General Motors Plans To Invest $1 Billion In India To Revive Its Brand

General Motors (GM) has been operating in India for close to 20 years but has not had the success that it would have expected. The Detroit based company recently announced that it plans to inject $1 billion into its Indian operations in an effort to pick up the pace, strengthen its brand image and increase its sales.

GM has a strong manufacturing base in India and the capacity to produce around 280,000 cards each year. However, the company managed to sell only 56,700 vehicles in India during 2014 and as a result is looking to make some strategic decisions that will boost the company’s profits in India.

GM has announced that it will shutdown its manufacturing unit in Gujarat and will lay of 1,100 employees in an effort to consolidate its operations in the state of Maharashtra. The Gujarat unit is expected to be shutdown completely by June 2016. The company also has plans to reduce the number of cars it produces in India to around 220,000 by the year 2025.

Speaking about the GM’s plans in India, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said “The important thing was to consolidate and really focus on one strong manufacturing base and our Talegaon facility has not only assembly plant but (also has) powertrain plant. We want to have a sustainable, profitable business in India. So we had to really do it differently (from how it was done in the past)… I think we are making the necessary changes in India for the long term with a business that has sustained profit.”