JSW plans to acquire General Motors Company’s car manufacturing facility in Pune to produce its own line of electric cars, coded as JSW cars
JSW group plans to enter the automobile manufacturing segment by making electric cars at General Motors Company’s (GM) car plant in Pune. Reports say that the two companies have been discussing Pune’s car manufacturing unit and GM is intending to wind up its operations in India by selling its plant to JSW.
Started in 2008, General Motors’ car plant in Talegaon, Pune has an annual capacity of 130,000 vehicles. It mostly houses the production of its Beat hatchback cars meant only for exports. It has been reported that the factory, along with the land cost, engine and car assembly lines, amounts to around Rs. 3500 crores.
JSW electric cars
JSW and General Motors have been in talks to acquire the latter’s manufacturing unit in Pune with the sole purpose of working on its JSW cars, an all-new range of electric vehicles. The price range of a JSW electric car has been projected at Rs. 12-15 lakhs.
The company, which mainly deals in coal, solar and hydropower, had, earlier, expressed its interest to invest on electric vehicles, energy storage systems and associated business. Car companies have been investing to introduce their own electric cars in India as part of the government’s push to adopt the environment-friendly vehicles. Promotion of electric vehicles has been on following the plans of Suzuki Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Honda and others to launch their range by 2020. The government has also aimed at having electric cars by 2030.
General Motors in India
GM has been in India since 1996. Although the company had projected to hit 8 million units by 2025 and planned to make an investment of over a billion, it closed one of its factories in 2017, thereby concluding its production. It was acquired by MG Motor India Ltd, which plans to sell sport utility vehicles in India from 2019.
Anil Sharma, associate director at a Pune-based consulting firm, Markets and Markets said that GM’s selling off its Pune plant to JSW will send out a clear message on the US-based automaker’s exit from India.
