General Motors has filed bankruptcy in the US and the new General Motors will be more government regulated with lesser debts. However, this does not prevent the company from having ambitious plans for India. General Motors intends to bring a small Rs. 2 lakh mini car in India. It intends to develop a small car which will be the cheapest model in GM’s product portfolio.
"I would say we are studying that... and (we) do think there is an opportunity for something below the current mini car offering Spark," Reilly said in a conference call from Shanghai. However, it would "not be a Tata Nano equivalent,” said Nick Reilly, GM Group V-P. He also stated that the new small car will be positioned below Chevrolet Spark and the small cars will emerge as the key growth factors for the company. He also confirmed that India will be the lead market for R&D of the new small car. The car may also be positioned in similar markets like India including Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and even possibly China.
As the demand in the home country remains depressed, General Motors is actively looking at the emerging markets like India, China and Brazil. There has been a considerable rise in the small car demand in the world market as people prefer to switch to more fuel efficient models which are “a good value” in the long run.
