Hindustan Motors and GM India to sign agreement for powertrains

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Hindustan Motors (HM) and GM India (GMI) are in the process of signing an agreement for supply of engines and transmissions for GMI’s proposed new vehicle. Under the proposed tie up, HM will manufacture engines and transmissions at their plant in Pithampur near Indore. General Motors India will provide the necessary technical support to manufacture these power trains for their requirement in India. C.K. Birla, chairman, Hindustan Motors Ltd, said, "Our tie up with GM India is a testimony of our capability to manufacture world class engine and transmissions. It is also reflective of the trust that others have in our quality. The tie up also forms a part of an overall change in the strategic direction for HM - from being a pure automobile manufacturer, we are now consolidating our position as an aggregate provider for other players in the industry." Aditya Vij, CEO, GM India said, "In an extremely competitive environment like ours, localisation is key to reduce the cost of ownership. With this tie up, we will be able to price our product competitively and offer the best to our customers at an affordable price. Our decision to outsource engine and transmissions from HM was preceded by an assessment of its facilities by our engineering team and we are convinced of HM’s capability to produce the power trains for us" The tie up makes sound business sense for both Hindustan Motors and General Motors India. While Hindustan Motors will be able to utilize the existing capacity at its Pithampur plant and pave way for further growth, GM India gets to cut costs of production as local content increases. Hindustan Motors’ Pithampur Plant near Indore is a well-equipped facility and manufactures petrol, diesel and CNG power trains for all HM products. General Motors India is a fully owned subsidiary of General Motors Corporation of USA and rolls out the German engineered Opel Models, the Astra, Corsa and Opel Swing from its state-of-the-art facility at Halol In Gujarat.