GM working with Road Ministry on emission norms violations

Company is expecting to begin production of Tavera BSIV variant by next summer after receiving approval

General Motors (GM) India today said it is closely working with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on the issue of violations of emission norms by its multi-purpose vehicle Chevrolet Tavera and said it has received approval for Tavera BSIII model and will soon begin production.

"We are cooperating fully with the (road and transport) ministry. We are addressing their questions and we plan to cooperate with them in every way. We have received approval for the Tavera BSIII yesterday and we will be back on production on that variant in the next couple of weeks," General Motors President & Managing Director Lowell Paddock told reporters.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the annual convention of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

GM India had stopped production and sale of the Tavera BSIII on June 4 and the Tavera BSIV on July 2.

The company is also expecting to begin production of Tavera BSIV variant by next summer after receiving approval.

When asked about production of other Tavera variants, Paddock said: "As we go through the re-approval process for the rest of the vehicles, they will also be back on production. So certainly, as we go through the balance of the summer, we will be restoring full production of Tavera."

In July, the company had recalled 1.14 lakh units of Tavera manufactured between 2005 and 2013 to address emissions and specification issues.

The company also recalled 4,000 units of the diesel variant of its Sail model on Tuesday to address a potential engine issue.

"We initiated a recall of sales and we are now announcing today to the public and to our dealers that 'Sail' diesel is back in the market. In the next couple of weeks, BSIV will be resolved in due course," he added.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has set up a panel for investigating violation of emission norms by General Motors.

General Motors had dismissed several employees for violation of company policy with regard to recall of Chevrolet Tavera in India.

To a question, General Motors said that due to increased focus on localisation, it has managed to keep its prices under control despite rupee depreciation.

"Our goal is to maximise localisation where all it is economically and practically possible. We had a very aggressive localisation plan on all our car lines since the beginning. We wanted as much possible neutralisation of our business from ups and downs of rupee," he said adding that the company does not want to further increase prices.

"We want to avoid it at the fullest level possible and that's why we are going for localisation at full speed," Paddock said.

He also added the company's investment plans in India are on track. "In terms of what we were doing in the future products plans and in terms of localisation, its at full speed from our perspective. India is still a key market for GM and we want to continue to grow once the market turns favourable."