Interview with Ashwani Muppasani, VP-Sales, Marketing & After-Sales, General Motors India

Company Description: General Motors India has completed 16 years of operation in India. It started its journey in 1996 and now offers products under the Chevrolet brand, which was introduced in India in 2003. Last year, about 4.76 million Chevrolets were sold in more than 140 countries, or one every 6.65 seconds. Like most other automotive companies in India, GM India appoints independently owned dealers to sell, service and market vehicles that it produces. As of August 2008, the company has managed the Chevrolet dealership network (including export dealers located in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan) from its headquarters in Gurgaon, and regional zone offices in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. With a wide range of product portfolio including Chevrolet Spark, Chevrolet Beat, Chevrolet Sail U-VA, Chevrolet Captiva, Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Tavera for sale in India, GM India operates manufacturing facilities in Halol, Gujarat and in Talegaon, Maharashtra.

You had your stints with various departments of General Motors in various parts of the globe. Which one would you consider the most formative years of your professional life?

Everything offers a unique flair. Everywhere, there were different learning opportunities for me. I would not consider one being better than the other. All of them had its unique set of experiences. For example, when I started in the United States 16 years ago, I was a manufacturing engineer and moved into supervision. Then I went onto run our plants. I actually worked on brand new lines, putting up and installing new products. That was a different experience which teaches you different discipline and how important the production is and how you have to take decisions faster. This is because the results are very immediate when it pertains to decisions related to quality, union, production or safety. That’s where you learn the decision making quality. Once you go to China, it just opens up your mind. It makes you learn the sensitiveness of the culture and adapt quickly. It was a good experience to witness the burgeoning automotive industry in the supply base. When you are in the US, everything is centred around that country.  When you go to Latin America, it’s more similar to India when it comes to values, cultures, aspirations, economic conditions, etc. But when you go to Africa, it is completely a different environment. So it teaches you how to adapt with different people, culture, supplier base, etc.

And what learnings have you derived from the Indian market?

In India, I joined as the VP (Purchasing) where I was managing direct purchasing, quality development, programme planning, logistics, supply chain, etc.  So it makes you grow more. And now I have been asked to join the Sales and Marketing department (until December-end) in a difficult environment. So I wouldn’t consider one stint better than the other.  Unless you work in the market and know the dynamics well, you can throw your conventional wisdom away. You have to be quick on your feet. This is because the sentiments in the Indian market change very quickly. As the market changes very quickly, you have to be very proactive in your approach. Nearly two years ago, everyone said the mini-B segment is not going to grow. But they are shocked. This is because when you plan something, it’s a two-year process to bring in a product. Those predicted that B2 segment is going to grow have actually benefitted. So there are a lot of challenges in India. But it’s also a great experience working here. This is because if you can survive in a dynamic market like India, it gives you a lot of self-confidence.

Do you with the SAIC products coming in, GM India will able to boost its fortunes?

Even though we are not satisfied with the numbers, we have been doing exceedingly well in the B1 segments. If you compare our growth with our competitors, we have bucked the trend. This is because our peers have seen a double digit decline in growth in the minicar segment. So the industry has dragged down even in Nov’12.  Yes, we are acting with three less products than last year. But more importantly, we are adding those products back to our portfolio with petrol and diesel variants. If you look at the year 2011-12, the cars that we have phased out like Aveo, U-VA, etc have been replaced by brand new products (Sail hatchback and notchback respectively). We are also coming out with an MPV Enjoy by next year.  So it’s not indicative of a year or the future. We are in this business for a long term. That’s what the company, at the leadership level, believes in. We have invested US$ 1 billion in India.

Your recent rollout Sail-UVA is incidentally the first model sourced from SAIC. What has been its response? Are you happy about it?

