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General Motors is keenly looking at the Indian market to boost volumes. The company has been present in India since a long time now but hasn’t really set the sales chart on fire. At the recent Chevrolet Sail U-VA media drive, we caught up with Mr. Lowell Paddock, MD and President, GM India and got some details about the upcoming models from the American automaker. The company plans to launch close to 8 new products in the next 6-years.
GM will launch the Chevrolet Sail U-VA in the Indian market on the 2nd of November. The launch was first set for 25th October but was postponed due the Spark facelift. The Spark facelift was set to be launched on the 15th of October but Ford is already launching the Figo facelift on the same date and GM did not want the updated Spark’s launch to receive less attention. The Spark facelift is already ready and into production since more than a month now.
The Chevrolet Sail U-VA, Sail sedan and Enjoy MPV (CN100) will all use the same 1.3-litre SDE (Small Diesel Engine), with a fixed geometry turbocharger. Power output will be around 78 PS while torque output will be around 205 Nm. The Sail sedan and Enjoy might have different gearing to extract the best performance without compromising on mileage. The Sail twins will be manufactured at Talegaon, while the Enjoy will be produced at Halol. The Enjoy will be available in both 7 and 8-seater formats (captain seats) and is a rear-wheel drive vehicle.
GM is currently not interested to bring niche products. The company will thus focus their complete attention on the Sail twins and Enjoy MPV to boost volumes. Plans of launching the Chevrolet Trax compact SUV is currently not considered. The Trailblazer SUV might be brought to India but a decision is still pending. GM also hopes to boost volumes of the Beat, a product they feel still has a lot of potential. While the Sail sedan is set for a November end launch, the Enjoy MPV will hit the roads by December. GM’s 3-years/1-lakh kms maintenance and service plan will be offered on all these products.
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