History
General Motors started doing business in India in 1928, assembling Chevrolet cars, trucks and buses, but ceased its assembly operations in 1952. GM continued with tie-ups with Hindustan Motors to build Bedford trucks, Vauxhall cars, Allison Transmissions and off-road equipment.
In 1994, GMIPL was formed as a joint venture, owned 50 percent by Hindustan Motors and 50 percent by General Motors, to produce and sell Opel branded vehicles. GM bought out the Hindustan Motors interest in 1999.[4][5] GMIPL continued to produce Opel cars at the Halol facility until 2003, when it started production of Chevrolet vehicles at that location.
In 2000, GMIPL moved its headquarters to Gurgaon. In 2003, the company opened its technical center operations in Bangalore, which included research and development and vehicle engineering activities. The technical center operations were expanded to include purchasing and financial support services for General Motors operations located outside of India (2006), vehicle engine and transmission design and engineering (2007) and a vehicle design studio (2007).
GMIPL began construction of a second vehicle assembly plant in Talegaon in 2006, which began production of Chevrolet vehicles in September 2008.
In late 2009, General Motors announced that it would put its India operation into a 50–50 venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation of China, which is the partner of GM's main venture in China.[6]
In October 2012, General Motors-Chevrolet announced that it has increased stake in its Indian subsidiary to 93% by buying 43% from its Chinese partner SAIC for an undisclosed sum.[1]
In December 2017, the company stopped selling Chevrolet vehicles in the Indian market, while the Beat continued to be manufactured at the Talegaon plant for exports. The Talegaon plant was closed on 24 December 2020.[7]
In January 2020, it was announced Chinese automobile manufacturer Great Wall Motors was set to acquire General Motors’ Talegaon manufacturing plant near Pune.[8][9][10] The plant was expected to be sold by December 2020 but due to the 2020 China–India skirmishes, the Indian government has not yet approved the sale of the plant. This was the last GM plant in India after the sale of the Halol, Gujarat plant to SAIC.[11] The deal collapsed in June 2022.[12] But instead, Hyundai Motor Company acquired Talegaon plant in 2023. [13]
