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Old 17th June 2014, 13:47   #1
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General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

General Motors' products have not been received very well in India. Its latest offerings like the Chinese-developed Sail hatchback and Enjoy MPV have failed to draw customers to its showrooms. In an attempt to turn things around, the company is said to have started working on a new project, codenamed Amber - a new platform from ground up, on which three new cars will be built.

These vehicles - a premium hatchback, a compact sedan and compact SUV will be targeted at emerging markets like India, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Mexico. General Motors plans to design the new platform in Europe and engineer it in Brazil.

With the Amber project, General Motors expects to sell about 1-1.2 million vehicles per year out of which India will account for about 1.5 lakh units. For India, the company plans to prioritise the compact SUV, which will be followed by the premium hatchback and compact sedan.

However, even i things go according to plan, cars based on the new platform will hit our shores in 2018 - a wait of four years. Till then, General Motors does not seem to have any new products in the pipeline. This could see the American carmaker lose even more ground to its competitors.

General Motors sold about 1.10 lakh vehicles and had a market share of 4.18% in India in FY12. In the next fiscal, the company managed to move just 80,000 units and its market share dropped to 3%. As on March 31, 2013, the company is sitting on accumulated losses of Rs. 2,740.48 crore.

Source: Economic Times
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Old 17th June 2014, 15:24   #2
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

I really fail to understand their strategy here in india.
They have a multitude of respectable products in Europe: Corsa, Astra, Vectra, Insignia and some very capable people movers too - like Zafira.

Why are they not considering any of the above in India?

My point is - When you already have so many decent platforms which are successful in mature markets, why not launch them here in India first.. rather then do a new platform?

Last edited by GTO : 18th June 2014 at 12:33. Reason: Typo
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Old 17th June 2014, 16:44   #3
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

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I really fail to understand their strategy here..
I think it makes sense that they are developing a new platform for emerging markets.I mean none of their other products took off all that well in India.They can't really go with the models they release abroad.I don't see how the offerings that Chevrolet,Cadillac,Buick,Opel etc have will do well in our country.Although owning a Tahoe or a Suburban would be pretty damn cool.Even the cars that are on offer in India currently are not all that great.I love the old Cruze just for that turbo.Interiors leave much to be desired for.

The Astra,Corsa and the Vectra were sold in India.Didn't go well though.My family had an Opel corsa.It was a very nice little car.But the FE,cost of spares(Not to mention them looting us for the service).We sold it off.Still brings tears to my eyes as to how much we sold it off for.

With the competition as heavy as it is now,they really do need to come out with a stellar product.
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Old 17th June 2014, 17:42   #4
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

This strategy may not be workable.
In any management parlance, we follow the SMART principle.

S-Specific
M-Measurable
A-Attainable/Achievable
R-Relevant
T-Time bound

In the above strategy, none of the business principles are being addressed.

By 2018, the competitors would have gone ahead with better and aggressive technologies and GM would already have lost major ground.

Infact, do we even know for sure that GM may still be around Indian shores till then considering that all their products have been slow sellers(except Cruze and Enjoy to some extent).
The need of the hour is now.

Address with competitive European products and back it with a superior A.S.S experience.
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Old 17th June 2014, 20:17   #5
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

"New platform for emerging markets" is probably a euphemism for cars that are perhaps not as structurally sound (crash safety standards) as existing platforms for Western markets.

Also, existing platforms for Western markets might be high on technology (chassis designed to have lower weight or higher stiffness, for example) but could be too expensive to manufacture, and hence not suitable for emerging markets.
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Old 17th June 2014, 21:06   #6
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

The Tavera is probably the only product from the Chevy stable that's keeping them afloat. The Enjoy will work well, just like the Tavera, in the commercial / taxi market.

The problem with Chevy's cars in India is that they just aren't aspirational enough. It's not that they are bad products as such, it's just that nobody wants to go out there and buy a Chevy when there are other desirable cars in the market.

Quote:
Originally Posted by abhishek46 View Post
I really fail to understand their strategy here in india.
They have a multitude of respectable products in Europe: Corsa, Astra, Vectra, Insignia and some very capable people movers too - like Zafira.

Why are they not considering any of the above in India?

My point is - When you already have so many decent platforms which are successful in mature markets, why not lauch them here in India first.. rather then do a new platform?
GM did try the Opel / Vauxhall brand initially but they shelved it pretty quickly. Perhaps they were too expensive to sell and service?

