General Motors begins exports from India, send first shipment to Chile

Mumbai: General Motors India today saidit has begun vehicle exports from India, with a first shipmentto Chile.

The company shipped the first lot of 140 units of its hatchback Chevrolet 'Beat' from the Mumbai port to Chile last Thursday, a release said here.

Beat was launched in the Indian market in 2010. The vehicle is produced at the company's Talegaon facility in Maharashtra. The plant has an annual production capacity of 1,70,000 vehicles and 1,60,000 engines.

The first 140 left-hand-drive Beats were shipped from the Mumbai Port on 25 September and it is expected to reach Chile in the next few weeks, the company said.

"The first shipment of Chevrolet Beats demonstrates our commitment to make our India-built products available in global markets," GM India president and managing director Arvind Saxena said.

More from Corporate Business

GM India will continue to ship models to Chile on a monthly basis, he said.

"We expect to identify additional export markets going forward. This will help drive capacity utilisation at our Talegaon plant," Saxena said.

The compact car Beat is already manufactured and sold in many markets across the world.

Available in both petrol and diesel versions, Beat is GM India's best-selling model.

As part of GM CEO Mary Barra's recent trip to India, she participated in the roll out of the first Beat for export on 10 September.

The Chevrolet portfolio in India includes the Spark, Beat, Chevrolet SAIL, SAIL Hatchback, Cruze, Tavera, Chevrolet Enjoy and Captiva.

PTI