With the due diligence process beginning next week for acquisition of the car assembly unit of failed Daewoo Motors India (DMIL), General Motors India (GMI) today said it did not require Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) nod for the deal. ‘‘The due diligence will start next week. We do not need the FIPB approval for taking over the unit of DMIL,’’ GMI vice-president P. Balendran said. A team, which consists of people from across the board and represented by GMI and GM Detroit, will start due diligence from Monday. The process is likely to be completed in the next two months. ‘‘Once the due diligence process in completed, we just need to inform the FIPB,’’ he said. Ruling out any plans to acquire the engine and transmission units of DMIL, Balendran said, ‘‘we are only interested in the car assembly unit of Daewoo which will be used to produce a compact car next year’’. ‘‘As far as the need for powertrains are concerned, we are increasing production capacity at our halol (Gujarat) plant,’’ he said. Asked about the quantum of the deal and whether General Motor Corp. would finance the takeover, he said: ‘‘I do not wish to hazard a guess till the detailed study of the plant is complete. Our parent company has all along been investing in the Indian operation as GMI remains a niche player in India’’. The announcement of GMI to acquire DMIL’s car assembly plant has revived the hopes of the re-launch of Daewoo’s compact car Matiz as Chevrolet Spark by the US automaker. ‘‘We will utilise the Assembly line for manufacturing a mini (compact) car, to be launched next year,’’ Balendran said. The Indian arm of South Korea’s bankrupt Daewoo Motor Corp. used to manufacture Matiz, a hugely popular car in the compact car category, and other passenger sedans Cielo and Nexia. The volume-driven Indian mini or compact car segment is largely dominated by maruti’s Alto, Zen, Wagon R, Hyundai’s Santro and Tata Motors’ Indica’. GMI, which entered the number spinning premium small car segment only last year, aims to double sales by virtue of the acquisition. The domestic compact car constitutes almost 78 per cent of the total car sales.
