General Motors India is set to expand the capacity of its manufacturing plant at Halol in Gujarat so as to produce 80,000 vehicles a year compared with 60,000 vehicles at present. The Rs 150-crore (Rs 1.5 billion) expansion plan is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
GM India president and managing director Aditya Vij, the company, which has a strong team of over 450 engineers and research scientists, has also earmarked an amount of Rs 150 crore for product development.
GM is going to launch two new products next year - one in the first quarter and another by the end of the second quarter.
The auction of the Daewoo plant in the country was in the final stages, Vij said, adding that GM had also drawn up some alternative plans to be implemented if it failed to procure the vehicles manufacturing facility.
"India is the most punishing market in the world as far as pricing is concerned. Hence, it is very critical that one invests accordingly", he said.
Addressing a press conference on the occasion of GM opening its second dealership here on Wednesday, Vij said that the company was planning to expand its sales points across the country from 69 to 90 and its service outlets from 82 to 100 during the current year.
Stating that India was basically a small car market, Vij said," We too should have a small car to be a volume player". The company is likely to announce the launch of its small car in the next few months.
He said that GM had sold 26,200 vehicles last year and expects to sell 40,000 units in the current year. The company was hopeful of selling about 22,000 to 24,000 units of Chevrolet Tavera, 10,000 Optras and about 7,500 units of Opel Corsa.
The first quarter sales in this year stood at 8,397 units as compared to 5,391 units sold in the corresponding period last year. Within 10 months of its launch, Chevrolet Tavera had notched up a sales volume of 13,450 units.
According to Vij, the Indian automobile market is growing at 10.5 per cent to 11 per cent annually. "Last year, 1.3 million commercial cars were sold in the country. The number is expected to grow to 1.5 million this year," he added.