General Motors is now training its sights on India’s rural consumers. The US car major is pumping in big money to set up a massive dealer network to push its popular makes—Tavera, Spark and UVA.GM recently revised prices of Spark (entry level) in a move which mirrors the company’s global plans to push growth in BRIC markets. In fact, sales in Brazil, Russia, India and China grew by 41% in the January-June 2008 period as compared to the same period last year.
GM is launching mobile service/showrooms in C and D-class towns (currently accounting for 48% of sales), and is working with zilla parishads and gram panchayats to launch special packages for the rural buyer. Most of the existing GM dealers are being roped in to open up showrooms in smaller markets.
GM is also restarting its used-car business, apart from launching LPG and CNG variants. The company will commence the business in 10 locations across the country, and ramp it up to 30 by early 2009. In 2007, GM sold 60,000 units and is hoping to grow by at least 35% this year on the back of incentives, finance packages and new variants. There are no immediate plans to launch other brands from the global portfolio like Buick, Saab, Holden, Saturn and Pontiac.
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