GM’s Chevrolet Sail setting sail for Indian shores
Chevrolet Sail - headed to Chile
GM are planning to export the Chinese designed and made Chevrolet Sail to India in the next few months making it one of the first Chinese cars to be imported into India.
In late 2009 Shanghai-GM set up a company in India with two factories, located in Halol and Talegaon, these two factories have a combined production capacity of 225,000 vehicles, and an engine building capacity of 160,000 units. By 2012 Shanghai-GM hope to have 5 models in production in the Indian market, 3 models are expected to be light business use models (highly likely to be Wuling vans) whilst the remaining two will be passenger vehicles, one of which is confirmed as the Chevrolet Spark. Wuling, who are in control of the Baojun brand, expressed that they wish to get ahead in the Chinese market with the Baojun brand before jumping elsewhere.
Wuling’s vans are under going testing in India at the moment and are likely to undergo CKD production in India in the near future.
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@IHC
What would you say with these reports???????
@ hk
> What would you say with these reports???????
It will collect dust at Indian storage lot. Indians despise China and India is one of few China-free countries in the world.
What do you mean by “China-free”? If it’s what I think you mean, then you are wrong as there are ethnic Chinese in India.
@ Gerald
> What do you mean by “China-free”?
Indians intensely dislike China and all things Chinese, so Chinese cannot flood Indian markets with cheap goods like they do elsewhere.
“Indians despise China and India is one of few China-free countries in the world.”
This line alone shows just how ignorant you are.
Look who’s talking
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201105090028
India’s inviting 10,000 Mandarin teachers from Taiwan and are sending 2000 teachers to Taiwan for Mandarin language training, not from China.
India recently turned down China’s offer of establishing Confucius Institutes across India and teach Mandarin to Indian students free of charge.
This is how much India dislikes China. But Chinese people shielded by the Great Firewall wouldn’t know this.
If the Indians want to learn non standard Chinese then so be it. There are differences between the two in pronunciation and writing.
@ woxihuanpijiu
> If the Indians want to learn non standard Chinese then so be it.
To Indians, learning so called non-standard Chinese from Taiwan is better than learning it from mainlanders to preserve their “China-free” policy.
@ihc
“To Indians, learning so called non-standard Chinese from Taiwan is better than learning it from mainlanders to preserve their “China-free” policy.”
Actually, you would find that most Taiwanese Chinese teachers speak English which would make it easier to communicate with the Indian Students than native mainland teachers who don’t. Also, the teaching style in the ROC is more westernized than in the PRC so it would be an easier fit with the Indian systems put in place by the Poms.
They didn’t ask for 10,000… it was just the number that came out in conversation.
http://english.rti.org.tw/Content/GetSingleNews.aspx?ContentID=125124
The Indians are learning Chinese, how exactly is that China-free? You’ve just proved your own ignorance.
@ Ed
> The Indians are learning Chinese, how exactly is that China-free?
Indians are not letting mainland Chinese set up shop in India in any form. India’s “China-free” policy means no Chinese influences within India allowed, not Indians having zero contact with China. Indians want to learn Mandarin as a business tool, to enter Chinese outsourcing market because European and American outsourcing markets have peaked.
Tell me then, is language not a form of influence? If you want to do trade on a large scale, it’s impossible not to be influenced to some extent. Indians aren’t learning Chinese to trade (mainly) with Taiwan.
“Indians are not letting mainland Chinese set up shop in India in any form. ”
As far as I know, Lenovo has showrooms and specialty stores in India.
They wouldn’t allow mainlanders to set up stores, but they would allow mainland Chinese corporations to set up showrooms and sell their products?
It’s simply absurd to say India is “China-free” when China is India’s largest trading partner. It’s not a choice whether India wants to be influenced or not as the two countries depend on each other for trade.
1. Indians do not despise China, go there and see for yourself instead of sitting in the States making empty assumptions.
