Having stopped selling cars in the Indian market six years ago, General Motors has finally exited the world’s third-largest car market – India. The American giant has signed the agreement to sell its Talegaon plant in Maharashtra to Hyundai Motor India.
- Hyundai Talegon plant to start building cars from 2025
- Hyundai to invest over Rs 5,000 crore on this plant in the coming decade
- Deal completed after court approvals despite worker protests
The commercial sale agreement was signed between the two parties on Wednesday morning in the National Capital Region. Our sister publication Autocar Professional had exclusively reported a week ago on a potential conclusion of sale in August. Unsoo Kim, managing director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, and Asifhusen Khatri, vice president, Manufacturing of General Motors India and General Motors International Operations, participated in the signing ceremony in Gurugram, Haryana
In an official release, Hyundai Motor India said the company has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) for the acquisition of identified assets at GM India Talegaon Plant. The APA covers the assignment of land and buildings, and the acquisition of identified assets at General Motors India’s Talegaon Plant, and the completion of the acquisition and assignment is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent and receipt of regulatory approvals from relevant government authorities and relevant stakeholders, the company clarified.
Manufacturing operations at the plant are planned to commence in 2025, augmenting Hyundai Motor India’s manufacturing footprint. "With the Sriperumbudur (Chennai) and Talegaon plants, Hyundai Motor India aims to cumulatively achieve a production capacity of 1 million units a year. Leveraging the expanded capacity, HMIL will review plans to launch additional electric vehicle models into the Indian market, manufactured at its Sriperumbudur plant, thus accelerating India’s electrification goals," the company said in a statement.
Hyundai Motor is likely to invest over Rs 5,000 crore in the factory over the coming decade. GM Talegaon plant currently has an annual production capacity of 1,30,000 units. Upon completion of the agreement, HMIL plans to expand its annual production capacity to achieve its strategic goal in the market. Since HMIL already has enhanced its production capacity from 7,50,000 units to 8,20,000 units in the first half of this year, the capacity augmentation of the GM plant will lay the foundation for HMIL to produce around 1 million units a year.
The deal was made possible after the Maharashtra state government cleared all regulatory requirements and even the local industrial court approved the closure despite protests from close to 1,000 workers.
Just last week, the Maharashtra government's two key ministers, Labour Minister Suresh Khade and Industries Minister Uday Samant, confirmed that the state is doing everything possible to resolve the differences with the former GM workforce, which has become an impediment in the transfer of GM's Talegaon plant to Hyundai Motors India.
Saptarshi Mondal
Hormazd Sorabjee
Dinshaw Magol
