Tag Archives: General-Motors-India

General Motors (India) Launches New Chevrolet Cruze Sedan

General Motors (India) launched its next generation sedan, New Chevrolet Cruze in New Delhi on June 27th 2012. The new sedan has been priced between Rs13.85 and Rs15.67 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi). GM earlier planned to introduce the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze which was unveiled in Korea into the Indian markets but shelved its plans subsequently by introducing a new improved engine with minor feature changes in the upgraded version. A complete makeover of the car is expected to be launched in India in early 2013.

Speaking on the occasion, Lowell Paddock, President and Managing Director, General Motors India commented, “The Cruze has received an overwhelming response from the consumers across India, since its launch in 2009. We expect the newest member of the Cruze family to continue to exceed the expectations of car buyers and stand out against the competition in its segment,”

The upgraded version of the Cruze features minor exterior changes and significant changes in performance with an engine which is a whole lot more efficient with a marked improvement in acceleration and stability. The freshly tweaked engine delivers better fuel efficiency, drivability and refinement. The exciting new sedan will allow a choice of seven colour shades including Atlantis Blue, Sand Drift Grey, Summit White, Velvet Red, Switch Blade Silver, Caviar Black and Diamond White.

The sedan, to be available in three variants will be powered by a new 2.0 litre diesel engine which generates a power of 166 bhp @ 3,800 rpm. Maximum torque of 380 Nm is produced at 2,000 rpm. The car accelerates from 0-100 kmph in just 9.5 seconds, touching a top speed of 220 kmph. The Z-series engine is mated either to a six-speed manual or automatic transmission system depending on the variant. GM plans to introduce two new variants in India, the Spark and Sail U-Va. The refreshed version of the Spark is slated to enter the market in the third quarter of 2012-2013. The Sail U-Va, expected to hit the Indian soil by the end of 2012, will be pitted against the Maruti Suzuki Swift. GM also plans to launch a multi purpose vehicle, Enjoy, by the end of 2012.

The new Chevrolet Cruze is equipped with keyless go and passive entry and passive start features, which allows the users to start or stop the engine with the push of a button. The sedan has a six-way power adjustable driver’s seat, steering mounted audio controls, 16’ alloy wheels and a dead pedal. The top end LTZ variants come with an electric sun roof, leather upholstery, leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob apart from foldable and heated outside mirrors, rear parking assist, rain sensing wipers, cruise control on steering wheel, anti-glare rear view mirror and music streaming via Bluetooth. Safety features of the sedan include ABS and dual airbags amongst others.

GM has been observing no production day once every week due to weak demand. The sedan notched up global sales of 1,80,000 units during the first quarter of 2012, which is 20% higher than that in the corresponding quarter of 2012. The company hopes to perk up its sagging sales figures with its new launches along with those in the pipeline.

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General Motors hikes prices of its car models

After Maruti Suzuki, India’s number one automobile manufacturer has hiked the prices of all its car models by 3.4%, following its footsteps, General Motors India has also hiked prices of all its car models by 0.5 per cent and 1.75 per cent depending on the car model. The price hike is across to compensate rising input costs and the impact of currency fluctuation. The depreciating value of Indian rupee and the higher input cost resulted in the hike of the prices. Now the GM cars will be expensive by Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 15,000 depending upon the model of the car.

Presently, General Motors India are selling 7 car models in India out of which three car models (the Aveo U-VA, the Tavera MUV and the Captiva SUV) are going to be replaced by their facelifted versions. As the price hike is going to affect the present models, they are planning to launch the new models after a couple of months.

General Motors has car models across the spectrum, right from the entry level Chevrolet Spark hatchback to the top of the line Flagship Captiva SUV. After the hike, the company’s entry level car, the Spark, which was earlier priced between Rs. 3.24 lakh and Rs. 4.04 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) will increase by about Rs.3000. The Beat diesel which was earlier priced between Rs.4.29 lakh and Rs.5.45 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) will be costlier by RS.10,500. The company’s mid-sized Cruze sedan will become costlier by Rs.15,000 which was available in the range of Rs.12 lakh to Rs.14.50 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Multipurpose vehicle Tavera will see a price hike of Rs.10,000 to Rs.13,000, depending on the variant, which was priced in the range of Rs.6.62 lakh to Rs.7.56 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). General Motors will also introduce four new car models in the Indian market for 2012. Like Maruti, the reason for this price hike is the increase in input costs and the depreciating Indian rupee.


