General Motors and India's Reva Electric Car Company will start producing a small, affordable electric car for the Indian market in 2010, executives said.
The two companies have been collaborating for 10 months and have already created test models of the new vehicle, an all-electric version of the US automaker's compact Chevrolet Spark, said GM India president Karl Slym. "We're confident we have a product we can bring to market next year," he said in an interview.
If successful, an electric version of the Spark could be sold in the car's other major markets. The Spark currently sells for about 260,000 rupees ($5,200, BD1,958) in India. Slym said a price had not yet been set for the electric version of the car, but the goal is to keep it 'affordable'.
Capital expenditure will be minimal, he said. The car will be manufactured at GM's existing plants in India at Halol, in the western state of Gujarat, and at Talegon, in neighbouring Maharashtra.
The electric car market in India is minuscule. Reva, which sold its first electric car in India in 2001, says it has put over 3,000 electric vehicles on the road.
The company, based in the southern city of Bangalore, is working to expand its annual production capacity to 30,000 vehicles.
