General Motors in the US filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this Monday, GM’s bankruptcy filing, backed by billions (15 plus an additional 30) in financing from the US government, is aimed at wiping out debts piled up over decades and to emerge as a viable competitor. One of the sadder outcomes of the bankruptcy is the shedding of brands; Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab are to be offloaded and final negotiations are on to sell the Hummer brand to the Chinese machinery firm Sichuan Tengzhong. Oh! How the mighty have fallen!
Apparently GM India is not part of the bankruptcy filing in the US and will remain largely unaffected by the happenings in the US. A fact, the Indian management has gone great lengths to emphasize. In damage control mode, they’ve sent out Press Releases and launched a rather hastily put together web campaign to allay fears of potential car owners. We say hasty because, the messaging is rather drab and the landing page has links that lead to empty pages or go nowhere!
General Motors using Google Adwords for damage control!
General Motors is here in India for the long hauls says Mr Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, General Motors India, but with difficulty in raising new funds and dropping sales, and the increasingly competitive auto market with aggressive players like Maruti and Hyundai, GM will need to do more than this to gain a larger share of the market.
General Motors reassuring the masses with banner ads!