| | Anxious customers, worried dealers, antsy vendors and a 4,000-strong workforce wondering if they still have their jobs. General Motors India has a lot of confidence-building to do in the wake of its iconic parent filing for bankruptcy protection. In a chat with ET Now's Nandini Sen Gupta & Abhishek Gupta, GM India president and CEO Karl Slym attempted to allay fears about his company and emphatically stated that it's business as usual for him and his team. GM India is saying it is business as usual, but sales have been falling on global news. February sales in India were down 11.5%, March down 26% and April down 57%. What are you doing about that?
In 2008, while the industry shrank 2%, we grew at 10%. While the economy was falling, we were still able to buck the trend and grow. In the early parts of this year, we were, for sure, affected by some of the news from North America, but we have also seen sales growth month-on-month in India. There have been some misconceptions about what's happening with GM in the US. But Monday's final filing is a great step for us in India because it's been made very clear that (the bankruptcy filing) is for the US operations only and it has also been stated that GM India is not part of the bankruptcy. Chevrolet will likely be one of the brands to survive, post-restructuring. But how much focus will India get? As far as Chevrolet is concerned, any kind of concern should disappear today. The Asia-Pacific region is extremely key as far as GM is concerned and will be part of any serious portfolio of the future. Let's look at India - $1 billion spent in the past couple of years to put the infrastructure in place to grow not only in the short term, but also in the medium and long term. Chevrolet in India is part of the new re-invented GM and that's what we have here. This really is the point when all consumers, either past, present or future, can feel very confident about the situation that's going to prevail here in India. What about Opel customers in India now that it has been sold to Magna? Will you support them? As far as Opel is concerned, we procure parts and accessories that are not locally made. We still have the ability to do that through the restructured Opel Vauxhall scenario and therefore, our Opel customers and dealers (who) service Opel vehicles have nothing to be concerned about. Also, the new GM is expected to own a piece of Opel and will likely maintain product development ties with it. Either way, there is a clear commitment to keep these businesses (Saab, Opel, Saturn, Hummer) as ongoing concerns. So, no one needs to be worried about Opel or question our commitment to support Opel customers in India. |
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