2.Lenovo does very well in India, even their Ideapad line and G-series laptops.
3.India is far from being “China free”, I suggest you do a little research before talking, especially when it’s a country you know nothing about,otherwise you are just showing your stupidity for the world to see.
4.India and its people’s beliefs/attitude are not to be represented by some Korean guy living in the U.S.
@ Ed
> 1. Indians do not despise China
Yes they do. They very fact that you aren’t aware of deep Indian hatred for China shows how clueless you are.
> go there and see for yourself instead of sitting in the States making empty assumptions.
I have tons of Indian co-workers.
> 2.Lenovo does very well in India
Lenove is banned for government supply contracts in India.
> especially when it’s a country you know nothing about,
I know China inside out even though I never been there, right? Same thing with India.
> 4.India and its people’s beliefs/attitude are not to be represented by some Korean guy living in the U.S.
India and its people’s belief/attitude toward China are represented at Indian boards where endless Indians express their hatred toward Pakistan and Pakistan’s biggest sponsor, China.
”Yes they do. They very fact that you aren’t aware of deep Indian hatred for China shows how clueless you are.“
”I have tons of Indian co-workers.“
I have friends from China who have actually been to India, and what they saw is completely different from what you’re saying, who’s the clueless one here?
“Lenove is banned for government supply contracts in India.”
Nevertheless, Lenovo does very well in India, showing Chinese brands can achieve success in the Indian market, and its people are willing to buy decent products coming from China.
“I know China inside out even though I never been there, right? Same thing with India.”
No.
I know Korea inside out even though I’ve never been there, right?
“India and its people’s belief/attitude toward China are represented at Indian boards where endless Indians express their hatred toward Pakistan and Pakistan’s biggest sponsor, China.”
So you’re saying India’s total population is a few million? and their beliefs+attitude can be represented by (maybe not even) a few million out of over a billion people expressing their hatred towards China at the borders? Your logic is so laughable. You think you are an expert on China and India, the truth is, you’ve been making a fool of yourself the whole time.
Your bias towards China and everything Chinese is nothing new, don’t even start on India.
@Ed
Well Said!
I would say GM’s strategy is to start with those CHEAP bread van & Spark, then work up with Baojun cars in assaulting the Indian auto market currently occupied by the Japanese & Korean.
Let’s see how the Korean eat their words in front of us in CCT……
@ hk
Of course SAIC can export its cars to India. Indians have no obligation to buy them, however. It’s really that simple. As for Suzuki and Hyundai, they are too busy fighting each other to notice the small Chinese fish in the pond.
If Chinese do not understand Indian hatred of China, then it’s Chinese loss.
test
This will sell like hot cakes here, in India. One of the best-selling cars here is the Hyundai i20, which robs 80000 RMB from us for the base variant going up to 130000 RMB for the top end variant
@ Velutha from India
I can tell you are Chinese pretending to be Indian, because no Indian would quote the price of a car sold only in India and Europe in Yuan, which is 65,990 Yuan by the way.
What proof can i give you of the fact that I actually am an Indian?
Shud I recite the Indian National Anthem? “Jana gana mana adhinayak jayahe bharat bhagya vidhata”
To make it understandable to the readers I took the trouble of finding the exchange rate from xe.com and converting it to yuan.
if you don’t believe me go to autoselector.in & find out the On-road price of the i20 base model it is 5.6 lakh INR = 80,000 RMB
p.s. Your’s truly is an automotive journalist from India with over 10 years of experience & is currently working with the biggest Indian automobile manufacturer.
Any doubts about India, I’m here to clarify.
Do Chinese cars have a chance in India?
@ Velutha from India
> is currently working with the biggest Indian automobile manufacturer.
Which is????
Perhaps our new Indian friend can actually advise you on who is the no1 security threat to India, it isn’t China.
Chinese cars will sell in India if they are on par or better that what is available in the local market. Your McCarthyism is not really welcome here.
