Citing unnamed sources, 21st Century Business Herald reports that minivan maker SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) — one of GM’s China-based joint ventures — was planning on buying into The General’s India operations.
The talks, according to the source, have been put on hold due to GM’s recent restructuring of its international operations. In November of 2013, The General split off China from the GM International Operations (GMIO) geographic business unit, thereby making China a new and independent geographic business unit. That has left GMIO comprised of Africa, Southeast Asia, India, South Korea and the Middle East.
Currently, General Motors owns 44 percent of SAIC-GM-Wuling, while SAIC Motor Corp. — the largest auto group by sales volume in China — has a 50 percent stake; Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co. owns the remaining 6 percent. The 21st Century report stated that GM’s India operations incurred a loss of over $200 million in 2013 — which is not surprising given the continuous sales slump The General has been experiencing in the region.
Back in 2009, General Motors partnered with SAIC to become more successful in the Indian market. The resulting Hong Kong-based 50-50 joint venture brought the Chevrolet Sail compact sedan and hatchback as well as the Enjoy MPV to India. The Sail was the result of a joint development project between GM-SAIC in China while the latter was a rebadged Wuling van developed without any GM involvement. To note, SAIC reduced its stake in the venture to seven percent in 2012, supposedly due to the partnership falling short of expectations. Given this turn of events, we’re unsure as to the reason SAIC and/or Wuling would want a bigger piece of GM’s already-small business in India. We’ll keep our ears to the ground and let you know if/as soon as we hear more.
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As far as I know, this “resulting Hong Kong-based 50-50 joint venture”, called SAIC General Motors Investment Ltd. has been a shareholder of General Motors India Private Ltd for many years already. I have a share of 37% in mind, but can’t really remember the source for this figure. Anyway, the website of SAIC Motor shows this company as part of the SAIC footprint “elsewehere”, i.e. beyond the USA and Great Britain.
From The Times of India October 17, 2012:
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In December 2009, SAIC and General Motors Company had announced expansion of their cooperation in Asia and formed a 50-50 joint venture investment company. As a result of it, SAIC took 50% stake in General Motors India, which became an equal joint venture between the Chinese automaker and the American automotive giant. Following it, GM India had announced plans to launch a series of vehicles using platforms of the Chinese automaker.
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General Motors (GM) has increased stake in its Indian subsidiary to 93% by buying 43% from its Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group (SAIC) for an undisclosed sum.
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Here (in India), Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, VW, Renault/Nissan, Maruti etc, all have their latest cars in their line up, and are benefitting from it (high sales). We do not need SIAC vehicles (sail/sail uva etc which is old technology/design), What we need is the Sonic hatch and sedan (latest technology/design) along with good after sales service. This is not happening, therefore sales have been only reducing….
Anything GM can do to sell more cars in India is a plus
People are confused with Chevy…people think its a US brand but all these days GM has brought Korean and substandard Chinese vehicles to the Indian market badged as Chevy. Of course India also saw a bit of German GM in Opel until 2006. Today’s Chevy lineup is the worst that GM has in any country. Forget about a major market like India. By the time Chevy gets up to date model, other like VW, Renault, Nissan would have moved ahead. Forget about leading the market, they might end up with lowest marketshare for a major global leader. To me after owning two GM cars..Opel Corsa and Chevy Optra(Both were excellent vehicles), with the current lineup, no way I will enter a Chevy dealership for a new car. They need a new brand or bring back Opel. With Chevy, GM India will never grow…no matter you get Sonic, Camaro, New Cruze…anything. The brand has been destroyed. The Tavera emission fiasco has spoilt the reputation even more and It will take 10 years or one generation 😉 to recoup.