Unconfirmed news of spate of sack orders in GM

Rumours and unconfirmed news state that Rajeev Chaba, former Managing Director of GM India who is currently posted at GM, China, Anil Mehrotra, current GM India CFO, Ravi Desai who once headed the company’s engineering organisation and is now posted in the US, Ashwani Muppasani, who once headed the company’s sales, marketing and services division and is now in South Korea and Sheila Sarver, who was once with GM India Engineering and who is now in GM, US are among the several top executives who have been given the marching orders by Detroit based General Motors. Motown India contacted Rajeev Chaba in the US where he is currently holidaying in Houston. He stated, “I am on vacation and I am going back to China on August 5. This news about my sacking is totally untrue.” In the meantime, asked about the spate of sack orders, P. Balendran, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, GM India, said,” As per company policy, we do not comment on personnel matters”. He neither denied nor confirmed the news. In an action that can be cited as swift and uncompromising, General Motors has given sack orders to some very senior GM officials posted in India during the 2005 to 2013, the period in which the faulty Tavera vehicles were built in India. On the face of it, the recall of 1.14 lakh Tavera vehicles built from 2005 to 2013 in India, may not really be a case of ‘Total Recall”. Rather it is beginning to take the shape of a scandal of gigantic proportions. The government (read the Ministry of Heavy Industries) has set up a committee under Natrip CEO Nitin Gokaran with the mandate to investigate the manufacturing practices of auto companies.