General Motors India plans to start exporting Beat to African countries from early 2015, reports IndianCarsBikes.in.
The hatchback will be manufactured at the company’s Talegaon plant in Maharashtra and sold under the name Spark, as this is the name used for Beat in all other global markets. The Beat that will be exported will feature a petrol engine.
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GM is currently using only 25% of the Talegaon plant’s production capacity. The facility has a capacity to manufacture 170,000 cars a year. In order to utilise this capacity, the company plans to increase its exports from India.
GM said, “These are exports to left-hand-drive markets, so the plan is to ramp up steadily. We are developing India as an export hub for the Beat, so the ramp up will take certain quarters. The start of exports will create more employment opportunities within GM India and the supplier community while helping improve capacity utilisation at the Talegaon plant. Details on more target export markets and future models for export potential are still being worked out.”
Meanwhile, the company is gearing up to begin exporting Beat to Chile later in 2014. GM India also plans to export the model to other South American countries.
