Recall General Motors has announced that it will begin export of vehicles from its Talegaon Plant in the second half of 2014 to Chile while sales will start in the first quarter of 2015. Its first export model will be the left hand drive version of the Chevrolet Beat. The start of Beat exports shows GM’s desperation in India as it fails to keep the ball rolling steep enough with their current products. Meanwhile, GM also demonstrates that the quality of the country’s growing supplier base is getting better.
The city car is already being built in Korea by GM Korea. The car is available with a S-TEC II petrol engine which is plain lethargic and a de-tuned diesel engine (same as the Swift engine sans a cylinder), which GM built in partnership with Fiat. The model was launched in India in 2010. The company has been struggling to keep its sales running in the domestic market due to weak demand. The compact car Beat is already built and sold in many markets around the world with different engines and different setups to suit every market. The Chevrolet Beat rivals the Honda Brio, Hyundai i10 and Maruti Suzuki Ritz in the Indian market.
Globally, it is called the Chevrolet Spark while the Beat nameplate is only for India and some other countries. The Beat is good looking and a good performing car but it’s the brand in India which does not care about getting its policies and marketing right. The Beat was well priced since day one and hence it is one of the three cars which keeps sales going for GM India. GM should bring cars which are made in their hometown rather than dumping Asian products. Sonic twins instead of Sail twins would have rocked GM’s world in India. As we said, an overhaul is required for this brand to move forward in our country.
