General Motors India (www.chevrolet.co.in)
announced that it is shipping the first 3,000 left-hand-drive Chevrolet
Beats to Mexico. The vehicles left the Mumbai Port Trust of Maharashtra and are
expected to arrive in Mexico within eight weeks, with sales commencing in
December 2015.
“In keeping with our
commitment to the Make in India programme, we are proud to celebrate the first
shipment of Chevrolet Beats to Mexico, GM India’s second major export market,”
said GM India (www.chevrolet.co.in ) President and Managing Director Arvind
Saxena, adding that “This is part of GM’s strategy to make India an export hub
for global markets. We will continue to export Beats to Mexico on a monthly
basis.”
The Beat, badged the Spark
outside India, is available in more than 70 markets worldwide and has sold over
1 million units.
The Beat is produced at GM
India’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Talegaon, Maharashtra, which
has a base capacity of 130,000 vehicles. GM India began vehicle exports from
India to Chile in September 2014.
“In 2015, we plan to export
20,000 vehicles, compared with just 1,000 vehicles last year,” said Saxena.
“This number will further increase to approximately 50,000 vehicles in 2016,
reinforcing our commitment to the Indian market and our strong local supplier
base,” he noted.
He added, “We expect to
identify additional export markets going forward. This will help increase
capacity utilisation at our Talegaon plant.”
During her recent visit to
India, GM CEO Mary Barra announced $1 billion in new investment in the market,
including exports. The Talegaon facility will increase its base capacity to
220,000 vehicles by 2025. It will also become a global export hub for GM, with
up to 30 percent of its annual production planned for markets outside India.
Source: GM
India