General Motors launches Sail sedan at Rs 4.99 Lakh

Chevrolet has launched its Sail sedan in India at a starting price of Rs 4.99 lakh, ex-Delhi. The car looks identical to the Sail U-VA launched a few months back, with the addition of a boot.

 

 

The Sail is built on a new global passenger car platform created especially for emerging markets and is available in 1.2 L petrol and 1.3 L diesel engine variants.

“It competes in one of the largest and fastest-growing segments,” said Lowell Paddock, President and Managing Director, GM India.

He said the new car has been put through more than 6.3 million kilometres of testing on different terrains across India and other countries.

The company said the petrol variant would give 18.2 km to a litre and diesel 22.1 km to a litre as per specific test conditions.

 

The top variants of the car have technology features such as Bluetooth functionality that supports up to five mobile phone pairings and music streaming.

The Sail will compete with other competitors such as Maruti Suzuki India's Swift Dzire, Tata Motors’ Indigo and Toyota Etios.

Prices of the 2013 Chevrolet Sail variants, ex-Delhi:

Base (Petrol)- Rs 4.99 lakhs

LS (Petrol)- Rs 5.49 lakhs

LS ABS (Petrol)- Rs 5.7 lakhs

LT ABS (Petrol)- Rs 6.42 lakhs

Base (Diesel)- Rs 6.29 lakhs

LS (Diesel)- Rs 6.59 lakhs

LS ABS (Diesel)- Rs 6.8 lakhs

LT ABS (Diesel) - Rs 7.52 lakhs

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. 

Tata launches new Safari Storme at a starting price of Rs 9.95 lakh

After the launch of a Manza variant on Tuesday, Tata Motors on Wednesday launched the new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Tata Safari Storme at a starting price of Rs 9.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

 

While the base model 4X2 LX is available at Rs 9.95 lakh, 4X2 EX comes for Rs 10.77 lakh, 4X2 VX for Rs 12.37 lakh and 4x4 VX for Rs 13.66 lakh. Tata Safari Storme was first unveiled at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo.

With underpinnings and engine from the Aria, the new Tata Safari Storme will kick up a storm in the entry level SUV market in India. The new Safari Storme is a more modern vehicle than its predecessor.

Its Aria-derived chassis and suspension and 2.2-litre DiCOR engine will ensure better drive dynamics and better refinement and response respectively.

The engine churns out 140PS of power and 320Nm of torque. The five-speed gearbox has been tweaked to deliver a better driving experience. Other improvements include a shorter turning radius and disc brakes all round.

 

 

The new Tata Safari Storme does not look too different from the current Safari but the bold and rugged look has been swapped for a somewhat more corporate look.

 

The headlights get a swept back design and a large chrome strip over the front grille stretches partly over the headlights as well. 

 

It gets projector headlamps and a honeycomb front grille that is fairly wide but a tad characterless with its flat contour.

 

 

It gets different side cladding and a new side step but the rest of the body structure remains the same. 

Styling updates at the rear include a new rear windshield, tail lights and twin chrome-tipped tailpipes. The biggest change is that the spare wheel is no more mounted on the tailgate.

 

In its place is a silver colour strip just below the rear windshield that is garnished with a strip of chrome, below which is the slot of the rear number plate.

 

 

The four-wheel drive system on the Safari Storme is an electronic shift on the fly mechanism complete with a limited-slip differential. The new Tata Safari Storme will be available in seven colours, namely, Urban bronze, Astern black, Pearl champagne, Sardinia red, Pearl white, Arctic white and Arctic silver.

The Safari Storme won't have it easy in the market with competition from the Renault Duster and the Mahindra Scorpio.