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

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanuj_afc (Post 4201790)

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?

Exactly the same thoughts. I know it's hard to maintain, but if fellow members of the forum can guide us with the support details, I think we can do take that deal.

Btw, by the last month of their sale in India (Nov-Dec), for how much price do you guys expect it to be sold for?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanuj_afc (Post 4201790)

Will I get the car at a very cheap prize? Will it be a wise choice to buy a Chevy still?

I had similar thoughts but on a rethink decided its not a good decision due to:

1. Spares will be difficult to obtain, more expensive and probable cheaper quality
2. Difficult to find good mechanics in case of major problems/repairs
3. Reselling may not be possible after 4-5 years
4. Need to have another car handy to account for possible long delays in repairing

But one can still buy GM cars if they are willing to write off the cost of purchase and if its done more as an experiment. One can be lucky and may never face any problems even for 10 years or one could have a major issue leaving the car unused within 6 months. So its a roll of dice now, I think

I Was travelling to airport this morning and saw lines of taxi plying on the root carrying Chevrolet badge (Beat and Enjoy). Just the thought of cabbies who have invested hard earned money in such vehicles being left to the mercy of service stations with no dealerships backing them sent a shiver down my spine. A normal private vehicle owner is still more educated and with means to find the way out but what about the poor driver who has put his savings to earn bread for his family?

This decision has been taken keeping in view the new cornerstone of GM top brass that profits are more important than market share. We'd all remember that GM pulled out of Russia a few years ago and earlier this year sold it's Opel Group to Peugeot and left the European market.
In addition to stopping sales in India, GM is selling its plant and manufacturing operation in South Africa to joint-venture partner Isuzu. GM expects to phase out sales of its Chevrolet brand in South Africa by the end of this year.
Our auto industry being one of the largest in the world is attracting a lot of global names like SIAC, KIA (and now Tesla too), so it is a sad strange move by GM indeed because they did not have a bad line up here per se. They just needed a shot in the arm with some refreshed products and management.

And here I was hoping that we would some day see the Camaro getting launched in India akin to the Mustang, paving the way for a red light to red light drag race on a drizzly night in South Mumbai. What a heartbreak!

SAIC will probably replace GM in India. SIAC builds more cars in China than the entire Indian auto industry. SIAC still holds a 7-10% stake in GM and would be looking to enter one of the biggest automotive markets pretty soon maybe with Rajeev Chhaba set to be its first MD/CEO.

A request by influential people around to take them into confidence and make the spares available in the transitioning phase may work out for the people with GM cars for another 5-10 years maybe,

Just a thought!

RIP GM!

My first car was Chevrolet Beat (2011). I sold her in March this year.

My new car is a Maruti. One of the strong reason to chose Maruti was Chevrolet.
I wanted peace of mind for after sales service.
My Beat was excellent car, but ASC used to give me nightmare. I had to escalate all my major issues to get it resolved.
There was hardly any locally manufactured part. Most of their parts were imported from south Asian countries & they used to cost bomb. I decided to sell my car, when my extended warranty was about to expire.
I wish all Chevy owners get good service support.

An outstanding, insightful article written by none other than Jagdish Khattar.

Full ET Article

Quote:

It has been a long ride for GM in India. Frequent changes in the corporate structure resulted in absence of a long-term strategy. Started in 1994 with Hindustan Motors (HM) in a 50:50 joint venture, GM bought out HM’s stake in 1999 and went solo. In 2009, thanks to the global economic crisis, the Detroit giant became 50:50 JV with SAIC, its Chinese partner. In 2012 it bought 43% of the Chinese partner’s holding, raising its stake to 93%. With so much going on elsewhere, no wonder GM lacked a coherent India strategy.

