General Motors plans product blitz to boost India sales: report

General Motors is planning to rev up its India sales with new product launches in a bid to grab a larger share of market within the country and outside. Reports say, GM, which has been finding its sales in India sluggish even after 18 years of independent operations, is planning a product blitz to push sales.

GM is looking at a five per cent share of the Indian market, which is expected to overtake Japan as the world's third biggest car market with projected annual sales of 8 million vehicles by 2025, says a Reuters report.

The Detroit carmaker, is also looking at making India a new global manufacturing and export hub as costly labour raises production costs in South Korea.

GM, like other carmakers, is expected to launch new sub-compact models and crossovers to invite consumer attention in a country where buyers are shifting from smaller cars to models offering more room and features.

GM, which has developed some India-specific models, however, has not been able to create a global market for them. The company is therefore looking to reinvent and redesign its cars to cater to the sub-compact market.

"India may be the last big white sheet of paper in the automotive industry," Stefan Jacoby, GM's chief of international operations, told Reuters in a recent interview.

Despite an unchecked expansion of the car market in India, its auto market has been steadily growing for the past few years, with annual sales of more than 3 million vehicles.

According to GM, India's car market is unlikely to get saturated soon as it expects the Narendra Modi government to plan policies in such a way as to create more demand for new cars.

General Motors expects the car market in India to mature from $5,000-$8,000 models to bigger, roomy and feature-rich models reflecting the rising prosperity of the middle class.

While other carmakers such as Ford Motor and Nissan Motor have been able to realise the market potential in India, General Motors  has been slow to evolve strategies.