Gearing up to launch a new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) - 'Enjoy' - US car maker General Motors today said it would shortly have 1.10 lakh units annual commissioned capacity at its Halol plant in Gujarat.
At present, GM India's Halol plant is installed with an annual capacity of 85,000 units, with the company planning to launch new eight seater MPV -Enjoy- from its Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp (SAIC) platform. "Shortly, we would have 1.10 lakh unit commissioned capacity annually at Halol because Enjoy is proposed to be rolled out from this plant in next couple of months," company's Vice-President (Corporate Communication) P Balendran told PTI.
GM had recently raised its shareholding in an equal joint venture with SAIC to 91 per cent, regaining complete control. The company has invested over USD 1 billion in India till date, a company statement said. "Halol capacity was short...so it is being expanded. With the inaguration of a press shop at Halol, it is now an integrated manufacturing plant," Balendran said.
The company has phased out its few models like-Chervolet Optra and Aveo. "After launch of Chevrolet Sail U-VA a hatchback, we plan to roll out a new sedan model of Sail by next month," he said.
The new sedan will be company's sixth launch this year. As compared to sales of 1,11,510 units last year, GM sold nearly 78,100 units till October end in India this year. "In Gujarat we had sold 11,500 units last year, and hope to sell 10,000 units by this year end," Balendran said. "With new launches we expect to sell 4,000 units per month from next year, although the market is sluggish in wake of high interest rate regime," he said.
According to industry estimates, nearly 85 per cent of the vehicles sold in India are financed.
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