launch in October.
Bajaj Auto is building a similarly priced $2,283 car with Renault and Nissan, while Toyota will start
production of a low-cost car in India in 2010.
Annual passenger vehicle sales in India are forecast to
expand to more than 2 million units by 2010, with small cars
accounting for more than two-thirds of sales.
Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor
and Tata Motors lead the market for small cars now.
GM’s rival Ford Motor Co said in May it had started
operations at its engine assembly plant in Chennai in southern
India, with an eventual capacity of 250,000 units.
