Indian Car Blog - Carazoo.com

General Motors India has been on a roll in 2010. Sales have been at an all time high with the recently launched models, Cruze, Beat and Spark and the future has never looked any brighter for them. And now, amidst all these, GM India is planning to gradually phase out its under-performing sedan, Chevrolet Aveo.

GM India is planning to bring the next generation Aveo, the T type car of the 300 series platform, in the market next year and it will replace the existing Aveo. It has been confirmed by GM India that the current Aveo will not receive any facelift or new powertrains this year.

The American automaker had introduced a CNG variant of the Aveo during the Delhi Auto Expo this year. The electric powertrains, which are most suitable for application on small cars, will not be transplanted into the Aveo, but will be launched as electric Spark.

"We are set to launch our electric car, E-Spark, by the end of this year in India," GM Motors' Marketing Director, Gaurav Gupta said.

GM India is aiming to achieve double digit market-share in India in a few years and is doing everything in its capacity to do so.

General Motors is entering into the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment as well this year. To produce these vehicles, GM has formed a joint venture with a Chinese company, SAIC. GM is expecting to sell 1-lakh units in India this year. Unbelievable, isn’t it. GM is not ready to miss out on any opportunity to increase its market share, sales and total profits.

"We are on the growth path. Last year, we sold around 70,000 units. We hope, this year, we can improve this figure to 1-lakh, with a growth rate of about 50 per cent. We are upbeat on our 'Beat' from which we see more than 40 per cent sales emanating," he said.

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The month of February was magical for the auto industry. If General Motors is taken as the sample piece for study, one will be seeing tons of happy smileys. The company’s sales zoomed high beating all previous records. General Motors has never sold so many vehicles in a single month. The sales have, in fact, climbed more than two fold. Yes, the magic has all happened in the Indian car industry.

People feared the possibility of a hike in car prices post the Union Budget. They rushed into showrooms. The response was outstanding. General Motors sold 11,111 automobiles in Feb 2010. The figure has been the highest since it started selling autos in India in 1996. The company sold 4,921 vehicles in January and sold a remarkable 11,111 vehicles in February. What a growth in a month’s time! The sales were more than twice that of Jan. There’s something more. Until last month, General Motors had never crossed the 10,000 mark since 1996. Right now, it is party time for GM.

The Beat and Spark were the highest selling General Motors vehicles. This goes to say that buyers were favoring small cars. The company itself is surprised and has started thinking of ways to tackle the situation. It has added shifts at two of its plants in India. It had to do something to meet the rising demand. What about the car maker’s performance in the U.S.? Anyone interested? Well, here it is.

Last month, General Motors sold 141,951 vehicles in the U.S. Analysts were predicting a 20 per cent growth in car sales in the there. Did it turn out into reality? No. GM deliveries climbed only 12 per cent in the U.S. Not too bad. But, the company’s strong competitor, Ford showed greater sales figures. For the last 12 years Ford had struggled and this has been the first time it sold more vehicles than General Motors. That explains GM’s disappointment in the U.S. Ford sold 142,285 vehicles last month recording a 43% jump. The credit goes to the rebound in truck sales.

Ford’s car sales increased by 54 per cent while truck sales surged 36 per cent compared to last year’s data. This is helping Ford, which is struggling real hard, reach a total market share of a possible 17 per cent in the U.S. GM has already started getting rid of Saab, Saturn and Pontiac and in spite of this, the sales have risen by 32 per cent. This definitely looks like a good sign. The company has not only successfully managed to get out of bankruptcy but has also seen five consecutive months of solid success. General Motors has recorded year-over-year increase in sales for the past five months and this has been acting like a positive catalyst for the company.

The gain in deliveries has been 12 per cent and is lower than that of Jan. Edmunds.com had expected GM to do better. The snowstorms and rough weather in the Northeast can be considered as a little excuse for the dip. Chevy sales too showed a 17 per cent dip in the region while doing remarkably well in other parts. Everybody is comparing figures to February 2009. Is it really right to do so? Feb 2009 saw the worst days of the car industry. This only tells us that GM’s 12 per cent growth is quite worthless compared to Ford’s 43 per cent.

