Pune: Hyundai Motor India has agreed to a potential acquisition of General Motors’ plant in India, a move that could finally allow the US auto maker to exit a country where it stopped making cars in 2017.
The Korean car maker said it plans to acquire land, buildings and certain manufacturing equipment at General Motors India’s Talegaon-based manufacturing plant. The company has inked a “term sheet” for the potential acquisition of identified assets related to the Maharashtra-based facility.
The proposed acquisition is subject to the signing of a Definitive Asset Purchase Agreement and the fulfilment of conditions precedent and receipt of regulatory approvals from relevant government authorities and all the stakeholders related to the acquisition, Hyundai Motor India said in a statement.
After more than two decades of operations in India, GM stopped selling cars in India in 2017 after years of dwindling sales but its complete exit from the market has been marred by complications, including legal tussles with workers and the failure to find a buyer for the plant in Maharashtra.
In 2019, GM agreed to sell the plant to China’s Great Wall Motor but talks collapsed last year after the companies failed to obtain regulatory approvals amid New Delhi’s increased scrutiny of investments from Beijing.
India has been a tough battleground for Western car makers, especially US companies, that have struggled to break the dominance of Japan’s Suzuki Motor and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor.
