After a six-week tussle, the strike at General Motors India's Halol factory, 35 km from Vadodara, has finally been called off, with the workers and management reaching an understanding.
Contrary to the General Motors India's expectations of starting work at its beleaguered Halol plant from Monday, the deadlock over wage revision seems far from over.
The contractual workers at Halol were severed by 2016 as the contracts were not renewed, while the permanent workers were offered a separation package in the form of a voluntary retirement scheme
Sources claim that 68-70 per cent of the workers at Halol are permanent ones, while the balance is tilted towards contractual workers at Talegaon.
Company officials have maintained that the closure is a routine exercise and is not a fallout of the ongoing global meltdown. "There will be no production at the company's Halol unit for about two weeks," said P Balendran, vice-president, GM India. The company has shut production from December 13 to December 30.
In 2015, the auto major had announced that it would cease production at the plant, a move that affected around 1,100 employees.
Around 625 workers have been fasting since Monday; no disruption of production at the plant
Both are finding it difficult to sell one each of their plants -- Chennai Maraimalai Nagar (Ford) and Talegaon near Pune (GM) -- and are finding the road blocked by employee severance snarl-ups, report Sohini Das and Shine Jacob.
In a chat with Sohini Das, GM India president and managing director Karl Slym says, with the launch of the new compact car, Beat, and a positive response to the Cruze, GM plans to cross the 100,000-unit mark this year in sales.
Maharashtra's Labour Minister Dilip Walse-Patil has sought a written submission from the General Motors' (GM) Employees Union and the management of the company detailing its stance on the issue of plant closure. The labour minister asked the warring sides for submission at a hearing on Tuesday. Both sides have been given a week's time to reply.
General Motors India on Wednesday said its sales grew 42 per cent in February 2005 and announced that expansion of its Halol plant would be completed later this month.
The $100-billion SAIC would have a dedicated manufacturing facility in India, and would be the first Chinese automaker to do so.
Workers resorted to strike at the Halol facility in Gujarat that has an installed capacity of 85,000 units a year.
GM has also exited from four other international markets, including Russia and Europe.
In spite of straddling the market with multiple competitively priced models, GM was pushed to the fringes by the rivals from Japan and Korea.
The move marks the entry of GWM, one of the largest manufacturers of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pick-ups, into the Indian market and a complete exit for GM from the country, two years after it stopped selling cars here.
Floods in Gujarat caused a Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) loss to General Motors India and the company said it expected sales performance to be hit, for the second consecutive month, in July.\n\n
General Motors India had completed all investments intended for the country well before its parent's bankruptcy filing, said Karl Slym, president & MD.
General Motors said on Thursday it will launch a mini car in India in the first half of next year.
GM has invested $1 billion in the country since 1996.
General Motors India on Tuesday introduced a new version of its multi-utility vehicle Chevrolet Tavera, the Elite range even as the company prepares to rev up capacity at its Halol plant to meet rising demands.
General Motors India on Friday said it would be hiking the price of its multi-purpose vehicle 'Tavera' and premium sedan 'Optra' by 1-2 per cent and will invest Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) to hike the capacity at its Halol plant to 80,000 units.
Karl Slym, president and managing director of General Motors India Private Limited, said the company would launch Chevrolet Cruze, its new offering in the Chevrolet Spark segment, by third quarter of its financial year ended December 2009. Slym added, "The car will be priced similar to Chevrolet Spark. As far as the minicar is concerned, we are not competing with Tata Motors' Nano, which is a different segment."
General Motors India, which was converted into a 50:50 joint venture between General Motors and SAIC last year, will be making a significant investment in terms of 'millions of dollars' at its Halol plant in Gujarat.
Production was halted at the Halol plant of General Motors in Gujarat because of heavy rains, a senior company official said on Thursday.
As per the conditions set by General Motors, a dealer who does not accept its offer by July 15 would get only 50 per cent of the compensation amount being offered.
The Halol facility is projected to operate in three shifts to cater to production of LCV's and the automaker plans to hire new suppliers for it as well.
Spark will be targeted to cut a major slice of the growing small segment pie.
General Motors India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors Corporation, on Friday announced expansion of production capacity of its Halol facility to 60,000 units per annum.
Talks between the management and workers on strike have so far failed to yield any result and even the threat to terminate jobs have not made the nearly 200 agitating employees return to duty.
The company, which plans to launch three light commercial vehicles from the stable of its Chinese partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation during the same time period, also said it has lined up to introduce 14 new variants of its existing car models.
GM chief Mary Barra reveals turnaround plans.
GM India said customers will be able to book the Trailblazer on Amazon.in only from October 21-25, at a reservation deposit of Rs 25,000.
General Motors aims to grab at least 5 per cent market share in India within the next decade.
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