The American auto giant, General Motors has clarified that its strategic alliance with PSAPeugeot will be confined only for Europe and will not be extended for its Indian subsidiary. An official of General Motors India affirmed that no proposal for such co-operation has been inked.
In April this year, Mr. Gregoire Olivier, the Head of Asian operations, PSAPeugeot was quoted as saying, "We now have GM as a global partner, and GM has factories in India, so we're obviously reviewing our plans from the top." Since General Motors India has its plant located in Gujarat and the French automaker was also planning to establish a facility in the state, it was anticipated that Peugeot may utilise the same facility utilized by GM India instead of setting up a dedicated facility.
However, Mr. Lowell Paddock, the President and Managing Director, General Motors India denied such deliberations saying that for alliance India, no discussions have been initiated with Peugeot. The alliance has been restricted only to European markets.
The much speculated alliance with GM India further sparked up after Peugeot commenced gradually with the operations at its new facility at Sanand in Gujarat by setting up a dedicated manufacturing unit, engine and gearbox plant.
While speaking about the sluggish market response from the Indian auto market, Mr. P. Balendran , General Manager, GM India said that the company is scheduling its production as per the market demand instead of shutting down the plant. Moreover, the company has suggested the government to hike the price of diesel fuel by Re.1 instead of levying 5 percent on excise duty as its will be pose as a regressive step for the auto sector as a whole.
