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GM kicks off steps to stamp out car thefts

V Phani Kumar

In what could prove to be a humble beginning to end the menace of car theft in the country, General Motors India is planning to initiate measures that could restore stolen Opel cars back to their rightful owners.

The company is currently working on an initiative, wherein Opel customers who have lost their cars will report the theft to the company. On receipt of such a complaint, the company will flash details of the car to all authorised dealerships and service centres across the country.

This will enable a stolen car entering an Opel service station for repairs to be identified immediately.

The details that will be flashed across General Motors' service network would include identification details of the car, such as the chassis and engine numbers (which cannot be easily tampered with), in addition to registration details.

Vinay Dixit, vice-president (marketing, sales and aftersales), General Motors India said, "This initiative is currently an idea that we are working on. There are some operational problems that we have to tackle before we implement it, such as when a customer inadvertently buys a second-hand Opel car that was stolen. The challenge for us is to not cause any inconvenience to such customers."

Dixit said India is the first country where this proposal is being considered, although General Motors has a worldwide network.

Although the company's proposal would be effective only if the stolen cars are brought to Opel dealerships for repairs, industry experts believe this could be a modest beginning to finding a solution to car theft.

Currently, few stolen cars, if any, are recovered and restored to their owners. According to industry sources, auto companies in some western markets already equip their cars with satellite-based tracking systems, which could locate the exact location of a car that is stolen, or breaks down. However, such cars are not available in India at present.

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