GM launches clean fuel Spark compact car in India

MUMBAI, India -- General Motors' ambitions for its Indian business were on display Tuesday as it unveiled the liquefied natural gas version of the compact Chevrolet Spark in Mumbai, where the company is fighting to gain a bigger share of a largely untapped car market.

GM's painful reorganization has cut off an important source of funding to fuel its global expansion, particularly in the small but growing car markets of India and Thailand, where GM has planned $645 million in factory expansions.

GM's regional businesses haven't been able to get financial support from their U.S. parent company since the Detroit-based automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1.

That's not a problem for GM's profitable Chinese business, but it means the Thai and Indian divisions have to scramble to secure new funding, said Johan Willems, vice president for communications for GM's Asia Pacific operations.

In China, GM is sticking with a five-year plan to double annual sales to 2 million units, roll out 30 new or updated models and add a factory.

In Thailand, GM plans to spend $445 million to build a diesel engine plant and upgrade its existing factory in the eastern seaboard province of Rayong.

The automaker's Indian business is midway through constructing a $200 million power train factory in Talegaon, about two hours outside Mumbai.

Willems said India and Thailand are "two very rapidly developing countries. That's why we need to put investment in place for future growth." That money, he said, "would have come from the mother company out of the U.S."

Now it can't.

GM executives say they are confident they'll be able to cobble together adequate funding to keep the Thai and Indian expansion plans on track, using revenues from domestic operations, bank loans, and money from other foreign divisions, like China, where GM is a market leader. Yet they declined to reveal details.

That funding could prove crucial as the company fights to bolster its weak presence in India's promising auto market and transform Asia into a bigger production base.