General Motors’ Talegaon facility on stream...

General Motors Corporation on Tuesday inaugurated its second vehicle manufacturing facility at Talegaon in Maharashtra that will help the U.S.-headquartered auto major make over two-fold increase in its production capacity in India to 2.25-lakh units.

Spread in 120-hectare, the new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility has been set up with an investment of over $300 million. The facility will employ more than 1,000 workers. GM will manufacture its compact car Chevrolet Spark in the plant for the domestic market. The facility will have an initial annual production capacity of 1.4-lakh vehicles and is designed to accommodate future expansion, in line with demand for its products.

“Coming on the eve of the celebration of GM’s centennial on September 16, the inauguration of our new facility makes a clear statement about GM’s commitment to India. As we enter our second century of doing business, there are few markets that will be more important. GM is serious about becoming a leader in India just like we are in many other markets around the globe,” said Fritz Henderson, GM’s President and Chief Operating Officer, in a statement.

“Today marks the beginning of GM’s next chapter in India. Our Talegaon plant will enable our company to keep up with growing sales of passenger cars, as more and more consumers move to four wheels from two and three-wheelers.

At the same time, it will give us the ability to expand our line up of Chevrolet products to meet the ever-changing demands of the domestic vehicle market,” said GM Group Vice-President and Asia Pacific President Nick Reilly.

On August 3, 2006, GM signed an agreement with the Government of Maharashtra for the construction of the facility. The foundation stone for construction was laid on November 21, 2006, while the pilot production of vehicles began on March 19 this year.

Source:The Hindu