Has General Motors put India launch plans on back burner

The move would delay GM India’s long-term product plans.Earlier, GM India announced an investment of USD 1 billion to transform its ailing operations. The investment plan included a complete overhaul of the product portfolio with a new global emerging market platform as a primary element.

However, a recent report by Economic Times suggests that the American automaker has pushed the launch plans of the new platform in India to back burner.The new emerging market specific platform which is said to spawn various top hats like compact crossover, sedan, hatchback, etc., will progress as planned in other primary target markets like Brazil. Accumulating losses, plummeting sales and uncertainty over government policies appear to have prompted GM India to take stock of the situation and review its future strategy.

While the long-term plans represented by the global emerging market platform (reported to be codenamed Amber) is facing uncertainty, GM India is gearing up to execute its recently announced short-term strategy which involves launching 5 new products in the next 24 months.

The 5 products in question are the new Beat, Beat-based Essentia sub-4 metre sedan which was previewed as a concept the Auto Expo, Beat Activ soft crossover, new Cruze, and facelifted Trailblazer SUV. Based on the market response to these offerings, GM India is likely to take a decision on introducing its emerging market platform.

Anyway, a prominent global automaker like GM cannot afford to stay indifferent to India which is touted to become the third largest auto market in the world by 2020.

This article has first appeared in Rushlane.com