General Motors India’s (Chevrolet India) engine manufacturing facility set up at Talegaon achieved a landmark on 13th December 2012 when it crossed the milestone of producing 100,000 engines. This milestone was achieved by the plant, thanks to the decent popularity of GM’s small hatch the Chevrolet Beat and the premium sedan, the Chevrolet Cruze. The company has also added another new model to its portfolio, the Chevrolet Sail U-VA which is also receiving a good enough response. This manufacturing plant was set up just 2 years ago with an initial annual production capacity of 160,000 engines with facility for future expansion too.
This production facility which became operational in November 2010 was built at a cost of US$230 million. The Talegaon facility is the only powertrain facility in the world that manufactures both petrol and diesel engines simultaneously. On the achievement of this landmark, Mr. Lowell Paddock, President & Managing Director, General Motors India said,
“This is a proud moment for us all of us at GM India. Crossing the milestone of producing 100,000 engines at the powetrain plant is a testament of our commitment to the Indian market. With the launch of the Chevrolet SAIL U-VA and the forthcoming launches of Chevrolet SAIL and Chevrolet Enjoy, we will be stepping up the production at the plant. We look forward to achieving more milestones as we go ahead and offer best-in-segment cars in the Indian automobile market.”
Currently this plant manufactures 1.0 litre and 1.3 litre capacity TCDi engines along with 1.0 litre and 1.2 litre gasoline motors too. With the launch of the Sail notchback and Enjoy MPV next year, GM speculates that there will be more demand and thus have planned to increase the capacity by another 140,000 engines (per year) in the second phase, depending on the requirement. The existing plant already has the provision to incorporate this expansion. Very recently, General Motors India’s Talegaon manufacturing plant was recognized by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Energy Reduction Progress. This production plant is also one of 54 GM facilities worldwide to meet a voluntary energy-reduction challenge set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