We are happy with what we have done with the Sail U-VA hatchback. Would we do better in this segment? Absolutely! This is because B2 is a growing segment and is contributing one-third of the passenger car industry. We are only as we introduce models. Maybe the timing aspect of the Sail U-VA’s launch was not perfect.  But at the same time, we didn’t want to let go the opportunities. It’s living up to our expectation in delivering the volumes that we had expected. We could deliver the vehicle only by the third week of November just after Diwali. The purchasing spree came down post the festive season but there was a reason why we introduced it. This is because the notchback version of Sail is going to come in during the early part of 2013. So we didn’t want to overlap everything together when it comes to dealership preparation, etc. As we get this product on the road, the more customers are watching it and walking it into our showrooms. What we are offering with the Sail U-VA is value, space, etc. The most encouraging thing is that we don’t have any negativity about this product. Whoever has bought it is very happy.

What have you thought about the diesel engine plant that you were planning to build at Talegon?

Our powertrain unit is pretty flexible and there is no holding back on assembly lines for diesel engines. And we have never planned to establish a separate assembly line for diesel engines at Talegaon. The reason why we have put in a flexible engine plant in India is because we wanted to make both petrol and diesel powertrains. This is in tune with the market requirements. We are quite comfortable and capable of switching our model mix

Do you witness any change in the buying patterns amongst the consumers from 2013? If yes, what is it exactly?

I think the buying patterns will remain the same. The aspirations are growing in the marketplace.  The minicar segment is something which will continue to grow. It is still going to play a bigger role.  The compact SUV segment will also witness an unprecedented growth. However, the sluggishness of the overall industry will continue to remain.

One of the sub-segments of minicars is the premium compact car where you have the Beat. But your competitors are now looking for incremental volumes with automatic transmission versions? So what are you doing on that front?

It’s not that we don’t look at everything. That’s why we have a very capable product planning department. What we have to see whether the penetration of automatic transmission variants is higher or not because of the traffic conditions. We also have to see whether the consumer is ready to compromise the fuel economy of the car at the price of an automatic gearbox.  We have not seen that trend yet. We know that there are AT models available (by competitors). It’s not that we are not looking at it. There are alternatives available. For example, if you look at the Cruze, we are offering both automatic and manual transmission options. In that segment, the consumer will not mind a whole lot.  But in the small car segment, the penetration is pretty small.

Do you think India can be the global small car hub for General Motors in the next few years? If yes, could you shed some light on that?

We didn’t make investments for export purposes. They are mainly made for domestic purposes. Our policy is we make where we sell. Although we leverage on our global architecture and global platforms, we are committed to the domestic market. And domestically, we want to make a change.

Why is GM shying away from bringing in high-end cars like the Corvette or Camaro to enhance its brand equity?

 When we bring in those cars in India, we have to gauge various parameters like ground clearance, volumes, etc. I know that they are flagship cars and we have aspirant buyers here. We would love to serve those customers. But again, the economies of scale factor is not favourable. We also have to ensure that spare parts availability and high-quality services are promptly offered. We should not be bringing cars that are not equipped to service our customers.

Is it the same reason you are not considering the ‘Cadillac’ brand?

Nobody is saying no for this brand. It all depends on the business cases like what works well and how many volumes versus what our main purpose is for India. We want to play where we need to make a profitable market. We have a lot of work to do and the resources are scarce. So we have to put our resources where it makes more sense for the company. So we have to consolidate everything.

Could you talk a little bit about the design studio as well as a powetrain and engineering centre that is located in Bangalore? Is it contributing to your global operations or are they meeting only local needs?

The vehicle engineering and powertrain centre has over 2,000 people on its rolls. And we also have a global design centre over there. It is contributing to both our local and global operations. We are capable of building a car ground-up too.

What is your vision for the company?

Like any other manufacturer, we want to be a big player that provides value to our customers. We are very successful in all the countries where we are operating in like Latin America, Russia, China, etc. There are a lot of countries where have played big. We sell almost nine million vehicles a year there. We have the capabilities and ambitions for the Indian market as well. We want to be one of the major players. We think that we have the right product mix to get that.