General Motors (GM) India, the Indian arm of the American automobile maker is set to commence the export of the Beat hatchback to international markets by the end of the year 2014. This will make India the base for GM’s exports of compact cars.
The move by the carmaker follows the parent company’s decision to unify the international operations and is expected to make GM India a strategic part of the Indian automobile industry.
The export of the Beat hatchback will commence in the last quarter of 2014 with shipments to Chile and later to other auto markets such as Mexico, Caribbean and Peru by the year 2015. The carmaker will start by exporting 2,000-2,500 units of the Beat car model to Chile.
According to industry experts, the decision to focus on exports also stems from the low domestic sales recorded by the carmaker in India. The automaker will compensate for the low sales in India by increasing exports to global markets.