GM India extends production at Halol plant until March 2017

GM India today announced that it will extend production at its Halol assembly plant in Gujarat until March 2017 and will not shut it in August as stipulated earlier.

The US-based carmaker also said that it will produce an upgraded version of the Tavera at Halol, while it continues to review future options for the site.

According to GM India President and Managing Director Kaher Kazem, this will provide more time to ensure an orderly transition for employees, suppliers and other stakeholders as the company continues to work through options for the facility.

“GM India will continue with our plan to consolidate manufacturing at our Talegaon plant, we are exploring a number of options in relation to the Halol site, including its sale. Selling the plant may include contract manufacturing to ensure continuity for the upgraded Chevrolet Tavera,” Kazem said.

The Halol plant in Gujarat came on stream in June 1996 and has a current installed capacity of 110,000 units per annum. The carmaker currently manufactures its Enjoy, Tavera and Cruze models at the facility.

Recently the company had announced shelving the launch of its new production ready Spin MPV, given the slowing demand in the segment and is instead now focusing on bringing in full-blown SUVs and crossover to the country.

Apart from Halol, GM India's Talegaon plant in Maharashtra has an annual capacity of 130,000 units. In FY2015-16, GM India produced only 34,544 vehicles, thus utilising only 14% of its overall manufacturing capacity.

GM India plans to launch at least five new Chevrolet models within the space of 24 months, including the new Trailblazer, new Beat, Essentia new Cruze and Beat Activ.