General Motors to launch Chevrolet Enjoy in two-three months

General Motors India will launch Chevrolet Enjoy, the Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV), in two to three months, a company official said.

It will be one of Chevrolet India's three products borrowed from China's GM-SAIC joint venture. While the first product, Sail U-VA hatchback, was launched in November, the Sail sedan was launched in Hyderabad on Monday.

Sastry Vempati, vice president, product planning, General Motors India, told reporters that Sail Sedan, the first launch of the year and the MPV would meet the needs of domestic market and establish the company as a key competitor.

Chevrolet Sail Premium Sedan is a new global passenger car platform created especially for fast-growing emerging markets.

Engineers at the GM Technical centre-India in Bangalore spent nearly two years refining the platform for India to ensure that it met the requirements of the local market and car buyers.

With this launch, GM has entered car B segment, the fastest growing segment in the otherwise sluggish market.

With 40,000 monthly sales, this segment is growing at 41 percent for last three years. Its contribution to the overall market is 23 percent.

Claiming that Sail Sedan has redefined styling, comfort and safety, he was confident it would outperform Maruti Swift Desire, which is the leader in the car B segment.

Sail Sedan, said to be the most spacious in the segment, is priced between Rs.4.99 lakh and Rs.6.41 lakh (petrol) and between Rs.6.29 lakh and Rs.7.51 lakh (diesel).

GM has so far sold six lakh Sail Sedan cars around the world with the highest sales of 30,000 a month in China.

The company hopes to sell 48,000 Sail U-VA and Sail Sedan cars a year in India. Since its launch in November last year, it sold 4,500 Sail U-VA.

"The feedback is really encouraging. It is the only car which has won four awards in such a short span of time," said Gagandeep Singh, regional manager, sales, south India.

Noting that the car market in India was sluggish for last three years, Sastry said such ups and downs were common in emerging market like India.

"The long term potential in India is very good," he said, and hoped that the recent rate cut by RBI and the coming budget would improve the market conditions.

The all new Chevrolet Spark launched

General Motors has launched the updated Spark hatchback in India. The 2012 Chevrolet Spark gets many changes inside out including a face-lift which makes it up-to-date with other Chevy cars.  The new Spark is available in both petrol and LPG options and is costlier by up to Rs 10,000 from the existing comparable versions of the model, which will be discontinued, the company said. 

 

The small car is now available between Rs 3.26 lakh and Rs 3.81 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the petrol variant and Rs 3.81 lakh and Rs 4.10 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the LPG option. 

 

New two-tone finish upholstery, updated wing inspired instrument cluster, 2-DIN audio system with aux and USB functionality have been added to the interiors. 

 

A high roofline in the Chevrolet Spark ensures spacious headroom and legroom not just for front seat passengers, but also for anyone sitting in the rear seat. A high roofline in the Chevrolet Spark ensures spacious headroom and legroom not just for front seat passengers, but also for anyone sitting in the rear seat. 

 

The Spark is still powered by a 1.0-litre 63PS 4-cylinder engine which is available in both petrol and LPG trims. 

Apart from new design such as the twin-port grille, the new Spark has is powered by a 1-litre petrol engine with new-age innovations that ensure smooth, noiseless, efficient, powerful, reliable and low-maintenance operation, the company claimed.

The Spark is also furnished with a variety of clever and practical storage spaces.

 

There are five variants on offer now with a choice of seven colours. 

 

GM India is offering a three-year/100,000-km standard warranty under the Chevrolet Promise Cost of Ownership Programme, which also provides free maintenance for three years or 45,000 km. 

GM India strong performance attracts US

General Motors India has been termed as a strong performer by its beleaguered parent company General Motors of United States. The Supreme Court of U.S. has shown the green signal to General Motors for its restructuring and to form a brand new entity called General Motors Company.

After restructuring, General Motors wants to regain its control over its strongest performers including its Indian subsidiary. When this happens new General Motors will be able to show a stronger balance sheet and profits which will help it reinvest in development of future technologies.

It is also likely that General Motors may reward the Indian buyers for their continued support by bringing in some of their best cars. General Motors is already selling seven cars under the Chevrolet Brand. It is also likely that the new General Motors will pump in additional investments to make the Indian subsidiary more challenging.

General Motors India faced a minor hurdle when its parent company filed for bankruptcy. The Indian subsidiary worked to restore faith in the company and bring back customers to their showrooms. During this critical period, General Motors launched a campaign called ‘There for you, there for India’ to assure car buyers in India that the company was not leaving the country.

Since June 1, when the parent company went into bankruptcy frenzy, the Indian subsidiary has been showing a strong performance.