On asking the reason for considering the Sail instead of the new Aveo, one of the Chevy Big-Wigs at the Sail U-VA media-drive said that the new Aveo would be too expensive to make.
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Old 17th June 2014, 23:28   #7
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

For me, Chevy lost the game in India when they decided to discontinue Optra here in India. They should have gone ahead and brought the new generation models. They continue to sell Optra in countries like Egypt then why not India? Those cars had some character. The new sail series is just bland and boring and does not have any point which makes then stand out in ever increasing market.

Now bring this Optra back here and it will give tough fight to the other cars in it's category. Also, Chevy has amazing lineup of cars which will definitely sell, only if they decide to bring them down here. If they can start building up new platform, they can very well build their popular models here too.
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Last edited by GTO : 18th June 2014 at 12:35. Reason: Typos
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Old 18th June 2014, 13:41   #8
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

The above car is not the "new Optra". It is again a Chinese car, rebadged in some countries as a Chevrolet. It is actually a Baojun 630, made by SAIC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baojun_630

https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Ba...w=1241&bih=606

The real Chevrolet "New Optra" is the Chevrolet Cruze, which is sold all over the world (including Western countries)

Last edited by SmartCat : 18th June 2014 at 13:43.
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Old 18th June 2014, 14:31   #9
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

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Originally Posted by suhaas307 View Post


GM did try the Opel / Vauxhall brand initially but they shelved it pretty quickly. Perhaps they were too expensive to sell and service?
My Bad. I forgot the erstwhile Corsa and Astra.

However, I would like to point out that the car market has changed and evolved since then.
Indian market at that point of time (late 90s) may not have been able relate to these "european" cars.
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Old 4th December 2014, 15:36   #10
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

GM is considering a compact sedan for India in a bid to improve its faltering sales. Codenamed the 'MCM', the new sedan will be an extension of GM's Gamma platform. If GM India does follow through with these plans, the new compact sedan and next generation Beat, could arrive in India around 2017.

Link to Team-BHP news article
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Old 4th December 2014, 15:46   #11
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

I do hope it is based on the Vauxhall Astra sold in the UK.

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/v.../overview.html
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Old 4th December 2014, 18:00   #12
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

Quote:
GM is considering a compact sedan for India in a bid to improve its faltering sales. Codenamed the 'MCM', the new sedan will be an extension of GM's Gamma platform. If GM India does follow through with these plans, the new compact sedan and next generation Beat, could arrive in India around 2017.

Link to Team-BHP news article
2017 is quite a long time. The market would have gone ahead by miles and if they still try to get a carbon copy from their chinese offerings then nothing can save them.
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Old 4th December 2014, 18:27   #13
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

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Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth View Post
2017 is quite a long time. The market would have gone ahead by miles and if they still try to get a carbon copy from their chinese offerings then nothing can save them.
Seriously. Market trends don't have a that long a shelf life. Who knows what rivals will be offering by then.
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Old 5th December 2014, 10:34   #14
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

Why bother? They are already too late in the game and with their brand image in India, a new compact sedan is not going to sell like hot cakes unless they price is significantly below the competition.

They should perhaps study the Tata Zest. As far as I am concerned, GM has a worse image problem in India than Tata. Tata made a very competent product in Zest, priced it very well. It is so far receiving average sales. Good start.

Is GM going to be able to match what Zest would be in 2018? Would they be able to price it lower than the Zest or around it? Will they/ do they have better A.S.S than Tata? If they can answer all these questions with a yes, then they may sell a few thousand units per month. Far less than what Maruti, Hyundai and Honda do. If they are ok with 2k units per month then go ahead.

I just don't see them doing well in India. At least not in the compact sedan segment. Perhaps, they should just forget about volume competition and introduce their larger sedans/SUVs to compete with the likes of City, Corolla and Fortuner in their respective segments.
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Old 5th December 2014, 14:00   #15
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Re: General Motors developing new platform for emerging markets

I woulg agree with torque!! here. With the current line up vehicles(barring the cruze) , GM simply looks "not intrested". To add to this, the woes back home where they are sued for safety concerns will make matters worse. I have heard from a close source that the India business is mainly dicated from GM China/Korea. Thats the reason you wont see any cars from Europe like the Vectors/Opels. Rather they would be based more on the Chinese platforms and the old daewoo remnants
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