General Motors plans to invest $300 mn in India

General Motors India, is planning to further expand itself in the domestic auto market by investing $ 300 million in the next 24 months time, as reported by a company official. P Balendran, vice-president in Marketing for GM India said that, the company is planning to invest 300 million US dollars to launch six new vehicles in the coming two years' time.

Balendran said that, as per the calculations made by the company, for a new car an investment of 50 million US dollar is required in the domestic market.

Throwing light on the expansion plans of the company, he said that, it will launch six new vehicles which will includes a sedan, a compact car, vans, multi utility vehicles and pick up trucks. He also added that, the company has talked to banks for the tie ups to fund the expansion. Mr. Balendran also added that General Motors India, is also speculating to witness a hike of 70 per cent or more by the end of this fiscal year.

Revealing the sales figures Balendran said that, the company has already sold 69,000 cars till now and is expecting to sell as many as one lac cars by the year end. Balendran also said that, General Motors India had a growth in its operational profits but still needs to check on its net profits.

The company is not only increasing its portfolio but also planning to expand on its dealerships across India. At present, General Motors has a network of 211 dealerships which will be increased to 240 dealerships by next year's end. GM India, rules the Indian auto market with range of cars. These are the hatchbacks Chevrolet Spark, Chevrolet Aveo-U-VA, Chevrolet Beat, the sedans Chevrolet Aveo, Chevrolet Cruze, the SUVs Chevrolet Tavera Neo 2, Chevrolet Captiva. All these cars come with an array of advanced features and sophisticated technology which has been luring the Indian buyers for a long time.

The company also has plans to rework on the price tag of its vehicles by mid of January 2011. As per the top officials of the company, it is experiencing a great cost pressure such as hike in the price of raw materials and other production cost. As per the insiders, a hike of 1.5 to 3 per cent will be seen on all the models of the cars of the company.

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