GM exits development agreement with Reva

(May 29, 2010) MUMBAI, India — General Motors has ended a partnership with Indian firm Reva Electric Car Co. to produce electric cars and will now develop the vehicle in its hometown of Detroit, the head of its Indian operations said according to a Reuters story appearing in industry journal Automotive News.



The announcement follows Indian utility vehicles maker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.'s deal to acquire a 55 percent stake in Bangalore-based Reva.

GM India, which had originally planned to launch an electric version of the Chevrolet Spark, will now showcase the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid in the fourth quarter of 2010, after its global launch in November, Karl Slym said. He did not give a time frame for the introduction of full-fledged electric vehicles in the Indian market.



Slym said the decision to end the agreement with Reva was made about two months ago as GM had a parallel program to develop electric vehicles globally.

"Now with Reva changing its ownership we saw no particular value in doing this experiment," he said.



In January, GM announced it would set up a $246 million facility to build electric motors to power hybrids and possibly full-electric vehicles.

GM's joint venture with China's SAIC Motor Corp. will start off with the launch of small commercial vehicles in India in late 2011 while passengers cars from the venture will follow a year later, Slym said. The joint venture between the two companies was announced late last year and was formed in February this year, he added.