General Motors India recently completed roll-out of its first one lakh engines from its Talegaon facility, a milestone achieved by its Powertrain facility in just two years since its inception. This further reinstates the company’s commitment and growth in India which is fast becoming a big hub for the US auto giant. Ammar Alvi has more.
GM India’s one lakh engine roll-out was achieved due to the growing popularity of Chevrolet Beat and Chevrolet Cruze supplemented by the encouraging response to the latest addition to the Chevrolet portfolio—Chevrolet SAIL U-VA. The Talegaon engine facility is GM’s first Powertrain plant in the world that manufactures both petrol and diesel engines simultaneously. The state-of-the-art facility which became operational in November 2010 was built at a cost of $230 million. It has an initial annual production capacity of 160,000 engines and is designed to accommodate future expansion. Within a span of slightly more than two years, the plant has crossed the 100,000 engines milestone while also maintaining its quality and efficiency standards.
According to Lowell Paddock, President & MD, General Motors India, “This is a proud moment for us all of us at GM India. Crossing the milestone of producing 100,000 engines at the Powertrain 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. ”
The Powertrain facility currently manufactures TCDi diesel engines in 1.0 litre and 1.3 litre capacities apart from gasoline engines in 1.0 litre and 1.2 litre capacities. To accommodate the growing demand of its carlines along with the expansion of its portfolio with Sail notchback and Enjoy MPV next year, the Powertrain engine plant has been constructed with a provision to further increase the capacity by another 1,40,000 engines (per year) in the second phase, depending on the requirement.
General Motors India’s Talegaon manufacturing plant was recognised by US Environmental Protection Agency for Energy Reduction Progress last week. The plant is one of 54 GM facilities worldwide to meet a voluntary energy-reduction challenge set by the US Environmental Protection Agency.