GM India sales decline 7% for Jan 2013: Expects to break-even by 2017

Apart from registering negative growth rate at the start of the year, GM India also stated that following economic constraints and an overall sluggish market scenario, the company is expected to register just a 2% growth this fiscal ending March 2013. This growth figure was earlier pegged at 12% to 14% but following market constraints such as high interest rate, rising fuel prices, etc, this figure is now down to 2%.

During 2012, General Motors India sales touched 92,435 units in domestic markets. This was down 17% as compared to sales during 2011. Three products of the company were phased out. These included the Optra sedan, the midsized Aveo and U-VA hatchback. However, a new MPV Enjoy is scheduled for launch by end of March or early April and the company has just launched its new entry level sedan Sail for a starting price of INR 4.99 lakhs. Of these two new vehicles the company expects sales of around 48,000 units per annum.

The passenger car market continues on a sluggish note and General Motors in particular and the auto sector in general are eagerly awaiting the Union Budget, post which they expect a revival. Earlier today, Anil Mehrotra, GM India CFO, revealed to PTI that the company expects to financially break-even in the next 4 years. ”Our operations in the country are not profitable at the moment. We hope to break even in two to four years time. We are planning a good growth in the current year. We expect to grow between 40 per cent to 50 per cent with the launch of SAIL sedan and multi-purpose vehicle Chevrolet Enjoy (to be launched in three months),”  Anil added.