The Indian subsidiary of General Motors is set to register 75 per cent sales growth in the calendar year 2003, and has plans to invest Rs 180 crore (Rs 1.8 billion) in capacity expansion over the next three months, a top company official said on Wednesday.
General Motors India sold 13,800 cars during January-November 2003, and it expected to close the year with a figure of 15,000, Rajeev Chaba, chief operating officer, GM India, told journalists in Bangalore.
The company recorded sales of 8,500 cars during the year 2002. GM India currently produces several variants of German-engineered Opel Astra, Opel Corsa, Opel Swing and Opel Corsa Sail at its plant located at Halol near Baroda, Gujarat. It also sells Vectra and Chevrolet Forester in completely built unit form.
Chaba said the company had no plans to make fresh investment in the next financial year as the investment made till this fiscal end would take care of the envisaged capacity expansion.
"The company's target is to sell 30,000 cars in India in 2004 and 50,000 cars in 2005," he said.
The company had planned to launch a multi-utility vehicle of the Chevrolet brand next year, he said. It launched the luxury Sedan Chevrolet Optra 1.6 in Bangalore on Wednesday.