As Maruti and General Motors have increased the car prices, other car makers also may join the price hike brigade, as there have been announcements of price hike in December 2011 itself.

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Lowell Paddock to replace Karl Slym as new GM India President and MD

GM India
A change of guard has happened at General Motors India. Lowell Paddock has been appointed President and Managing Director of General Motors India, effective January 1, 2012. Mr. Paddock will succeed Karl Slym, who moves to GM’s largest operations in China as Executive Vice President of SAIC and Wuling Motors, which manufactures a growing lineup of mini-commercial vehicles and passenger cars.

Based at GM India’s headquarters in Gurgaon, Paddock will oversee GM’s operations across India, including its manufacturing facilities in Halol, Gujarat, and Talegaon, Maharashtra, as well as its joint venture with Chinese automaker SAIC.

“We are pleased to have someone with Lowell’s vast experience heading our rapidly expanding operations and the growth of the Chevrolet brand in one of the world’s most important vehicle markets,” said GM International Operations (GMIO) President Tim Lee. “His background provides a perfect fit with what we aim to accomplish in India.”

Paddock has held several important posts in product planning and program management in his home country of the United States, Europe and Asia since joining General Motors in 1992. His previous positions include Director of Portfolio Planning at GM Europe, Vice President of Planning at GM Asia Pacific, and Executive Director of Planning and Program Management at GM’s Shanghai GM joint venture in China.

Since September 1, 2009, Paddock has served as GMIO Vice President of Program Management and Planning, where he has had oversight of GM’s product lineup in Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of the GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture and GM Korea.

Karl Slym

Karl has held the post of President and Managing Director of GM India since October 1, 2007. “We thank Karl for his important contribution in India in improving market share, launching successful products like Cruze and Beat, commissioning the new car manufacturing and engine plants and expanding the dealer and supplier footprints, said Tim Lee. Karl has played a key role in the growth of GM’s business and helped the company emerge as the 5th largest automobile manufacturer in India during his tenure. He has put GM in a strong position for continued success in a market that we have made a global priority,” added Lee.

In his new position, Karl will play a key role in GM’s ongoing growth in the world’s largest vehicle market in China and a market in which GM is the global industry leader. Karl will remain a member of the GMIO leadership team.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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General Motors India sales jump 17.35 percent

chevrolet_logo1
General Motors India should be on cloud Nine after it reported a 17.35 percent jump in sales in September at 10,112 units as compared to the same month last year. The company’s sales performance last year at the same time stood at 8,617 units.

During last month, the company sold 1,603 units of small car Spark, 5,261 units of hatchback Beat, 71 units of premium hatchback U-VA, 121 units of entry level sedan Aveo, 325 units of mid-sized sedan Optra and 814 units of luxury sedan Cruze. General Motors also sold 1,789 units of multi-purpose vehicle Tavera, and 128 units of sports utility vehicle Captiva during the month.

GM India Vice-President P Balendran said the growth was primarily driven by the company’s new Chevrolet Beat Diesel amid difficult market conditions. He also stated, “The market continues to be sluggish due to repeated hike in interest rates and rising fuel prices, which is creating tremendous pressure in the automobile market.”

posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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July is when the Diesel Chevy Beat will be launched in India

Chevrolet Beat Diesel
Well, Just when we thought that we could have a glimpse of the famous and much speculated Chevrolet Beat in its Diesel avatar this month, we get a wake up call stating the launch is all set to happen only next month due to some unexplained last minute glitch.

By “last minute glitch”, we understand that General Motors India is still busy test driving the car in India and is in the process to complete, the mandatory certification of the car before the car is launched.

We expect the diesel version of the Chevy Beat to be the cheapest entry-level diesel car to be launched in India. By cheap, we mean that the magic figure might somewhere hover around the Rs 3-80 – 4 lakh range. Now that makes a neat and uncluttered marketing point, which Chevy wants to deliver, thanks to the unrestricted free rise of petroleum goods in India. With the cost of petrol reaching Rs 70 upwards a litre in certain parts of India, many car manufacturers are re-charting their strategies in the development of cost effective diesel engines.

