GM India is no affected, says company

General Motors India, the Indian subsidiary of the bankrupt US car major, today said its operations in the country will remain unaffected and will go ahead with its planned launch of two more cars in 2009.

"GM India operations are not included in the US filing for Chapter 11. Consequently, all GM India dealers, warranty and customer support services will remain unaffected and continue to function as normal," General Motors India said in a statement.

The company said it would go ahead with the launch of its luxury sedan Chevrolet Cruze, besides introducing a "mini car" in the Indian market by the end of this year.

"We are committed to ensuring that our customers continue to receive top-notch sales, service, spare parts and warranty coverage experience. Our dealers will also continue to receive all our carlines, while our suppliers will continue to work with us to supply parts and components for our cars," GM India President and Managing Director Karl Slym said.

The company would continue to produce its vehicles from the two facilities in Talegaon and Halol, which together have an annual manufacturing capacity of 2.25 lakh units, he added.

"We have no intention to modify our products, brand or other business plans, including new product launches -- the all new Chevrolet Cruze from our mother plant in Halol and an all new Chevrolet mini car from our new state of the art plant at Talegaon," Slym said.

In order to contribute to GM India's long-term viability and the bottom-line, the company would pursue its business aggressively, he added.

The once largest carmaker of the world started its India operations in 1994 by forming a 50:50 joint venture with Hindustan Motors. It became the wholly-owned subsidiary of the US firm in 1999.

"Till 1999, we had invested $19 million in India. Our investment went up significantly after 1999 and today it is over $1 billion," GM India Vice President P Balendran said.

The company said it has so far invested over Rs 5,000 crore in setting up and strengthening GM India's operations in the country. It currently employs over 4,000 people.

"We are deeply committed to this market, our customers, suppliers, dealers and all other stakeholders to continue our rapid story of successful growth in India. We are not going anywhere and we are here to stay for the long term," Slym said.

Besides, the company would launch LPG and CNG variants of its current products in the coming months.

GM India manufactures the Optra Magnum, Aveo, SRV, Aveo U-VA, Spark, Tavera and Captiva for the Indian market.