From Maharashtra to Mexico: GM India despatches first export shipment

General Motors India has announced the shipment of the first batch of 3,000 left-hand-drive Chevrolet Beats to Mexico. The vehicles left the Mumbai Port Trust of Maharashtra and are expected to arrive in Mexico within eight weeks, with sales commencing in December 2015.

“In keeping with our commitment to the Make in India program, we are proud to celebrate the first shipment of Chevrolet Beats to Mexico, GM India’s second major export market,” said GM India President and Managing Director Arvind Saxena. “This is part of GM’s strategy to make India an export hub for global markets. We will continue to export Beats to Mexico on a monthly basis.”

The Beat, badged as the Spark outside India, is available in more than 70 markets worldwide and has sold over 1 million units.

The Beat is produced at GM India’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Talegaon, Maharashtra, which has a base capacity of 130,000 vehicles. GM India began vehicle exports from India to Chile in September 2014.

“In 2015, we plan to export 20,000 vehicles, compared with just 1,000 vehicles last year,” said Saxena. “This number will further increase to approximately 50,000 vehicles in 2016, reinforcing our commitment to the Indian market and our strong local supplier base.”

He added, “We expect to identify additional export markets going forward. This will help increase capacity utilisation at our Talegaon plant.”

During her recent visit to India, GM CEO, Mary Barra announced $1 billion in new investment in the market, including exports. The Talegaon facility will increase its base capacity to 220,000 vehicles by 2025. It will also become a global export hub for GM, with up to 30 percent of its annual production planned for markets outside India.