AP Favoured Destination for General Motors

General Motors India (GMI), a fully-owned subsidiary of General Motors Corporation, the world's largest automaker, launched a new model, Opel Corsa, here today, saying Andhra Pradesh was one of its most favored market.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sudhir Rao, vice president, logistics, said his company recognized the "tremendous business potential that the region holds and taken several initiatives to further consolidate our operations in the region," one of which was launching Opel Corsa in this city.

Ankush Arora, senior regional manager, sales (West and South), told IANS that Andhra Pradesh, along with Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, is the most favored location after Delhi and Mumbai in terms of a large market share.

"We are talking about holding a 15 percent market share. Delhi and Mumbai are important for us in terms of volume. But, in Hyderabad and small towns in this state, it is a brand-building exercise, of increasing the market share. We are targeting the state because of its (market) expanse and increase in purchasing power of people. There are rich belts in several districts here, which we are targeting," Arora said.

But, the company has no immediate plans to set up a production facility like the one at Halol near Baroda in Gujarat. Rao told IANS that GMI is "concentrating more on developing a component base in Andhra Pradesh. We have tie-ups with local manufacturing firms like Synergy industries (for supply of tyres) and Amaraja Batteries (for batteries). Setting up production units like the one at Baroda will only be part of a long-term strategy."

Meanwhile, the company is going all out to market the new model, along with Opel Astra 2000, a rejuvenated version of its premium segment car, which was also launched today. The realignment of features of Astra has now placed it at six to seven percent advantage over other compact car models, Arora said.

Rao said GMI has adopted a "straddle pricing strategy" to fight competition from other brands. This includes reduction in price of frequently used spare parts by 15 to 40 percent and insuring their availability across the country.

Arora told IANS that another marketing strategy includes the presence of GMI's "Opel Millennium Road Show," a huge mobile showroom spread over a 40-feet truck displaying the new models in Andhra Pradesh from the first week of April. The mobile caravan, which was flagged off from Ahmedabad on February 12, will try and reach out to the people at their doorsteps in 50 locations in the country, for a touch and feel of the cars, he added.