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News & Features Interview with Lowell C Paddock, President and Managing Director, General Motors India
Interview with Lowell C Paddock, President and Managing Director, General Motors India
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Stepping in to head General Motors India at a time when the marketplace has been described as highly volatile, the challenges to navigate through these times is a daunting task, yet Lowell Paddock, President and Managing Director, General Motors is on a steady steed and has a firm grip on the course in which he intends on navigating the company as shared in a tete-a-tete with Vikram Gour
ZW: A lot of companies are hedging production against exports to ride out the market. What is your take on this strategy?
Lowell: Frankly, I don’t see that as a great strategy and we definitely have our focus on the domestic market. Not just in terms of sales but from a production perspective as well. It’s about the economics of the business and it is practical for us to work on localisation as opposed to being further subjected to a plethora of global scenarios. Obviously the market today is a combination of both global and domestic dynamics and that cannot be overlooked but with a local focus it gives us stability.
India is one of the most complicated markets in the world. The largest segment is MINI vehicles and profit margins aren’t very high on those, and there is a need for policies to govern elements. However from a GM perspective, I feel that the investments made in the past have been good decisions. A prime case would be our diesel plant which is paying off in today’s market.
ZW: How do you feel GM India will do this year? We know that sales have taken a hit across the board and the current trends aren’t very conducive towards sales.
Lowell: The market is down; however we are optimistic about the end of the year. Having said that, we are being cautious as well. Our growth depends on individual segments as well and we are looking at introducing some products in segments that we currently have little or no representation. By doing so we hope to drive our numbers to a healthy figure by year end. The festival season is something that all manufacturers are looking forward to and we are no different on that front.
From a long-term perspective the government will have to take the decision to implement an action oriented policy that aims at creating a conducive marketplace. Interest rates, which are one of the biggest issues hampering sales right now, will have to come down, and a standard policy on governance of fuel pricing needs to be looked at. These are just some examples but the fact remains that active decisions need to be made to cultivate growth.
ZW: Considering the current market conditions, what is on your immediate agenda? Is there a change in play or course of action?
Lowell: Our plan is to stay on course and move full speed ahead. We have worked towards achieving our goals set for the term and our new product introduction plans remain unchanged. We haven’t held back on localisation plans either, so to put it simply, we are not changing course and intend to add the right stimulus through the introduction of our new products.
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