Deal for Daewoo plant soon, says GM India

‘‘The non performing assets of Daewoo, passed on to Asset Reconstruction Company India Ltd (Arcil) by creditors, is nearing a solution. Naturally, a deal is likely in weeks, at most two months,’’ Chaba said.

GM India achieved break-even in 2004, only to set an ambitious target to sell 170,000 cars by 2007 or 2008, even as its US parent grapples with a financial crisis.

Credit rating agency Crisil has put the Indian subsidiaries of US auto makers, General Motors and Ford Motor, on ‘rating watch with developing implications’. The rating action follows Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgrade of the two auto giants to junk status last week.

Chaba said the US developments bear no impact on India operations. He said all options are ‘‘open’’ for growth here, including expansion into the volumes small car segment. ‘‘We are seriously evaluating a greenfield or brownfield investment. A decision is likely in four months,’’ he said.

GMI plans to introduce two new car lines from next year and three from 2007. ‘‘While Opel and Chevvy will remain the medium-term mainstay, a target of 1,70,000 cars by 2007 or 2008 is not possible without small cars,’’ Chaba said.

The Optra and Tavera will undergo yearly changes to keep the models up-to-date, Chaba said Corsa and Sail will get a ‘‘major facelift’’ next year.

The current GMI headcount is also being doubled to 1,000 and another ambitious scheme is underway to ‘‘follow the path of GE’’ and train workforce here to lend support and services to other Asian General Motors units.

‘‘We currently send out around 50 people who have been trained here to other hubs. We want to increase this number,’’ said Chaba.

In its auto component business, orders worth $120 million are already placed with suppliers, while the long-term strategy is to take it to $1 billion in three or four years, Chaba said.

The R&D facility plans to recruit fifty more scientists and 600 to 800 more engineers in a year as well. ‘‘We will use India as strategic partner for GM’s global operations,’’ Chaba said.

GMI’s Halol plant was recently expanded to bring out 80,000 units by June next year, up from 60,000, at a pre-planned investment worth Rs 50-70 crore.

In the long run, the company may bring luxury models like the Cadillac and Hummer to India.

Kerkorian sets offer for 28 m GM shares

WASHINGTON: Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian on Monday launched an offer to buy up to 28 million shares of General Motors common stock for $31 each. Kerkorian, who shook up the former Chrysler Corp with a hostile takeover bid about a decade ago, had said last week that he would seek to more than double his stake in the world’s largest automaker to 8.8 per cent.

—Reuters

Toyota says open to hybrid tie-up with GM

TOKYO: Toyota Motor is open to supplying its hybrid technology to General Motors Corp. to help its ailing U.S. rival regain competitiveness, the Japanese auto maker’s chairman said on Monday. Hiroshi Okuda said so two weeks after expressing concern about the health of the US industry, saying voluntary price hikes and technical tie-ups could be ways to help peers like GM and Ford.

—Reuters