India, May 19th, 2017 : US auto giant General Motors will stop selling cars in India by year end, it said Thursday, putting the brakes on efforts to penetrate one of the world’s fastest growing markets.<\/p>\n
The firm announced it will phase out its Chevrolet brand by the end of 2017 as part of a restructuring of its international business, but will continue to manufacture cars in India for export.<\/p>\n
GM has been in India for several years but continues to be a niche player with a negligible market share, experts say.<\/p>\n
It has two factories — one in Talegaon which will continue as an export hub for Mexico and the Central and South American markets — and another in Halol in Gujarat, which it said it plans to sell.<\/p>\n
“In India, our exports have tripled over the past year, and this will remain our focus going forward,” said GM International president Stefan Jacoby in a statement.
\n“We determined that the increased investment required for an extensive and flexible product portfolio would not deliver a leadership position or long-term profitability in the domestic market.”<\/p>\n
About four million cars were sold in India last year, a number that is expected to hit seven million by 2022, making it one of the fastest growing markets globally, said consulting firm PwC.<\/p>\n
“India is a very tough market and you need a lot of local flavour in the overall strategy to win here,” said Abdul Majeed, partner at consultancy PwC.<\/p>\n
“But in the long run India is a key market and will be the largest market because of sheer numbers and all auto majors are trying to see how they want to establish their presence here,” he added.<\/p>\n
In additional changes, GM announced phasing out the Chevrolet brand from South Africa as well by end of 2017 and the sale of its manufacturing business there to Isuzu Motors.<\/p>\n
“We determined that continued or increased investment in manufacturing in South Africa would not provide GM the expected returns of other global investment opportunities,” Jacoby said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"