General Motors India seems to be headed in the right direction with the launch of its diesel Beat next month. The Diesel Chevrolet Beat could come equipped with a 3-cylinder CRDI engine producing 57 bhp and 140 Nm of torque keeping the driveability and frugality in mind. The real test for Chevrolet while bringing out this engine would be to retain the smoothness while keeping the vibrations at bay. If Chevy succeeds in that, Chevy would have a clear winner in its portfolio, which again translates into huge volumes and the big success that had evaded Chevy for some time now through its run here in India.

posted by carazooblog @ Monday, June 6th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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GM India to launch iconic Cadillac by 2013

Cadillac Logo
India has become a lucrative destination for most of the world’s ultra-luxury carmakers to peddle their goods here. General Motors India, which sells automobiles under the Chevrolet brand such as Spark, Beat, Aveo, Aveo , Tavera, Cruze and Captiva is now planning to go umarket by bringing in the iconic Cadillac brand to India by 2013.

GM India’s President and Managing Director, Karl Slym recently said, “Our Chevrolet brand is doing extremely well as every 8 seconds somebody buys our cars. This is a good indicator and India is a growing market with the demand for luxury cars growing…we are looking at introducing our premium brand, Cadillac over the next couple of years.”

The fact that Indian luxury car segment has been growing at a tremendous rate is what makes the Indian luxury car segment the most sought after in recent times. In 2010, sales of the luxury cars grew by 70 percent compared to the previous year rown by 70 per cent as compared to the previous year, thus indicating the rise in demand for such cars and acceptance of new brands.

Cadillac, the Detroit-based carmaker, came into existence in 1902 and has a presence in 39 countries globally except in markets such as South America, India, SE Asia and Australia. If, the brand comes to India, expect the cars from Cadillac to be priced around Rs 60 – 70 lakh upwards. Cadillac, will complete a century in 2011 and the portfolio includes cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sells and services these vehicles through the following division, Buick, GMC, Opel , Vauxhall, and Holden, besides Chevrolet and Cadillac.

2011-Cadillac-CTS-V-Coupe

“Cadillac is a luxury brand and people in India have a brand recall for the same. We have also done a study and have found that it will not be difficult for us to launch the iconic brand in the country,” Slym added.

Upbeat on the performance of Chevrolet in the Indian market, Slym said India is a strategic market for the company and the focus going ahead would be on services rather than sales and also said “Around half a million Chevrolet cars run on Indian roads. Its the fifth-largest brand in India. For the parent company, India is the sixth-largest market. While we grew at 60 per cent last year, the overall industry grew at 31 per cent. We are looking at a double-digit growth this year,” Slym said.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Chevrolet Beat LPG launched at Rs. 4.10 lakh

Mr.-Karl-SlymPresident-Managing-Director-GM-with-the-New-Beat-LPG
General Motors launched the Chevrolet Beat LPG in two variants, LS and LT priced at INR 4.10 Lakhs to INR 4.53 Lakhs, Ex-Showroom Mumbai. The LPG Beat compact car is equipped with the new locally developed, state-of-the-art SMARTECH engine. GMI President & Managing Director Karl Slym presided the function.

Speaking on the occasion, Karl Slym said, “India is a key market for General Motors and our Chevrolet brand. We are focused on leveraging our unmatched resources to create value for our local customers in all areas, including price, fuel efficiency, performance, safety, styling, reliability and other product attributes. The Beat LPG and the SMARTECH engine hold the promise.”

The environmentally friendly Chevrolet Beat LPG features next-generation / advanced LPG technology with multi-point sequential injection that provides a smooth transition between petrol and LPG with no loss in power, jerking or backfire. It is the first vehicle in India to use High Pressure LPG Pipes made of High Strength Nylon material, which has less weight, no chance of inside/outside corrosion throughout its life with better routing control and no kinking effects at bends. It generates impressive power of 80.04 PS @ 6400 rpm and torque of 103.8 Nm @ 4400 rpm in LPG mode for spirited driving and best-in-class performance of 13.29 km/l. The Beat has a range of 349 kilometres on LPG alone and 1000 kilometres on LPG and gasoline combined.