@ CCT
> Perhaps our new Indian friend can actually advise you on who is the no1 security threat to India,
You don’t have to wait an answer from him, you can go visit any of Indian military forums and see how Indians think.
Why is India spending $30 billion to buy 250 PAK-FAs, and $11 billion to buy 122 Eurofighter or Rafale? + 80 options(expected to be exercised, bringing up the total deal to above $20 billion) Why spend billions to buy 8 P-8A anti-sub patrol aircraft? Or several hundred rounds of supersonic anti-ship missiles? To fight bankrupt Pakistan? Hell no. They are all for China.
Can you still not able to see it from the Indian perspective?
> it isn’t China.
This is why you don’t understand Indians.
> Chinese cars will sell in India if they are on par or better that what is available in the local market.
Which means Chinese brands must beat Suzuki and Hyundai.
> Your McCarthyism is not really welcome here.
It is not a McCarthyism. I have a much broader understanding of the world and is telling you what the situation is like in other places and what the perception of China and Chinese are.
@ IHC
If you said Chinese made van/car is a small fish in the pond, then take a closer look at who is behind this little fish. Its GM behind the whole assault, GM-SAIC-Wuling JV is the organization to take care of the Indian market. GM-India is heavily involved togethered with those Chinese partners . If you still believe in what you are saying, then you are just the ONLY lonely guy living on this planet EARTH…..
@ hk
> If you said Chinese made van/car is a small fish in the pond, then take a closer look at who is behind this little fish. Its GM behind the whole assault, GM-SAIC-Wuling JV is the organization to take care of the Indian market.
Which is an SAIC controlled venture, not GM controlled.
When GM sold the control of its India venture to SAIC, they realized that they weren’t competitive in India and decided that they should better focus their resources elsewhere.
That doesn’t diminish the fact that GM is a major player in India with the power to influence its market and consumers. This is a JV, had GM not wanted to make more profit in India, they wouldn’t have formed the JV with SAIC specifically targeting the Indian market. It’s bovious that GM wants profit in this deal, and it’s not just going to sit there if Wuling/Baojun struggles to gain sales.
@ Ed
> That doesn’t diminish the fact that GM is a major player in India
No GM is not. Neither are Toyota and Honda.
Indian auto market is basically Suzuki vs Hyundai battle ground with Tata and M&M going for third and fourth place respectively.
GM walked away from India to bail out Daewoo, as you may know GM does all its Chevrolet passenger car engineering at Daewoo.
> with the power to influence its market and consumers.
Thank you for showing the world how clueless you are on Indian market situation.
Indian market is unique in that only A and B class models sell volume. This puts Toyota, Nissan, and GM at a great disadvantage because they don’t have competitive A and B class models. Suzuki prospers in India because it specializes in A and B class mini cars, and Hyundai builds Santro, i10 and i20 A/B class models in India that they don’t sell in Korea.
More wild generalizations as per usual, eh? I’ve grown tired of removing your wildly inaccurate comments.
@ CCT
> More wild generalizations as per usual, eh?
If you think Chinese cars stand a chance in Indian market, be my guest. But why waste money where there is snowball’s chance in hell?
Lets revisit this comment in 12-18 months time then.
@ CCT
Of course. But selling Chinese cars to Indians is like selling Soviet cars to Americans during the Cold War; it just can’t work out as long as China remains India’s no. 1 security threat.
On other other hand, African, Middle Eastern, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and South American market is wide-open for Chinese automakers, so why not concentrate on Chinese effort there?
Selling Chinese cars to Indians is like selling Japanese cars to the Chin… oh wait
Thank you for a very informative writeup. in my experience things are slighly more complicated than you make them seem. time will tell, but the problem is I do not have enough time. anyway, it is good to know we are not alone in the struggle. but you might want to reconsider some fragments in your post. after all, if it can do all that, why do we even need the rest anylonger? just a bit. cheers