GM India CFO Sanjiv Gupta appointed MD, Kaher Kazem heads for GM Korea

GM India, which on May 18 this year, announced plans to stop domestic sales in India by end-2017,  today announced that president and managing director Kaher Kazem will hand over the reins of the company to chief financial officer Sanjiv Gupta from September 1.

“Sanjiv Gupta is an experienced GM leader who has been a driving force behind our strategy. Sanjiv will continue to lead our plan to achieve better financial performance in India,” said GM executive vice-president and president of GM International Stefan Jacoby.

Gupta said, “It is an honour to be leading GM India at such an important time for the business. I have the benefit of inheriting a strong leadership team. We are all aligned on turning around the financial performance and delivering an orderly business transformation that supports our customers, our employees and our partners.”

Gupta will combine his role as GM India president and managing director with his finance leadership responsibilities.

Gupta joined GM in 2003 working in key roles in VSSM, auto financing, business planning, corporate fnance and treasury, and financial planning and analysis in the US and Canada. In February 2012, he was promoted to director, North America Financial Planning and Analysis; and in September 2013 was appointed Director US Sales Operations Finance. Gupta joined GM India in May 2016.

Kazem, who will become president and CEO of GM Korea, said: “GM India’s transformation is on track,” he said. “The overwhelming majority of dealers have accepted our transition package, we have begun exports of Chevrolet Beat sedans to Latin America, and our consolidation of manufacturing operations continues. This is the right time to hand over responsibility to Sanjiv, who will continue to lead the business transformation.”

GM India at present is the No. 4 in car exports from India. The company is solely focusing on exports to justify its manufacturing operations at the Talegaon plant. Between April-July 2017, the company exported 29,210 units (+72.57%) with the left-hand-drive Chevrolet Beat, which is sold as the Spark in many countries globally, being despatched to Mexico, Chile, Peru, Central American and Caribbean countries, Uruguay and Argentina.

GM India, which until end-June, was producing only the left-hand-drive Chevrolet Beat hatchback at its Talegaon, Pune plant, exports to many markets including Mexico, Chile, Peru, Central American and Caribbean countries, Uruguay and Argentina.

What really made GM leave India
A lack of proper leadership, poor strategy, the wrong product portfolio and accumulated losses have been cited by industry experts and pundits as the reasons why GM quit the Indian market. But these very reasons were also valid in 2015 when GM CEO Mary Barra made some grandiose commitments. The truth is that it wasn't two decades of failure that drove GM out but the uncertainty of its future in the country despite the promise of India becoming the third-largest automotive market in the world.

Recommended read: 'What really made GM leave India' by Hormazd Sorabjee in the August 15 issue of Autocar Professional and August 2017 issue of Autocar India