GM India may scrap ties with Reva post-M&M buy

General Motors India today said it may pull out of its collaboration with Reva Electric Car Co following Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) buying majority stake in the Bangalore-based firm.

GM India had last year entered into a technical tie-up with Reva to develop an electric version of its popular small car, the Spark, which was scheduled to hit the roads later this year.

"We may not continue the Spark EV programme with Reva in the light of this development and will pursue our own electric vehicle programme. An announcement to this effect will be issued soon," GM India Vice-President P Balendran said here today.

The farm equipment-to-software group M&M today announced acquisition of 55.2 per cent stake in Reva, as it bids to strengthen its position in the electric vehicles segment.

M&M president for automotive and farm equipment sector Pawan Goenka said GM has informed M&M and Reva about its decision to look at an alternative option for the electric Spark programme, adding it is for GM to decide as "we have no problems with GM continuing. We are quite open to it."

After joining hands in September 2009, GM India and Reva had announced that the two were looking at both domestic and overseas markets for the proposed electric small car based on the platform of the Spark and planned to turn the country into a hub for electric vehicles.

The companies had planned to roll out the electric Spark in a series of battery options and price points. The proposed version of the car was planned to have up to 90 per cent local components. Both the partners had at that time said they were open to the option of expanding the electric model to GM India's other cars also.