General Motors launched its first SAIC product in India earlier this month, the Chevrolet Sail U-VA. The company will be launching the sedan version of the Sail, which is yet to be officially unveiled in India. The American automaker showcased the Sail hatchback at the Auto Expo earlier this year but the Sail sedan has never been seen in the India sans camouflage. We have got some interesting bit of details about the upcoming Sail sedan.
General Motors has postponed the launch of the Sail sedan and Enjoy MPV as the company wants to keep some gap between these product launches. The Sail sedan will be launched in the third week of January, while the Enjoy MPV will be launched in March 2013. Production of both these vehicles will start next month. While the Sail twins and Enjoy MPV will share their diesel engines, the petrol motor in the Enjoy will be the 1.4-litre unit found on the Aveo sedan.
The Chevrolet Sail sedan will use the same 1.2-litre petrol engine which is used in the Sail U-VA. This 1.2-litre Smartech motor produces 85 BHP of power at 6000 RPM and 113 Nm of torque at 5000 RPM. GM has decided not to go with the 1.4-litre petrol powertrain as it consumes more fuel. The company plans to pitch the Sail sedan against the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire, which too uses a 1.2-litre petrol engine. GM’s main focus is however on the diesel-engined variants.
With the Chevrolet Sail Sedan being quite long in length, the company will not get excise benefits for using a smaller engine. However GM might consider offering the 1.4-litre petrol engine in the future on the top-end Sail. For the very first time, GM will offer an LTZ variant on a mass market product like the Sail in India, thereby helping them to position the car as a replacement for the Optra. The Sail doesn’t seem to be a fitting replacement to the Optra but GM thinks otherwise.
GM continues to test the Chevrolet Sail sedan in India. These set of spy pictures were sent in by Vikalp Dogra, who spotted the car at the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway recently.
