Exiting General Motors gives India employees less than a month to resign

GM has a two-decade presence in India with less than 1 percent market share. Aftersales will be impacted as employees marked for voluntary retirement are engaged in domestic sales.

General Motors (GM) India has given around 400 of its employees in the country less than a month to opt for a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) as part of winding up its operations.

The employees identified for the VSS are engaged in domestic sales, and hence, aftersales activities would be impacted, General Motors India President and MD Kaher Kazem said, as quoted by Economic Times on Sunday.

GM, which has a two-decade presence in the Indian market with less than 1 percent market share, had said on May 18 this year that it will cease sales of Chevrolet vehicles in the domestic market by the end of 2017. The company had promised to continue supporting its existing Chevrolet customers in the market.

GM also announced key restructuring actions in its international operations to drive stronger financial performance and focus its capital and resources on business opportunities expected to deliver higher returns.

After announcing its decision to stop retailing vehicles on May 18, the company sent mails to employees the very next day about the VSS that is set to close on June 15, 2017, the Economic Times said.

The company has said that it will focus its India manufacturing operations on producing vehicles for export only and expects to transition GM South Africa manufacturing to Isuzu Motors. GM's Chevrolet brand will be phased out of both markets by the end of 2017.

As of now, GM's manufacturing facility at Talegaon is intended to continue as an export hub for the Mexico and central and South American markets.

A Reuters report last week, quoting people familiar with the matter, said GM is confident of reaching a settlement with dealers in India before halting sales in the country even though half of them say that the compensation on offer is too low.

GM concluded a first round of talks on Wednesday last with its 96 India dealers, who operate 120 dealerships, and the company is confident its settlement terms will be accepted by a large majority, Reuters reported.

Company dealers have warned of job losses of around 15,000 and potential losses of thousands of crores, mostly from around 18,000 GM vehicles in stock that will probably not find any buyers now, the HT Mint had said in a report last month.