GM may launch Cadillac in India soon

General Motors India, which has set a target to capture 10 per cent of the passenger car market by the year 2010, may consider launching its niche brands such as the Hummer and Cadillac in the near future.

At a ceremony to launch the Chevrolet Spark, the latest mini car from the GM stable, in the eastern region, the company’s president and managing director, Mr Rajeev Chaba, said, the Indian market is opening up and growing at a fast pace and disposable income of the people is on the rise. “It will be a business call but the way it is going we may consider launching the top-end models sometime soon,” he said. The MD, however refused to give any timeframe for the launch and said the company’s immediate focus was on the Chevrolet brand. The company has already launched three models this year in various segments and the diesel version of Optra will be launched within few days.

The diesel car market is expanding rapidly and prospects are high, especially in the ‘clean diesel’ segment. Diesel cars will comprise 50 percent of the total in the next 3-4 years, he claimed. However, the company is banking big on its newest model Spark. The present market share of the company in the passenger car category is around 6 percent. It will start production at its under construction Pune plant in the third quarter of the next financial year. “Presently there is a supply constraint from our side but that will improve after the Pune plant is operational,” Mr Chaba said. After that we expect to capture 10 percent of the market and the two small cars from our stable are likely to account 70 percent of the sales.

The company claimed that Spark will be most fuel and cost efficient car in the country, in its segment. It has been competitively priced at Rs 3.1 lakh for the basic model.