General Motors to launch MUV soon

Plans to enter the mini-car segment

General Motors India plans to launch a multi-utility vehicle (MUV) in the next few months and later also enter the mini-car segment.

The company's vice president, marketing, sales and after sales, Amit Dutta said the plan was to enter the segment in the next three months. There have been talks of GM eyeing the MUV segment in India, which has annual sales of 90,000 units, for quite some time now.

It was said that the US major might debut with the Chevrolet Tavera.

Though Dutta refused to divulge more, he said the MUV's price positioning would be competitive. Sources indicated that the vehicle would be called 'Panther' and be introduced under the Chevrolet umbrella brand.

Dutta said, the market response to the GM's SUV offering, the Chevrolet Forrester, was very satisfying, encouraging it to think in terms of a more sturdy and economical MUV.

He said GM was very upbeat on the Indian and Chinese markets and viewed them as growth opportunities. "We will be introducing other product programmes here as well," Dutta said. On entering the mini-car segment, he said, the move was inevitable, but still a year or so away.

GM had acquired South Korea Daewoo Motors international operations, but the Indian unit of Daewoo had been kept out of the deal.

Dutta said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been inked with Daewoo Motors India Ltd (DMIL) only about a month ago and due-diligence was underway.

It has introduced Daewoo's Matiz as Chevrolet Spark in China and should in all probability extend the launch here once it has full control of DMIL's operations at Surajpur near Delhi. Dutta said 80 per cent of the Indian car market today comprised mini-cars and GM couldn't possibly ignore it.

"We have a three per cent share of the industry today and expect it to grow at a much higher pace once we enter the mini-car segment," he said.

Currently, GM is aiming at getting 60 per cent of its business from the Chevrolet Optra and the balance from the Opel stable.

Dutta said, GM also intended to increase its multi-brand franchisees from 60 to 75 by the end of the year. "One of the key parameters this year is to increase presence both in terms of dealerships and service stations," he said.

Commenting on the steadily shrinking car ownership cycle, Dutta said the consumer profile for cars in urban areas had undergone a sea change.

"We have seen the ownership cycle drop from seven to four years thereby artificially creating more demand," he maintained. He expected the trend to continue as disposable incomes increased. Market penetration for cars is still six per thousand, he disclosed.

Dutta said, the entry level car in many urban areas was no longer a mini-car, but a mid-sized car.

The C segment Opel Corsa was at many places being bought by first users, he revealed.

He said, this was partly due to the high comfort levels offered by the car as also the perception of safety, additional features and status associated with a mid-sized car.

"People are prepared to pay that much extra and if operational costs go up slightly, they are willing to live with it as other benefits far outweigh the financial outgo," he said.

Dutta said, easy finance options and low equated monthly instalments also had a lot to do with this phenomenon.

He was in city in connection with the inauguration of a dealership in the city.

One-stop call centre

General Motors will soon have an exclusive call centre located at New Delhi, which will serve as a one-stop-window for all and any information, grievance, breakdown SOS or trade inquiry about any model in India. "We plan to launch the service in May or June and then our customers or anybody wishing to get in touch with us, would have to remember only one mobile phone number," informed GM's vice president, marketing, sales and after sales, Amit Dutta, here on Saturday. He said, 'Capmobile' as the service would be called, would be an interactive module whereby anybody would be able to contact GM directly. "Inquiries concerning, prices, features, fuel efficiency or even in rarest of rare cases, a breakdown would be handled at the call centre," Dutta said.