[n_naik]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

As of today, the sale of GM plant is awaiting clearance from Ministry of Home Affairs as well as RBI and appears to have hit a roadblock.

Link

The article is behind a paywall and hence unreadable. Would appreciate if you can share a link which is accessible to all. Thanks.



Edit: Just now realized that adding "amp/?__twitter_impression=true" to the URL bypasses the paywall. Thanks.

[arvindmanju]

GM faces unexpected bills as India-China tensions delay sale of India plant: sources
Reuters

Gaining Indian government approval for China-related deals is now expected to take quite some time and although the sale should still happen at some point, GM has not changed its plan to begin winding down the plant’s operations next month, they said.

“By next year, it will either be a closed GM site or it will be an operating site with Great Wall,” said one source.

[RSR]

By next year, it will either be a closed GM site or it will be an operating site with Great Wall,” said one source.

As intensely as I hate the totalitarian CCP regime of the PRC, I wouldn't let my emotions blind me when it comes to foreign investment in India, especially at a time like this, when the economy is down in the dumps.

GM's Talegaon factory is a huge one, bigger than the Halol unit they sold to SAIC's MG. The number of people employed there directly and indirectly (with the vendors & service providers) must be in the thousands.

Closure of GM's Talegaon factory is a bad thing for Maharashtra (& India). It's obvious that GM have checked out of India for good. They are not going to sustain operations for much longer. The Chevy Beat that is manufactured here and exported to Latin America has reached the end of its life cycle.

If the sale to Great Wall Motor is stymied by the government, then plant closure, lost economic activity & massive job losses would be the only results. No one else is going to buy this factory other than the Chinese.

A pragmatic decision needs to be taken. Both, the GoI and GoM need to see the larger picture here.

Let Great Wall Motor purchase the factory from GM and refurbish it to start manufacturing their own products. Unlike SAIC, GWM is not a state-owned company. It is privately-owned, although its founder & Chairman Wei Jianjun is closely linked to the hated CCP (let's face it, it's impossible to make it big as an entrepreneur in the PRC without CCP links).

While companies from the PRC must be kept out of critical sectors like telecom (Huawei & ZTE should be banned completely!), cloud computing, electricity grid, ports etc., there are non-critical sectors in which Chinese investment may be allowed without adverse effects. I see no harm in allowing Great Wall Motor buy General Motors' Talegaon plant and start manufacturing operations.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by RSR

Let Great Wall Motor purchase the factory from GM and refurbish it to start manufacturing their own products. Unlike SAIC, GWM is not a state-owned company. It is privately-owned, although its founder & Chairman Wei Jianjun is closely linked to the hated CCP (let's face it, it's impossible to make it big as an entrepreneur in the PRC without CCP links).

.

I guess these sort of relationships are governing business both here and in many countries

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by RSR

I wouldn't let my emotions blind me when it comes to foreign investment in India, especially at a time like this, when the economy is down in the dumps.

You are correct if we consider an Economic point of view, but our soldiers are fighting at the border with this country. Call me whatever, we should have restrictions on all dealing with such countries/ people. We must prepare ourselves to manufacture everything or most of the things. Cheaper overseas costs should not be a reason to import something which can be produced here. It may make us uncompetitive in some segments and our exports may suffer or there may be slight inflation on domestic consumption, but in the longer run it will be far more beneficial than we can visualise.

Yes, it's not how economies work, but when we have neighbours like ours, we need to take a conscious call. The bigger problem is that the present Government needs to support local manufacturing and spurt demand. Even if we agree that Cars are a sin good, at least these don't cause any harm (environment aside) to anyone and help many people who work at such factories or in the ecosystem. With more automobiles, we can develop more roads, more towns and so forth.

If GM has come out with this News, there may be some signals from the Chinese company and I will be surprised if they go-ahead with this buy in the current situation.

[avishar]

An update on this story as reported in today's papers.

China's Great Wall Motors hopeful of hearing soon from Indian government on investment clearances

New Delhi: Chinese auto major Great Wall Motors, which had announced USD 1 billion investment in India earlier this year, is hopeful of hearing soon from the Indian government on clearances for its proposals, including acquisition of General Motors' factory in Talegaon, according to a company official.

GM definitely would like this deal to go through, so I am sure they will also put some "persuasion" from their end.

[volkman10]

GWM plans delayed by a year or more.

Great Wall Motors (GWM), Haima Automobiles, Changan Auto and Chery are all likely to see a wait period of at least 12-24 months.

GWM’s takeover of the General Motors plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra, will be delayed even further from December. The Haval brand launch from China's largest SUV maker is likely to move to 2022 against the previous plan for a 2021 rollout.

MG Motor, which already sells vehicles in India, is reportedly exploring contract manufacturing to meet increased demand rather than bringing in fresh equity to set up a new plant of its own.

Link

[chennai-indian]

Originally Posted by RSR

As intensely as I hate the totalitarian CCP regime of the PRC, I wouldn't let my emotions blind me when it comes to foreign investment in India, especially at a time like this, when the economy is down in the dumps.

And I disagree. I'm someone who has serving family members in the army and I'm told of many incidents with the Chinese that do not become public. We do not need Chinese investment in ANY sector of our economy. We do not want any investment from a country that killed our soldiers.

[The Observer]

We need to keep nationalistic pride within rational limits. If China wants to invest in India then its China s need to do so and not India asking for it.

Our brave soldiers are having to face the brunt of bad decisions made in the past by our very own governments and if we as citizens have any sense of accountability of electing these governments then I guess I have made my point.

