[Aditya]

Arvind Saxena is rumoured to be taking charge of General Motors India Pvt. Ltd. in the near future. Saxena will leave his current position of Managing Director at Volkswagen Passenger Cars India to replace Lowell Paddock, who is rumoured to be headed for GM Singapore, which is going to be the company's headquarters for international operations.

Arvind Saxena has more than 30 years of experience in the Indian automobile industry. He has previously worked at Escorts Ltd. Motorcycle and scooter division, Bajaj Auto Ltd., Fiat India Automobiles Ltd., Maruti Udyog Ltd. and Hyundai Motor India Ltd. He joined Volkswagen in 2012.

Link to team-BHP News Article

[girishglg]

As per reports in the newspapers this development is as a result of the recent setbacks in GM due to the Tavera recall issues related to quality which occured during the previous reigns.

The report also goes on to add that GM has confirmed that they have revamped processes towards this end and such incidents are not expected to happen again.

Beg to differ on that, they have many Chinese products in our market such as the Sail twins and Enjoy. The latter has been facing many quality issues which have started coming out lately. Read the related thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...r-element.html

[mints21]

As the insiders say, Arvind Saxena was the brain behind introducing segment first features in Hyundai cars. He had a wonderful stint in Hyundai and his peers remember him as a man with great vision and humility.

After joining VW, he started the same concept in the VW cars and we saw VW adding a lot of features into its cars. However, the group still could not manage to gain ground which it lost because of poor after sales and service.

I have no doubt in Mr. Saxena's capability in turning the General Motors group into a volume based group. We may expect to see introduction of new features in GM cars as well.

The challenge for him would be to change the customer perception towards General Motors.

[swiftnfurious]

I think the move justifies. I do NOT think he was able to do anything for the VW business with respect to the Indian market. He had a success story in Hyundai when he moved on to VW, but I guess there is anything credible he is taking with him out of VW.

Edit::

Originally Posted by mints21

As the insiders say, Arvind Saxena was the brain behind introducing segment first features in Hyundai cars. He had a wonderful stint in Hyundai and his peers remember him as a man with great vision and humility...

Thanks for the post. I was infact thinking what had he done for Hyundai.

Originally Posted by mints21

...The challenge for him would be to change the customer perception towards General Motors.

It's definitely NOT as bad as VW / Skoda. He just needs to bring in Sonic twins to start GM's product offensive in India!

[MaxTorque]

Interesting move. Mr.Saxena has proven his mettle during his tenure at Hyundai Motors. Now we need to wait and see how he is going to contribute to GM India's future course of action.

By the way Bloomberg had reported that Mr.Paddok is the man behind unearthing the Tavera fraud.

[StarScream]

More than Saxena and GM, it says a lot about VW. Executives don't stay, poor inventory management, lousy dealers and after sales - the situation seems quite dire.

[sydras]

In my opinion, Lowell Paddock was perhaps one of the least effective MDs, GM India has ever seen. Apart from misjudging the Indian market and bringing in poor replacements for the Aveo and the Uva, he brought no notable improvements to sales and service.

Looking at Mr. Paddock's performance, I wonder if his fat paycheck was all he ever cared about. I think that GM India's problems are not going to go away overnight and I'm certainly not going to get all worked up about this news given the current state that GM India is in.

[Y@SH]

According to my sources at TML. Mr. Arvind Saxena is in talks with TML, his pay-offer is being decided and it would be the one he cant resist. After the Loss of Mr.Slym, I think he is one of the few who has a good experience of the Indian Market. Lets see what happens in the future.

[su1978]

If at all Mr Saxena joins GM, it would be a great news for India operations. I am sure he will be able to bring crowds to the showroom. In past 2 years, GM has really brought in some very bland vehicles which have pushed customers away. The only beautiful vehicles they have now is the Captiva(over priced), Cruze and Beat. New products-Enjoy/Sail(sedan & hatchback) seem to ages behind on design and equipment level. Hoping that he will bring some very good looking vehicles and also alter the existing ones to be a better performer. The lower cost of spares which is again a big challenge will also have to be addressed. The service also needs a major revamp. Even the marketing strategy adopted by GM till date has been uninspiring.

Foreigners heading some brands in india have not tasted much of a success or have faced some major hiccups. Maruti is the biggest example wherin a japanese CEO-Mr Shinzo nakanishi and his japanese ideology led to the death of one Senior executive. Let us hope that an indian turns around the falling fortunes of American Giant. Just like we indians are doing it for Microsoft & Pepsi.

[karan561]

Update: Mr Arvind Saxena has been appointed President & Managing Director of GM India.



Stefan Jacoby, GM Executive Vice President and President, GM International Operations, said;

We are delighted to have Arvind join our team and with his extensive experience, lead us in to a successful future in India, with its significant growth potential. GM is committed to India and with Arvind’s leadership, we look forward to recognizing the long-term growth potential of the market.

Source

[GTO]

I have a feeling Saxena must be wishing he hadn't left Hyundai in the first place. On the one hand, Hyundai has had several launches in the last 2 - 3 years (Grand i10, Verna, Elantra, Santa Fe, Sonata etc.) and has a couple more in the pipeline (new i20, i10-sedan). Further, the company has growth opportunity in many new categories (MUVs, compact SUVs). What Saxena got at VW was the same, old product line. There's only so much you can do with 2 mass market products that have lost novelty value, look the same and have a cheaper sibling (e.g. Skoda Rapid).

Originally Posted by StarScream

More than Saxena and GM, it says a lot about VW. Executives don't stay, poor inventory management, lousy dealers and after sales - the situation seems quite dire.

Typical of German companies, I hear VW has most of its decisions approved in Germany and the turnaround process is unduly long. This might frustrate top management.

Originally Posted by sydras

In my opinion, Lowell Paddock was perhaps one of the least effective MDs, GM India has ever seen.

Karl Slym didn't exactly work wonders at GM India either. It has always been an under-performer.

[CRV2010]

I guess under Saxena VW managed to launch just TSI variants and with few minor facelifts.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by CRV2010

I guess under Saxena VW managed to launch just TSI variants and with few minor facelifts.

The 1.2L TSI is the global replacement for VW's 1.6L N/A petrol. It would have happened with or without Saxena.

[PPS]

Could very well be a possibility!

[mints21]

Originally Posted by GTO

I have a feeling Saxena must be wishing he hadn't left Hyundai in the first place. On the one hand, Hyundai has had several launches in the last 2 - 3 years (Grand i10, Verna, Elantra, Santa Fe, Sonata etc.) and has a couple more in the pipeline (new i20, i10-sedan). Further, the company has growth opportunity in many new categories (MUVs, compact SUVs). What Saxena got at VW was the same, old product line. There's only so much you can do with 2 mass market products that have lost novelty value, look the same and have a cheaper sibling (e.g. Skoda Rapid).

Typical of German companies, I hear VW has most of its decisions approved in Germany and the turnaround process is unduly long. This might frustrate top management.


Karl Slym didn't exactly work wonders at GM India either. It has always been an under-performer.

You are right in saying so, working with Hyundai and then leaving it at a time when they are aggressive in new launches would certainly be a point of regret. After Maruti and Hyundai, I think a suitable place in Mahindra would have been a better choice then VW or GM.

Long turnaround process and no new launches leave employees frustrated with nothing new to implement or learn.

The stint in GM is also not going to be a fruitful one and the outcome remains to be seen. GM has not been able to match the growing expectations and needs of Indian consumer.

What is even more surprising is the fact that the press release of General Motors announcing the appointment of Mr. Arvind Saxena has no mention of his stint with Hyundai. Is it by mistake or is it a deliberate omission?