Another carmaker quits India! Will it affect you?

The Indian market is a tough one to survive for manufacturers. In India, brands have to improvise a lot to sell their products due to different taxation rules and buyers’ ever-evolving mindsets. Ford, such a big conglomerate, learnt it the hard way last year when it had to quit the Indian market. Now another manufacturer is on its way out. But this manufacturer is quitting without launching any product. Yes, you read the right! But who is this unfortunate carmaker? It is the Great Wall Motors (GWM). So why is GWM quitting India? In today’s article, let’s find out.

So what is the issue?

For context, Great Wall Motors had signed a contract to buy General Motors’ Talegaon factory. GWM was serious about entering the Indian market with an investment of over 1 billion dollars and had also participated in the Auto Expo of 2020. So, what went wrong? Then the border escalation happened, and the Indian government banned foreign direct investment from China. Still, GWM tried various solutions in the last two and half years. But now, it has communicated to its employees its plans of quitting India.

More information

GWM has not been able to get central government’s clearance for the Talegaon factory. The contract GWM signed with General Motors expired on 30th June and General Motors can now look for another buyer. GWM also explored other ways like bringing CKD cars or even CBU units, but that plan also fizzled out. With this, GWM joins the list of Changan, Haima and Chery Chinese manufacturers, which had a similar fate in India.

So is this the end of GWM’s dream in India?

According to reports, GWM has said that it will continue to pay attention to the Indian market. It will keep exploring it if there is any positive development in the future. So maybe we could see GWM enter the Indian market in the future.

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