All car makers are sure to introduce more incentive programs to enhance their sales figures. Looks like GM and Toyota may be at loggerheads very soon. The companies are fighting over lost car buyers. Toyota’s sales are expected to be down by around 8-10 per cent because of the 8.5 million auto recall.

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General Motors has earmarked India as a strategic market. It has introduced the Beat under its Chevrolet brand and has unveiled the e-Spark which will hit Indian roads by October.

Now, the beleaguered car maker is involved in a project involving a new car model that would be built from scratch in India by 2011-12. This car would be developed almost entirely in the country, using the technical expertise and know-how of GM India's design studio in Bangalore.
If rumours have to be believed, then this car is going to be a compact car which will be fuel-efficient and eco-friendly. Moreover, this car is likely to be positioned below the Chevrolet Spark.

General Motors India will also foray into the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment in the country next year with three LCV variants as part of its joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). The company will also start production of petrol engines in the mid-fourth quarter of this year from its powertrain facility in Talegaon. The production of petrol engines would be followed by diesel engines and the company would manufacture 1.6 lakh units in the first phase.

Besides, General Motors India will export newly-launched Beat to markets in Europe and Asia Pacific after a year of production.

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The Diwali gift from Chevrolet stable, Cruze, has been made available in the Indian market from today. Launched just days before Diwali, there isn’t anything to think deep about why the Chevrolet has been launched at this period. And this clearly depicts GM’s deep yearning to maintain a stable position in the Indian car market.

Well, it seems that the effort and thinking has really paid off, and would you be surprised to know that the car has already got a surprising number of 1,100 units being pre-booked. And it really appears to be a matter of surprise as to what would have driven the customers to trust Chevrolet so much as that they would book a car even before they see it thoroughly.

Hope the company can safeguard the belief of the customers and grow up to meet their expectations. Aren’t you keen to know about the car, how it looks and what are the features? The Chevrolet Cruze will be available in two variants and shares its engine with Chevrolet Captiva. The two variants of Cruze, LT and LTZ, will be both powered by a diesel engine.

The Chevrolet Cruze will be available in a 2.0-litre diesel engine and has a 5-speed manual transmission. It is built on the GM's global Delta 2 platform. As always expected, Chevrolet has not launched the petrol variant.

The company had decided to launch the petrol monitoring the acceptance of the model in India. And as the primary response seems to be more than expected, it is expected that the petrol versions will soon be followed. The upcoming hatchback from Chevrolet, Beat, will share its platform with Cruze.

Apart from the spacious and alluring interiors and great styling the car also has airbags and ABS, well-laid instrument cluster, multi-information display unit, rain sensing wipers, funky interiors, and keyless entry and start. And the car also has an attractive fuel efficiency of 18.3 kilometres per litre.

The car is aggressively priced between Rs 10.99 and Rs 12.45 (Ex-showroom Delhi).

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General Motors is out of bankruptcy and GM India is sharing the joy of being a part of the new company with its customers through the launch of a new special edition Chevrolet Aveo. By introducing new variants to its existing models, GM India has been constantly assuring its customers that everything has always been fine with it inspite of its parent company in the U.S. facing major ups and downs. It has even come out with a new campaign - “There for you, There for India” - to assure all that it is here to stay and to serve. Now, the launch of this new special edition variant of Chevrolet Aveo is expected to give it a more comfortable and firm position after the end of the bankruptcy hassle.

The special edition Chevrolet Aveo mid-size sedan comes with several new features which improve safety and comfort further. These include anti-lock brakes, airbag for driver, illuminated key cylinder, rear armrest with cup holders, leather gear shifter, steering wheel, and upholstery, height adjust feature on driver’s seat, and elegant chrome door handles inside and outside.

With the host of new features, the special edition of Chevrolet Aveo is the synonym of a customer centric car. The Aveo has to its credit many awards including the prestigious J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) Award. The car has won this award for two years in a row (2007 and 2008) for its excellent features.

The best thing about the new special edition Chevrolet Aveo is that it falls within the same price range (between Rs 5.96 and Rs 6.97 Lakh Ex-showroom Delhi Price) as the regular variants!

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