Keeping in mind customers’ safety as of paramount importance, the LPG kit parts are designed, installed and validated to meet the crash requirement in the case of any collision. The kit installation meets the stringent safety norms beyond the statutory requirements. The LPG kit fits snugly in the engine compartment, with no compromises on interior space. A sensor-based button allows users to conveniently go from LPG to petrol and back. The Beat automatically shifts to petrol when the LPG is depleted.

Two versions of the LPG Beat – the LS and LT – are offered. Both come with the same industry-first three-year/100,000-kilometre warranty as the petrol version and offer the lowest service/maintenance/parts cost for three years/45,000 kilometres.

With its best-in-class design and performance, the Chevrolet Beat has received an overwhelming response from consumers. Despite being in the market for lesser than a year, the Beat finished second in the Premium Compact Car segment against stiff competition in the prestigious India Automotive Initial Quality Study by J.D. Power Asia Pacific in December.

SMARTECH ENGINE

The new 1.2-litre SMARTECH engine was developed by the GM Technical Centre-India in Bangalore in cooperation with GM’s new powertrain facility in Talegaon for Indian driving and climatic conditions. It will power a range of new models offered by GM in India.

Aluminum alloy cylinder heads, an optimized cylinder block and lightweight pistons decrease weight and maximize fuel economy. An innovative rocker-less DOHC cam shaft, long runner plastic intake manifold and lightweight crank shaft with eight balancer weights and low tension rings further improve the engine’s efficiency.

The use of the maintenance-free silent IT timing chain drive system reduces noise, vibration and harshness. Durability is ensured through the application of an epoxy coating on the cylinder block and anti-corrosion coating on cam cover baffles, and the use of stainless steel core plugs and bay to bay ventilation. Extensive testing and validation in India were carried out to ensure top-of-the-line performance.

“Our two new products reiterate GM India’s commitment to becoming a leader in the introduction of environmentally friendly and technologically efficient vehicles and engines,” said Slym. “Our vehicles also demonstrate our commitment to fully leverage our resources in India to offer customers nationwide new products that meet their unique needs,” Slym added.

posted by carazooblog @ Friday, February 11th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Chevy to launch Camaro by 2011 end in India

chevy_camaro_2012
The American mean machine, Chevy Camaro will be zooming around in India by the end of 2011. Yes, by the reports that we have heard lately, General Motors India, which had earlier planned to bring in the Camaro has now confirmed the reports stating that the muscle car will be launched here in India by the end of 2011.

It only makes sense of the Camaro to be launched in India given the fact that India is soon turning into a hot destination for the luxury car makers such as Ferrari, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Porsche and others to offload their products here.

Most Indians have a fascination towards Muscle cars like the Camaro or Ford Mustang though it is never available here. When the Chevy Camaro was displayed at the Auto Expo 2010, the Chevy stand was buzz with lot of activity around the car. Chevy should certainly cash in on this fascination and launch the car here in India.

Its now official that General Motors will soon start to manufacture the right hand drive variant for India, which will be imported to Indian as a CBU which will attract heavy import duties. The purpose behind the launch is to strengthen the Chevrolet brand in India. GM is not expecting high sales volume of this premium car and will not assemble or manufacture Camaro in India to reduce the cost.

We expect the ex-showroom price of Camaro in India to be around Rs. 45- 50 lakhs.

posted by carazooblog @ Friday, February 11th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Chevrolet Beat LPG to be launched next week, Diesel Beat to follow in June-July

Chevrolet-Beat-LPG-1
Last week, General Motors launched the designed-and-made-in-India 1.2 Liter SMARTECH petrol engine for the Chevrolet Beat, and as upbeat as Karl Slym was, he announced quite a few things about the plans and upcoming launches of the company.

Next week, GM India will be launching the LPG variant of the very popular Chevrolet Beat. The car will be prices slightly higher than the petrol Beat. And since the petrol prices seem to be in a hurry to reach Rs 100/litre mark, the LPG petrol, with its excellent fuel mileage, might just become the best bet in the market.