There were other problems too — starting from the top. The Indian business saw a consistent churn at the top. GM, in over 21 years , had nine CEOs with an average tenure of 2.5 years; in 35 years, Maruti is on its fifth CEO. I always felt that the auto business is a marathon race — like a cricket Test match. GM CEOs played the T20 game. Expat CEOs moved before settling down. Stability at the top is critical.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKBKS (Post 4202086)

One more catch here will be that few dealers might also try hard to persuade non-suspecting buyers and pass on the cars that are used/ abused/refurbished/ damaged et-al., at lucrative prices and under the backdrop of stock clearance. Once the car is sold, they need not worry about facing the customer's fury later, once the problem is discovered. Neither the Company nor the Dealer would be available to own any responsibility.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4201143)

Thinking about it some more, IMHO GM will get rid of its Talegaon facility too in the future. There's no point having presence in the country if you don't have local sales.
...
It's just slow poison being administered. First, exit from Gujarat, then exiting local sales, selling Gujarat to SAIC and finally getting rid of Talegaon.

Talegaon would be a good facility for other manufacturers to lap up.
...

I can't agree more here. Seems to be a well-thought out strategy to avoid a run-in with the authorities (read Government, SIAM) in the short-run.

I am sure General Motors would have spent time in convincing those closely associated (OEM spares, dealers, vendors etc.) that all-is-well despite the exit materializing. A ploy for now, eventually MG Motors India (SAIC's Indian subsidiary) might acquire the Talegaon facility too. What more can GM expect?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashutoshb (Post 4201321)

I just spoke to guys at Boodmo.com.
...
They, for now, are assuring that they will keep providing Chevy OEM spares to customers. Again, I do not know, for how long will they do it.
...

They have to support now. Support will start thinning down after 3-4 years and then customers will have to settle for what is available. Have seen a friend of mine struggle with spares for his second-hard Corsa.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 4201326)

Seeing that a lot of Chevrolet owners are concerned, I just spoke to my reliable parts shop. He said that in the short to mid-term, owners have absolutely nothing to worry about. There is enough demand from owners of popular cars (Cruze, Beat, Tavera) for vendors to keep supporting them with part supplies. The business is there. In the long term though (say, 5 years down the road), he says there will be issues as most people will have moved on from Chevrolet cars.

If I owned a Chevrolet today & was happy with it, I'd retain the car. No point selling it at a bargain basement price. Use for a couple of years, save up the money you'd otherwise have spent and then buy a nice car.

You bet! Selling it now is like pressing the panic button and the returns might not be great. The idea would be to be on alert from the 3rd year onwards...

Thanks,
C_

I drove a Chevy Optra petrol from 2008 through to 2012. Clocked approximately 1,20,000 kms before the air conditioning compressor went kaput. I must point out that I had not experienced any other issues prior to this on account of inherent car build or quality. The vehicle was solidly built, had tons of space (I had upgraded from a Wagon-R and that may have added to the space effect) and was simply brilliant to drive.
Major let down was the service network. I had it serviced out of the authorized center in Jogeshwari in Mumbai and when I moved to Pune I was forced to take it to the one in Wagholi (while my residence was Aundh) as I believe there were no other centers close by. The number of issues that I faced during these so called 'routine' services at both locations was enough to make me quit the brand back then. Lackadaisical in all aspects and just not interested in delivering any semblance of good customer service. It is here in my estimation that brands like Maruti steal a march over brands such as Chevy!
I strongly considered the Cruze while I was in the process of buying a new car as it was and I believe even now is an excellent vehicle; I just had enough bad experiences to not go back to GM.
The resale for GM even back then was abysmal; needless to say what it would be in the coming months/years is anybody’s guess.

One more point which comes to my mind is how GM treated the Opel brand earlier in India. The Opel Astra was a competent care of its time and a sudden withdrawal made the cost of spares suddenly skyrocket. I remember going to Kurla-CST Road and their likes for getting a Opel Astra wiper motor and my friend having to pay a ridiculous amount in Kurla-CST Road!!!! The same with the Corsa and other Opel models inspite of GM re-entering India with its Chevy brand.

GTO's signature rightly points out to "Foresight is what really matters". I foresee a very bleak future for GM car owners in terms of spares, service or re-sale. Its better to get rid of their respective cars in case of an Ok deal.