American carmaker General Motors today announced its decision to end the sale of Chevrolet cars in India. The company will withdraw the brand from the domestic car market at the end of this calendar year i.e. 31st December 2017. The company has stated that this decision is a part of a series of restructuring actions and similarly production of Chevrolet cars in South Africa will also end. In fact, the decision was so sudden that Chevrolet dealers in India have still not received any official communication from the company. Customers, on the other hand, are now left with the big question as to what happens to Chevrolet's service network.
To get some clarity on the matter we reached out to both the General Motors India and Chevrolet dealers. The company says that it is committed to maintaining its service networks across key locations in the country. These service networks will have trained professionals to offer after sales service, maintenance and repair. In fact, the carmaker also claims that it will continue to honour the original vehicle warranty and provide service centre support along with 24/7 contact centre and roadside assistance support.
As for the dealers, we have been told that an official communication from the company is expected soon. Dealers have also confirmed that the service centres will continue to operate so existing customers shouldn't have much to worry about. On the other hand, customers who are looking forward to buying a new Chevrolet model need not worry either as most dealers are stocked up on their inventory at least for a couple of months. The models that are likely to available at Chevrolet dealerships include - the Beat hatchback, Sail compact sedan and the Cruze mid-size sedan. Also, we have been told that there are enough cars in the plant to support them till the end of the year. Having said that, dealers or the company might come out with discounts on the cars.
While the company has ended its operations in India, General Motors is not exactly exiting the country as it will continue to manufacture and export models from its Talegaon plant in Maharashtra. In fact, sources claim that Chevy will manufacture only the left-hand-drive Beat for time being. Considering the current situation, layoffs are also bound to happen and our sources have told us that about 400 people will lose their jobs.