The LPG Beat will be a dual fuel car, much similar to the Maruti WagonR Duo, which will make it possible for the buyers to switch between petrol and LPG. General Motors is also planning to launch the diesel engines Chevrolet Beat sometime between June and July 2011. GM is not saying anything about the engine specifications of the Beat diesel, but we expect it to be a sub one liter three cylinder CRDI unit. The Beat diesel will cost an additional INR 50,000 premium over the petrol version.

Chevrolet-Beat-LPG-2

Apart from these two major launches, General Motors is also expected to unveil an electric vehicle for India come April 2011 and a smaller SUV sitting under the Chevrolet Captiva SUV. The smaller SUV would be competing with the recently launched Tata Aria and the upcoming Mahindra W210 World SUV.

All these while, we have been talking about the impending launch of the Volt and the Chevrolet Camaro. Although the Chevrolet Volt has been shelved for the Indian market, hope lives for the muscle car Camaro.

General Motors India is planning to launch at least six new car models with 14 fuel variants in the next two years and this would in all probability include the Sonic Sedan and Hatchback duo to replace the Chevrolet Aveo and U-VA respectively. So in the coming years, we can expect a lot of action from the American car maker.

Chevrolet-Beat-LPG-3

posted by carazooblog @ Monday, January 31st, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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General Motors’ Big Indian Plans

CHEVY-ORLANDO
General Motors India, the Indian subsidiary of General Motors, has been doing well recently. Come 2011 and we would see a whole lot of new Chevy vehicles hitting Indian roads. When we say a whole lot, we mean around 6-7 launches in the next two years.

Speaking about launches slated in the next couple of years, Chevy plans to bring in two Light Commercial Vehicles, one in a pickup avatar and the other is a van. Then there is a hatchback (read Chevy Sail Hatchback), a sedan (read Chevy Sail sedan), a small car and Orlando SUV. Since General Motors India belives in 90 per cent localization of parts is critical to its success in an ever growing and fiercely competitive market like India, the possibility of the all-new Aveo and big sister brand cars coming here have been completely ruled out for the moment.

Chevrolet-Sail-Hatchback-1

But that’s not where the entire action lies. General Motors India in an aggressive bid to take the Indian market by storm has already readied its plan and strategy. A part of that strategy is the launch of all-new Chevy Tavera, Diesel and LPG Beats and an electric small car. The All-new face lifted Chevy Tavera comes with a BS IV compliant 2-Litre common rail turbodiesel engine producing 120bhp engine sourced from ICML. GMI will showcase an all new Chevrolet Electric mini-car in April 2011, standing firm on their commitment to have more environmentally friendly products. As reported earlier, General Motors India is all set to launch the LPG version of the Beat in January 2011.

2010-Chevrolet-Sail

Diesel and LPG Beats and a electric small car. As reported earlier, General Motors India is all set to launch the LPG version of the Beat in January 2011.

Just like Chevrolet’s Spark LPG, this little Chevrolet Beat also would be equipped with dual-fuel engine, which the customers also have been waiting anxiously. GM has already geared up for mass production of these LPG Beats. Chevrolet has really turned things around for the better with their 3 Year Chevrolet Promise, which offers zero-headache maintenance for the Chevrolet small car range.

General Motors India will take the game a notch higher with the launch of the Diesel Beat as well. Expected to be launched probably by March 2011, the diesel Chevy Beat will be powered by a one litre, 3-Cylinder common-rail turbocharged engine sourced from the Fiat-GM uniJet (JTD) engine range that produces about 65 bhp.

Chevrolet_Beat_Green

The production of these diesel engines along with petrol engines will start in their newly inaugurated Talegaon Flexi-Line powertrain plant. With the opening of the new flexi-engine line, General Motors can produce a mix-and-match of whatever type of engine they want in the numbers they would like. At the moment GMI will be producing 1.6Lakh engines but have an additional capacity of 1.4Lakh engines, should the need arise to ramp up the production. GMI plans to use this engine facility as an export base for small new diesel engines since it is the only facility in the world, which will manufacture the above-mentioned variant of the JTD engine. Post-expansion, GMI should be in a position to manufacture engines for three lakh cars per annum in this facility.

General Motors India now can also boast of a sales network that is growing day in and day out. General Motors India is here to stay as they are growing the sales network from 80 to 240 as a back up to disburse more and more Chevy cars that are produced.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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