Team-BHP - Chevrolet to stop selling cars in India? EDIT: Confirmed on page 8

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- The Indian Car Scene (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/)

- - Chevrolet to stop selling cars in India? EDIT: Confirmed on page 8 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/185429-chevrolet-stop-selling-cars-india-edit-confirmed-page-8-a-15.html)

GM should have known better. They destroyed the brand after the launch of cars like the Enjoy and the Sail siblings.

RIP Chevrolet.

Well I got lucky and sold off my aging and should I say the most problematic car that I have ever owned, my Spark just last week. The writing was all over the wall since the last few years it was only a matter of time that this announcement came. Now just wondering who will be next?

So, now Chevrolet shutting down it's India operations, I expect the remaining stock to sell cheap. What if I visit my Chevy dealer in Oct-Nov, for a Cruze. Will I get the car at a very cheap prize? Will it be a wise choice to buy a Chevy still?

I always loved the Cruze, I did dream of owning it one day. What would a wise man do though in this turn of events?

The Optra Magnum has been quite easy and very reasonable to service and maintain, except for having to wait a few days for a broken rear windshield and an abs sensor gone bad.

It's still as fresh as it came after 50k on the odo in 6 years and great to drive in. This car is for long term ownership.

GM has been supporting on OE spares without any problem . Maybe now it's time to stock up on a few regular spares. Don't see any major problems as yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Cruze guy (Post 4200905)

I feel sad that my first post on Team-BHP had to be on this issue.

I own a 2011 Cruze LT. The car completed 1L KMs recently and is still going strong. The car is niggle free and is still fun to drive. I never had much issues with the service center people either. With the rumors of GM leaving India I tried to sell my car. But for the offer that I got I decided it is better to keep the car as it is running just fine. Will drive it for as long as it runs good and then give it away at any price it will fetch.

The GM through its official website has given assurance that the service centers will function and spare parts will be available for all cars. Hope the service centers will continue to function.

I share your concerns as I own a Beat. It is ill advised to sell now as the offers you will get are going to be ridiculous.

India is too big a market for GM to leave permanently. I am quiet sure they will relaunch a brand in a year or two.

Right now, my decision is to not sell.

A lot of BHPians are (rightly) pointing out that the cheap Chinese cars were a contributor to GM India's downfall. But GM India didn't have a choice. It sold 50% stake to SAIC in December 2009 for $500 million or so. SAIC got equal say in the Indian JV and would obviously want to test its products here.

If it weren't for SAIC, GM India would have shut down back then itself. Don't forget that GM USA declared bankruptcy & underwent serious restructuring by the USA government (CEO Rick Wagoner lost his job). The small Indian operations would hardly have been a priority then.

Did anyone inquire about the current discounts offered by the dealers at this point of time? I'm sure they will be more panicked than us

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The SAIC cars - Enjoy/UVA/Sail - were not exactly cheap (in monetary terms) despite being Chinese. They were priced on par with Ertiga/Swift/Dzire respectively.

It's like choosing between equally priced Samsung/Sony smartphone and Honor Holly 2 smartphone

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanuj_afc (Post 4201790)

Dear Tanuj,
If you are a practical man, I advise you not to buy the Cruze even if it is your dream car. The car would surely be available at dirt cheap prices but think about the resale, the cruze never put the sales charts on fire and after shutting shops, it would be difficult to sell and your accountant would not be happy with the reasale value either.
You will also not be able to get chevy genuine parts and the OEMs would not find any profit in manufacturing parts of a car that was never bought.
Therefore, I request you not to buy the cruze.
With Regards,
Shreyas Kumar Agarwal

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 4201866)

If the Sail was priced on par with the Dzire, then it should be considered a cheaper car. Because it is longer than 4 meters and didn't enjoy the excise benefits. When it was introduced, I thought it was a decent car, although it didn't excel in anything. The below average image that Chevy had didn't help either.

Anyway, sad to hear them leaving but I think it is a right business decision. Even if they come up with a brilliant product, people here will just wait for Maruti to come up with a similar product. I only hope that Fiat, VW and Ford fight on. I can't imagine being left just with the Japanese and Korean cars to buy. That's the day I will rather walk.

"Profits before all else" strategy of Mary Barra is responsible for GM's pullouts from market after market:

Quote:

She has ditched five international markets, including Russia, Europe, and India, in favor of more lucrative locales.

...

Including GM’s exit from Russia in 2015, Barra has sold or closed 13 plants and walked away from five markets boasting about 26 million in total vehicle sales annually since she became CEO of the No. 1 U.S. carmaker in 2014.

“We’re here to win,” says Barra. “We aren’t going to win by being all things to all people everywhere. It’s not the right strategy.”

...

Source

Yeah! GM's there to "win" by quitting! And I thought some wise ol' chap said, "Winners never quit, and quitters never win!" :)

It looks like Mary Barra and Cyrus Mistry might have attended the same management school! ;)

I own a 2009 chevy Aveo U-VA. The car has served me well and has only 36000 kms clocked. Last 3 years I have been in and out of India; however the car is serving me well. After this news I am kinda confused whether I should sell it now or keep it until it starts giving me trouble. The resale value won't be great anyways.

Here's my 2 cents

GM is clearly in bad shape worldwide and is just trying to cut it's losses. It frankly seems to be thinking only of the markets that are big enough and with a good enough image of its brands. It doesn't have the time or the money to build up its brands. And currently only really selling cars in Americas and China.

And as for taking its decision on India, the heads seem to have taken a good look on the course of the brands and the number of successful products it has really had. The ratio has been to the tune of 1:6, so it's not difficult to see the reason.

But for all these losses, GM has itself to blame. Especially for the products that it chose to bring to India. Opel was obviously not the best choice to enter with, and they corrected it to GM-DAT products. Optra although uninspiring was better value. Spark and beat were truly successful products for easily the better part of their time in the market. Cruze was successful and aspirational. But a product has a lifecycle of 6-7 years. You can't expect it to run any longer, and when you do replace it, you can't do it with substandard products. If the sail twins would have been a lakh cheaper, maybe it could have been better. Or if the enjoy was any cheaper than the Ertiga. They have fantastic products overseas like the Sonic and the cruze and even the new Bolt EV. Hell, they are almost pioneers in plug in hybrid tech with the Volt/Ampera. But after the Opel went back from India, Chevy has refused to take any risks. Even when it was selling well, the didn't try to get the Camaro here. And look what Ford has done.

I have the highest of the respects for the great products that they brought to India and which were truly ahead of their times. And just to be clear, I will list them.

Astra, Vectra, Forrester, S-RV, Captiva, Diesel Optra, Spark,Beat, Cruze. And just a little too late, even the Trailblazer

I have a Spark over 6 years old, just 30k on the odo. It works well, although had to replace the clutch and somehow the gearbox mount gave way once. Other than that freak fail, its a fun city car and nothing in that price came close when I bought it. And even now I don't see a car at 3 lacs that doesn't show signs of cost cutting. The Service support was good in Ludhiana, but the dealer I went to in Delhi was too slow. So I guess the A.S.S is mixed bag like most brands.
Just put new Michelins on it last month and plan to use it till it gets scrapped. Maybe even mod it as a tribute to the brand.