GM to produce Opel Astra against orders

The Opel Astra, the entry vehicle of General Motors in India, will now be manufactured against orders.

GM had recently stopped the production of another Opel Astra variant -- Astra Club -- as its pricing was clashing with that of Chevrolet Optra.

The company has been selling around 110 Opel Astras per month in the recent past.

The sales of Opel Astra had dipped to 2,561 in 1999 from sales of 10,271 units in 1997, the second year of its launch in India. At present GM sells around 1,000-1,200 Opel Astras per year in India.

According to GM officials, the company may stop the production of Opel Astra altogether at a later stage if there is no improvement in demand.

"However, as of now, the car will be manufactured and sold on the basis of orders," said an official.

According to the plan, GM will now start manufacturing Opel Astra after a customer places an order with any of its dealers.

"The Astra was our entry car in India and has also been highly successful. We will, however, sell this car on the basis of orders," said Aditya Vij, president and managing director, GM India.

He added that is no immediate plan to discontinue the production of the model.

Last month the company had sold 117 Opel Astras in the country. The model has been witnessing monthly sales of 100-120 units for the past year, which, according to industry experts, is 'a very low sales figure'.

On the discontinuing of the production of Astra Club, which was priced at Rs 915,000 (ex-showroom New Delhi), Vij said that this was necessary as its pricing clashed with that of Chevrolet Optra, which was launched recently.

GM had launched three variants of Chevrolet Optra priced in the range of Rs 781,000-964,000 ex-showroom in Ahmedabad.

According to P Balendran, vice-president, GM India, while Opel Astra will now be manufactured against orders, its production could be discontinued if the demand does not improve.

"That is a possibility, only if the demand for Opel Astra does not improve. Last month 117 units of Astra were sold in the country," he said.

Opel Corsa Sail, another GM product which was launched recently, is delivered to customers at a waiting period of six-eight weeks.

Launched in May, more than 700 units of this model have been sold in the last two months. Its current order book stands at 700.

Company officials said that all the 700 cars will be delivered within a month owing to the hike in production capacity at the Halol plant.