General Motors India Corsa launch in early 2000
opelindia.com
Saturday November 13, 5:21 am Eastern Time
By Biman Mukherji
NEW DELHI, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The Indian unit of General Motors (NYSE:GM - news) said on Saturday that it plans to launch the new Opel Corsa car in the domestic market in early 2000.
``The new Opel Corsa will be available in a notchback, sedan body style and is scheduled to roll out from General Motors India Ltd's Halol plant in early 2000,' General Motors India President and managing director, Richard Swando said.
Swando was speaking at a news conference after unveiling the Opel Corsa in India.
``It is going to be positioned in the lower end of the mid-sized segment,' he added.
The Corsa will be simultaneously launched across three continents - South America, Africa and Asia.
It will be offered in India in two engine variants - 1.4 litre and 1.6 litre.
General Motors India, a wholly-owned subsisidary of General Motors Corporation, currently produces several variants of its Opel car in its Halol plant in the western state of Gujarat.
``We see Corsa as the next step in the Indian market. We will have to build step by step,' said Swando.
General Motors Corp President G.Richard Wagoner said the company saw tremendous potential in the Indian market.
``We think the potential here is absolutely staggering. In the past, we may not have been as aggressive about India and the Asia-Pacific region,' he said.
Wagoner said the company would be open to alliances and acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific market.
The company is hoping to more than double its share in the Asia-Pacific market to 10 percent by 2005.
``We are currently at 4 to 4.5 percent market share in Asia-Pacific. We have an objective to grow to 10 percent by 2005,' said Ronald D.Frizzell, executive director for South-east Asia and India.
The company said it would also develop cars specifically for the Asian market. ``In future, we will see more products based on the Asian platform developed in Asian markets,' said Frizzell.
GM has equity-based alliances with Suzuki Motor Corporation and Isuzu . It has also been in talks with Daewoo Motor Co for a tie-up.
``Korea is a big market. We are talking to them (Daewoo Motors) but there is still a lot of work ahead,' Wagoner said. |
