American cars, bikes that failed to succeed in India: Reasons explained

United States of America is one of the largest car producers in the entire world, with India not too far behind on the list. The Indian market has been touted as a price sensitive market over the years, but there’s no denying the fact that it is still one of the more lucrative markets for new carmakers to enter considering the growing economy and population.
A host of car manufacturers have tried entering the Indian market over the years, and unfortunately, not many managed to sustain for one reason or another, thereby ending their operations in the country. Here is a list of a few American cars and bikes that failed to succeed in India, take a look –

Chevrolet Sail, Sail U-VA
The Chevrolet Sail sedan and Sail U-VA were launched in the Indian market back in 2012, however, due to poor sales, had to be taken off the shelves a few years later. The Sail was actually a cheap Chinese product built by SAIC-GM (a joint venture of General Motors in China), rebadged as Chevrolet for India, however, Indians were smart enough to look through this poor move of the American company.
UM Renegade

American motorcycle manufacturer UM Motorcycles entered the Indian market in 2016 with a 50:50 partnership with Lohia Auto, with the latter manufacturing the UM bikes at its Uttarakhand plant. The UM Renegade was a sub-300 cc cruiser, available in three different design variants. That said, the motorcycle was shabbily built and overall odd-looking. What further hurt UM Renegade was little service support which never instilled confidence in buyers.
Chevrolet Forester

The Chevrolet Forester SUV was launched in India in 2003 as a rebadged version of the Subaru Forester sold in foreign markets. It was also the first Chevrolet-badged model in India since previous GM models were sold under the Opel brand in the country. Imported as a CBU, the Forester was a great product and globally proven but ahead of its time in India and at a starting price of Rs 15.59 lakh (ex-showroom), too expensive for its time.
Opel Vectra

Introduced in India in 2002, the Opel Vectra was a great car from GM as well, but just like the Forester, was a bit too costly and ahead of its time. It was even pricier than the likes of Hyundai Sonata and Honda Accord at the time! Moreover, the repair bills were huge and made people scared about maintenance costs of owning the Vectra sedan.
Ford Fusion

The Ford Fusion marked its entry in the Indian market in late 2004 with a base price of Rs 6.20 lakh (ex-showroom). The Fusion boasted a solid build quality and also had good road dynamics, but fuel-efficiency was a key buying point that time and it wasn’t good on that front. The car was also pricey for the time and didn’t gain much popularity.
Which American car or motorcycle do you think was the biggest failure in India? Let us know in the comments. down below.