We will need atleast a decade and billions of INR investment and serious R&D to reach a stage where we have a choice to NOT import or use anything Chinese. Let us focus our energies in these directions.

Let's ask ourselves how many Indian auto majors import from China ? If the govt can allow our startups to enjoy Chinese VC funding then why not in automotive sector ?

The very cars and digital devices we all use even if it's not from a chinese brand will have many parts made in China so that makes us all hypocrites if we apply the logic of barring Chinese participation in our economy.

Let GWM come and try their game here, it's not just the Chinese that benefit from an investment in India even we will benefit , if we trust our government to keep the right regulatory system and controls while fully supporting our soldiers at the borders.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by chennai-indian

And I disagree. I'm someone who has serving family members in the army and I'm told of many incidents with the Chinese that do not become public.

You're welcome to disagree. This is not a forum in China or North Korea or similar countries where everyone has to agree on everything that's the "official line". It would be absolutely disgusting if such censorship & control were to be the case here.

I'm not surprised at all to hear that certain incidents involving the Chinese on the disputed border are not made public. Such incidents would not only affect morale among other units but also put pressure on the government to take some retaliatory steps.

Okay, you don't want investment from China. What about imports from China and Indian investment in China???

Mahindra had to stop production in India when the pandemic broke out in China (& not the rest of the world) because the supply of parts for their vehicles sold in India was affected by the closure of factories in China.

Tata is a big investor in China. Tata Motors, which through its subsidiary Jaguar-Land Rover's large manufacturing (not mere assembly) joint venture, gets a huge chunk of its revenue from China. Other Tata group companies such as TCS also have a sizeable presence in China.

Why don't you write to Anand Mahindra and Ratan Tata and inform them of the rogue Chinese and how they're killing our soldiers and how you would like them (as they also supply vehicles to the army) not to have any business relationship with the Chinese at all?

Do ask Anand Mahindra to stop the import of parts for Mahindra vehicles from China, and ask him to look to other countries for the same. Do ask Ratan Tata to dissolve the 50-50 JV of JLR with Chery, and to pull out JLR from the Chinese market, and to shut down TCS operations in China.

I'm not mocking you at all, please no! I'm only informing you of the logical next steps to take if you feel strongly about ending all business dealings with the Chinese. When you write to them, do inform us of their responses to your letters.

[nakul0888]

Originally Posted by chennai-indian

And I disagree. I'm someone who has serving family members in the army and I'm told of many incidents with the Chinese that do not become public. We do not need Chinese investment in ANY sector of our economy. We do not want any investment from a country that killed our soldiers.

If we do what you suggest we do, along with our soldiers the poorest Indians would also suffer, from job losses, soaring prices, lack of opportunities. Trade and investment is win win for all. We trade with Chinese because that’s what best serves our interest. A good number of bhpians here are already suffering from the tyre shortage because of boneheaded nationalism driven import bans. If we on a large scale banned all imports and investment from China the impact would be on an unimaginable scale. I’d welcome GWM with open arms to invest as much as they can here. If anything rational countries that trade a lot with each other don’t go to war often because it would prove ruinously costly to both sides.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by chennai-indian

And I disagree. I'm someone who has serving family members in the army and I'm told of many incidents with the Chinese that do not become public. We do not need Chinese investment in ANY sector of our economy. We do not want any investment from a country that killed our soldiers.

When people occupying the highest position in the military and people's representatives do not hesitate to participate in promotional events of a Chinese car brand and at the same time, the common citizen is 'expected' to go 'atmanirbhar ', 'vocal for local' and boycott Chinese products in general, as a common citizen we should realize that all this is a part of a larger political game. While I am not a fan of Chinese gadgets or products, I do not have an issue with fellow citizens wanting to buy Chinese products. In the end, ours is free country and people are free to buy what they wish. Investments in non- critical sectors that do not endanger national security must always be welcome.

Boycotting something never helps anyone especially when we, as a country, do not have the capacity to match the adversary economically or militarily.

[fhdowntheline]

The above picture clearly conveys “There’s lies, damned lies and then politics”.
Its time to get over the charade of anti China and let every person decide for themselves unless there is an explicit declared state of emergency. As of now, even as the soldiers face off, the “suits” are exchanging pleasantries.

[CEF_Beasts]

The problem is MG with it’s ‘smart marketing and advertising’ (featuring British people and locations, badges stating Brit Dynamic) have made people believe that MG is a thorough-bred British company and not Chinese (owned by SAIC)! Very few people know the true origins of MG and that must be less than 10% of India’s population.

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

The problem is MG with it’s ‘smart marketing and advertising’ (featuring British people and locations, badges stating Brit Dynamic) have made people believe that MG is a thorough-bred British company and not Chinese (owned by SAIC)! Very few people know the true origins of MG and that must be less than 10% of India’s population.

On the contrary, most people know about MG's chinese ownership. I wanted a family cruiser and the Hector fit the bill perfectly. It's the value that the product offers, which is the reason the car sells well.

You have to admit, the ZS EV is the most balanced electric car in the country today, with a decent range and space.

People nowadays are more knowledgeable and well read than we sometimes give them credit for. But the perceived value outweighs everything.

The entire chinese debate falls flat on its face when you realise every manufacturer is more or less dependent on parts from China.

It'll be foolish on the Govt's part to disallow FDI in this sector. At the same time, they'll do the needful to ensure strategic areas are free from external influencers.