MUMBAI: The big three US carmakers— one now a US-Europe hybrid—General Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are having to take another look at their India strategy and investment plans.With ever-changing regulations and customer preferences, the three continue to be laggards in one of the fastest-growing automobile markets in the world. They will either go slow on investments or return to the drawing board to tweak plans, said people aware of the matter. GM won’t be bringing the new Global Emerging Market platform to India, at least for now, hitting pause on a $1 billion investment it had planned. The platform will be introduced in other emerging markets.The platform had been expected to form the basis of GM’s future products in India.Ford, despite having a hit in the shape of the EcoSport , has dropped the much-talked-about B500 platform it was planning to develop at its upcoming R&D centre on the outskirts of Chennai to supplement the existing car portfolio.Fiat Chrysler said the Indian automobile industry has been hit by a “suspended verdict” that’s taking a toll on the health and scope of the company’s business.Kevin Flynn, managing director of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India, was referring to the uncertainty over diesel vehicles.Besides that, auto makers aren’t happy with India’s plan to advance the implementation of stricter emission standards and confusion over regulations related to fuel usage.The Supreme Court in December ordered suspension of the registration of large diesel-powered passenger vehicles in the National Capital Region, and the industry is unsure about the final outcome.The National Green Tribunal ( NGT ) and other authorities are, meanwhile, looking to discourage the use of diesel elsewhere as well, citing it as a more polluting fuel.The preference of customers, too, is changing fast, with the current demand being skewed toward compact sport utility vehicles and companies that don’t have these in their product mix are suffering.“Solutions can be found only if a decision is taken, but the decision seems to be far away,” said Flynn.Although unable to taste the sort of success enjoyed by Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai , global carmakers know they can't afford to ignore a market like India, currently the world's fastest-growing economy, especially given the uncertainty in Europe and other developed regions.To be sure, the three car makers have only a marginal presence in the country. For both GM and Ford, which are sitting on huge accumulated losses in India, the shelving of plans will delay the introduction of new models.However, senior executives at both companies said there is a plan B, which involves working toward India-specific solutions.“GM will continue with its next family of vehicles in global growth markets,” said a GM India spokesperson. “However, the sourcing of components for India is being put on hold at this time while we conduct a full review of our future product programme.”The move to sell its Gujarat facility, which had been announced by GM CEO Mary Barra last year, has been stalled by objections raised by the state’s labour department, which wants to safeguard jobs at the Halol plant. The unit was to have been shut in June.At Ford, the response to the new Figo and Aspire has been muted, with sales failing to achieve even a third of internal expectations, according to people with knowledge of this. And while the EcoSport SUV has been a success, Ford is finding it hard to perk up sales of other models. That doesn't bode well for the company which has no all-new products lined up for the next three years.Anurag Mehrotra, executive director for marketing, sales and service at Ford India, declined to comment on future product and manufacturing plans, but said lukewarm industry growth has not deterred Ford from continuing to evaluate new and sub-segments in existing product lines.To revive interest in its recently launched models, Ford India has started a marketing campaign and launched several service initiatives. That’s seen volumes in the first half of the year rise 30%, compared with the industry's 6-7%, albeit on a relatively small base. Industry experts said this has come at a cost and it will be a challenge for Ford to sustain that pace.Fiat Chrysler, meanwhile, has gone ahead with the homologation of its petrol vehicles, even as it awaits clarity on India’s policy towards diesel. The launch of the Jeep brand will take place in the second half of the year and the company is also readying petrol variants for premium SUVs Grand Cherokee and Wrangler “Fortunately, Jeep on a global sales level is predominantly petrol so we are homologating these models so we can react to the market once clarity is known," Flynn said. "This uncertainty in the business environment is still a big concern for us and our dealers at this important time of investment ahead of going live."