PHOTO: VIVEK BENDRE

SMALL CAR, BIG INVESTMENT: Nick Reilly, President Asia Pacific, General Motors, with Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, at a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday.

MUMBAI: General Motors Corp. has announced that it is setting up a new vehicle manufacturing facility in Talegaon, near Pune, in Maharashtra. The company will invest more than $300 million in the greenfield facility, which will have an initial production capacity of 1.40 lakh vehicles annually with the capability for significant expansion.

To make mini-cars

GM will initially manufacture a mini-car at the Talegaon facility for the domestic market, which will take on Suzuki and Hyundai. This facility will more than double GM's capacity in India, given that the auto major is in the midst of expanding its existing 60,000-unit facility at Halol near Vadodara, Gujarat, to 85,000 vehicles annually.

The company assembles the Chevrolet Tavera, the Optra, the Optra Hatchback and the Aveo at Halol.

The land for the facility has been leased for 95 years by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and construction of the 300-acre Talegaon plant will begin at the end of this month. It is expected to be completed within 20 months with commercial production scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2008. The latest move will take GM's investments in India to more than $750 million.

Nick Reilly, President, GM, Asia Pacific, said the company would roll-out new Chevrolet products this year and next year. "For now, we will be launching all our products under the Chevrolet brand and will look to bringing in our other products at a later stage. We will start with small cars at the Talegaon facility but will introduce the small car from our Halol facility in the second quarter of 2007 itself.''

Mr. Reilly added that there was tremendous opportunity for component suppliers in the area of exports as GM was looking to move its supplier base from its existing sources to India.

GM sold a total of 30,837 cars in 2005 and, according to Rajeev Chaba, President and Managing Director, GM India, the company is targeting sales of 45,000 cars this year and 75,000 cars next year. "We have a vision of achieving a 10 per cent share of the Indian market by 2010.''

PTI reports:

The company has signed an agreement with the State Government, which will see General Motors India develop a new unit at Talegaon, near Pune, with an initial annual production capacity of 1.40 lakh vehicles annually. The plant will employ more than 1,000 people at the outset.

The agreement was signed by General Motors India President and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba and Maharashtra Secretary (Industries) V. K. Jairath in the presence of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Deshmukh said: "The presence of GM reaffirms Maharashtra as a leading investment destination. It will encourage other multinational and Indian companies to consider Maharashtra for their ventures.

"The State will extend its full support to GM's new plant to ensure that it becomes a success.''

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