GM overhauls India product line-up

Company will phase out troubled models, enter new segments with new launches and focus on exports for growth

The Indian subsidiary of General Motors will revamp its vehicle line-up in a desperate attempt to turn around its loss-making operations.

The company will phase out troubled car models, enter new segments and focus on exports for growth.

GM, which sells cars in India under the Chevrolet brand, will likely phase out Enjoy, a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), in a few months, according to a vendor to the company. Cruze, GM’s premium sedan, could also face the axe. GM stopped production of the Spark mini-car some months ago.

Enjoy was brought to India in 2013 to replace the ageing Tavera multi-utility vehicle. However, demand for the new vehicle did not take off even as Tavera’s sales remained comparatively good. This forced GM to work on an upgraded Tavera, which was otherwise scheduled to be phased out this year. Enjoy sells only about 200 a month whereas Tavera sells four to five times that number.

The company has decided to abort the launch of Spin, an MPV earlier scheduled to arrive in showrooms next year. There is also no sign of the compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) Chevrolet Adra that was showcased by GM two years ago.

“We do not respond to rumour and speculation. We have already announced several new cars for the Indian market and are working to deliver new, safe, high-quality vehicles to our Indian customers,” said a spokesperson for General Motors India.

Replying to a questionnaire, GM refused to comment on existing models and future line-up, including those vehicles it had committed to bringing to India: the Essentia, a compact sedan, and Beat Activ, a crossover styled on the Beat hatchback.  

GM’s only SUV Trailblazer has received a poor response. The vehicle imported from Thailand did not find any buyers in August.  

However, GM’s exports are more than making up for the loss in domestic sales. The company’s exports grew 1,602 per cent to 24,004 vehicles during April-August from 1,410 in the same period a year ago. 

GM’s exports during April-August were more than twice its domestic sales, which stood at nearly 10,000 vehicles in the same period, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.