DriveBlog

'They woo' no more...

Fed up with all the red tape, General Motors has announced its decision not to pursue the acquistion of Daewoo's plant in India. They however continue to have designs on the small car market in India, plans for which even include setting up their own manufacturing facility in India.

Update: And here's news of another big partnership in the Indian wheelspace that isn't finding favour with some.

Also see:
GM's big small plans

The one where GM gets the drift

Industry pundits and market-watchers alike have long since been critical of, and been puzzled by, GM's determined non-participation in the high-volume compact car segment in India. Save for a rather lacklustre showing in the hatchback segment in the form of the Opel Corsa Sail, the world's largest carmaker has had us believe that the lack of its presence in the entry, B and premium-B segments has been part of a well thought-out strategy.

Well, you know that bit about doing as the Romans do. With every carmaker worth its salt scrambling over the other to grab a piece of the small car pie, it probably didn't take a genius to figure out and tell GM what they were missing out on. Ergo, very soon, car buyers in India will have the Chevrolet Aveo and the Chevrolet Spark (nee the Daewoo Matiz) add to what is increasingly becoming a bewildering (in a good way, you understand) range of small and compact automobiles to choose from.

Also see:
The Fiat Palio 1.6 GTX vs. the Opel Corsa Sail
The small shape of things to come

Chevrolet connects

How do you make an 'all-American' entity like Chevy into a successful Indian brand? So successful in fact, that it gets ranked as the third best brand across all product categories and the best Indian automobile brand at the Ninth Annual Business Standard Brand Derby.

Well, the guys at the helm think that their strategy to...

GM's Indian saga

General Motors features as one of the case studies in a column on leading global brands that found the going tough when they brought their offerings to India. Mistaken assumptions about growth-driving segments, a shortsighted approach to moves by the competition and a couple of faulty operational decisions were some of the faux pas that GM committed during its first few years here.

General Motors on call

Opel and Chevrolet owners can, starting October 20, 2004 (if you're in Delhi & the National Capital Region and December 1, 2004 nationally), call 3030-8080 from anywhere in the country to talk to General Motors India Customer Care. Charges will only be levied for a local call. GM is the first car company in the country to set up a dedicated call-centre as part of its customer care programme.

Fiat attempted something similar earlier this year.

Upcoming Chevy Bevy

Buoyed by the good times it's been having in the D segment(Optra) and the MUV space (Tavera), GM now promises to bring the Chevrolet party to other segments as well.

And Chevrolet's trying something novel in the UK to highlight the Daewoo-Chevrolet rebranding exercise, come January 2005.

General Motors' Inner View

GMIL has a pretty confident outlook on where they are and where they're headed, according to their VP and General Manager. And this is inspite of a (claimedly) conscious absence in the high volume but price-sensitive entry segment.

Oh, and speaking of their future in India...I hope it includes this. One word - deelicious!

L'Optra Indien

The Design Edition Optra, being touted as the Indian edition of the luxury sedan has gotten itself a nifty but no-nonsense presence on Chevrolet's corporate website. (Turn your browser's popup blockers off.)

Now, if only the folks at Fiat would take the cue. The new Petra D remains persona non grata on the Fiat India website.