General Motors India will launch the Korean-built Captiva sport utility vehicle to tap rising incomes, and will look at other opportunities in the small car segment, its head told a news agency.
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President and managing director Karl Slym told Reuters GM India is confident of reaching its goal of a 10% market share by 2010, and will move quickly to set up an engine and transmission plant in India.
“Our sales growth has been strong, and we believe there is no problem with getting to 10%,” he reportedly said at a conference to launch a variant of the Aveo.
He added that GM had decided to build the engine plant and now “we need to move as fast as possible”.
GM, which launched the mini Chevrolet Spark earlier this year, would also look at more options in the small car segment, which makes up more than two-thirds of India’s car market, the report added.
“The mini car segment is not a segment: it is several segments and several consumers, from first-time buyers to those looking for a second car, so we need to look at it differently,” Slym was quoted as saying.
“We needn’t necessarily battle with the 1-lakh car, but we could look at different possibilities,” he said, referring to the small car that Tata Motors Ltd is scheduled to launch in 2008 that will be priced at 100,000 rupees ($US2,500).
“We are looking at all segments that make sense… we won’t close off any segments,” Slym said, according to Reuters.
“People are moving between segments and moving from petrol to diesel and other fuels, so we will also look at variants of what we’ve got already in terms of products and powertrains,” he said.
