As GM Authority has extensively covered in the past, General Motors has been having some troubles cutting its ties to the GM Talegaon plant in India due to disputes with the unionized workers of the closed assembly plant. Now, it appears as though the Detroit-based automaker has found a solution, as Korean-based automaker Hyundai Motor has expressed interest in purchasing the Indian Talegaon plant.
According to a report by Reuters, Hyundai has agreed to a potential acquisition of the closed assembly plant pending certain conditions are met. These include “regulatory approvals from relevant government authorities and all stakeholders related to the acquisition,” Hyundai said.
GM Talegaon facility in 2014
As a reminder, General Motors hasn’t sold vehicles in India since 2017, citing poor sales figures as the culprit for the exit from the market. Even so, GM hasn’t been able to completely leave India due to troubles related to legal disputes and the inability to find a buyer for the Talegaon plant.
Hyundai is the second company that has agreed to purchase the closed assembly plant. Back in 2019, GM was set to sell the Talegaon plant to Chinese-based automaker Great Wall Motor for somewhere in the ballpark of $250 to $300 million. However, talks fell through after the Indian government refused to grant approval of the sale due to Indian-Chinese tension.
In other recent Talegaon-related news, General Motors’ dispute the unionized workers of the Indian plant was ordered into mediation by a court in Pune earlier this month. The month before that, in February 2023, the union filed a lawsuit alleging GM owes the workers $3 million in unpaid wages.
Despite these disagreements, GM stands by its position on the matter. The General has “made very clear from the start that any sale of the site does not include transfer of employees,” GM executive director of corporate affairs George Svigoss was quoted as saying.
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Comments
Note Mary Barra smiling in the front seat of that red Chevy Beat as it drives off the line on September 10, 2014. She was for it before she was against it.
Would love to get ahold of that blue capital lettered GM sign to hang in the shop, before it gets demolished by an excavator!
GM not successful at exploiting the union Indian employees like they do everywhere else. When GM doesnt get their way they close the plant. My way or the highway mentality.
They should fire the plant back up again. As the world decouples from China, India grows richer. If I were GM, I’d be investing more in India than China right now, and that’s for multiple reasons.
-global tensions all are turning on China meaning that their ability to import/export are severely compromised
-Chinas population is both aged and on the decline, more so than Japan in the 90’s. They will cease very soon to be the #2 economy on the globe, and it will fall either back to Britain or to India if India steps up the the plate, which they are poising themselves to be
-China has reached “peak auto” unlike in western countries, communist China has capped their licenses. If you want to drive, you have to wait for another Chinese citizen to drop dead and give you a slot. The reason nearly 6 years ago that China outsold cars compared to the USA (not North America combined mind you) was that was the cap year and everyone rushed to get a car before the cap limit was reached. Even if it was a box on wheels. They won’t replicate that level of sales again while they remain communist.