Aveo CNG unveiled

GM was hit bad during the slump and most of you know what happened afterwards. But the brand shined in the developing markets like India, China etc. And now these 'key' markets require more attention and obviously GM is taking all the right steps.

They launched the LPG version of their Chevrolet Aveo sedan on 13th of this month. This important step was taken keeping the market trend and the competetion in mind. CNG is a cleaner fuel and is more economical than petrol. The same old 4-pot 1399 powerplant produces 94ps when run on petrol but a small drop in performance is expected. Mind it, as this is a factory CNG kit, the drop will be negligible. The CNG unit is computer controlled which means low wastage. The engine gets anodized pistons while the body and suspension are reinforced to welcome the introduction of CNG.

The car is priced at Rs. 6,26,645 (ex-showroom Ahmedabad), which is quite reasonable for a car that is greener and lighter on the pocket too.

Chevrolet to showcase 2011 Cruze RS

Chevrolet has announced that it will be showcasing its 2011 RS appearance package for the Cruze at the upcoming New York International Auto Show. The RS appearance package will be offered as an exterior option on the Cruze LS, LT and LTZ variants to potential buyers. With the RS package, the Cruze gets a more sporty and butch look in comparison to the plain model. The Cruze RS gets fog lamps, rocker panel extensions and a spoiler on the exterior. It will also feature an upgraded interior package including backlit instrument cluster and chrome accent rings.


As of now Chevrolet has not announced any plans of offering the RS appearance package as an option to potential buyers of the Cruze in India. Though we seriously hope that Chevrolet does offer the RS package as an option in India. This RS package seriously enhances the sporty appeal of the Cruze as evident from the pictures. The Cruze is already notching up numbers on the sales chart owing to its refreshing good looks and powerful diesel mill. This appearance package will further enhances the exterior appeal of the car, giving customers a reason to cheer about and bring one home.
 

Several cars to be phased out due to BS IV norms

The Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) emission norms will be applicable from the 1st of April, 2010. However, the entry of the BS IV norms has marked the exit of various old car models including the Skoda Octavia, Fabia (petrol) and Chevrolet Tavera. Maruti had taken the decision of not upgrading its Maruti 800 to suit the BS IV norms after which Skoda has decided to do the same for a few of its car models including the Octavia and Fabia (petrol). The Octavia’s 1.9 TDi Pumpe-Duse engine along with the Fabia petrol engine will be spared from being upgraded to the BS IV requirements making it face the similar fate of the once-legendary Maruti 800. These cars will now not be available in 13 cities across the country.

The Tavera from Chevrolet’s stable too is ready with its bags packed to bid good bye to all the BS IV cities. The MPV contender’s 2.5-litre diesel engine will not be upgraded by the firm to meet the BS IV requirements which will make the car unavailable in BS IV cities.

 

However, all the four cars mentioned above will be available in the showrooms of BS III cities across the country. Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Surat and Agra are a few amongst the cities which will bear the BS IV emission norms from the 1st of April.

Chevrolet Corvette may soon burn rubber on Indian roads!

There might be very few people who seldom dream about owning a sports car. For the rest, who have the Chevrolet Corvette in the hit list may seem to have a reason to be a bit happier now. The US car manufacturer may soon introduce this sports car in India along with a few other models from its stable.
Business Standard stated recently that Timothy E Lee, President of international operations of General Motors revealed GM’s plans to sell internationally popular sports cars from its stable, in India. He specifically stated that the Camaro and the Corvette would be made available via special boutiques in small quantities owing to the high import duties levied on these CBUs. “The import duty required selling the other kinds of Chevy vehicles like Corvette or Camaro is quite extensive to do it for the buying public. We will have a boutique offering for those kinds of brands but those will never be the volume products for India. Every one of those products will create its own space in India, but it will be very small in numbers,” said Mr. Lee.


The Corvette is one of the sports cars from the Chevrolet division of General Motors. The car originally took birth from its plant in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri. The present day Corvettes are rolled out from GM’s Bowling Green assembly plant, Kentucky. The sixth and the current generation Corvette built for the 2005 model is the Chevrolet Corvette C6. Its 6.0 liter LS2 V8 heart has the capacity to produce 400 horses at 6000 rpm and torque of 542 Nm at 4400 rpm. If this beast hits the Indian streets, it is bound to burn some rubber. So let’s sit and hope with our fingers crossed.

Source: MOTOROIDS

GM India Report Record Sales

Riding high on the success of the popular Chevrolet brand, General Motors India has registered a record growth of 126 % in sales in February 2010, compared to the corresponding period last year. It sold 11,111 units in February 2010 against 4,921 units in February last year recording an all time high in monthly sales. This is the first time that the company has crossed ten thousand units sales in a month since the inception of the company in India in 1996.

The Febuary 2010 sales comprise of 4431 units of Chevrolet Beat, 3412 units of Chevrolet Spark, 1592 units of Chevrolet Tavera, 726 units of Chevrolet Cruze, 420 units of Aveo, 411 units of Aveo U-VA, 98 units of Chevrolet Optra and 21 units of Chevrolet Captiva. The growth was primarily driven by the much sought after Chevrolet Beat and the Spark.

Commenting on the record performance, Mr. P Balendran, Vice-President, GM India said, “Introduction of best-in-segment cars from the 300 series, increase in customer outreach through distribution network, our unique value proposition like Chevrolet Cashless Ownership offer and our promise to deliver quality and performance are the factors that have led the impressive sales. This consistent sales growth demonstrates customer's belief and confidence in Chevrolet brand. We are pleased to see such robust growth for all our car lines and we believe these world class products will further propel the Chevrolet brand in the market", he said.

The company is now in the process of further ramping up its production by adding the third shift at its Halol plant and second shift at Talegaon plant to meet the increased demand of its products. The company is also rapidly expanding its sales and service network to support the market demand of its cars. It intends to take the network to 300 sales points and an equal number of authorized service outlets by the end of this year from the current 206 sales points and 200 authorised service outlets across the country.

Now this is how you test a car - Chevrolet Cruze - Road tested & Reviewed

Here our partners at Motoroids put the Chevrolet Cruze to what we call "Now this is how you do a road test", driving the car 600 Kms in all sorts of terrain to try and prove what the car is really worth. Interested to know the verdict. Visit our Car Reviews and Road Tests section to read the full story. Take my word for it, it is worth reading it.

Read the full review here "Chevrolet Cruze Road Test & Car Review"

Chevrolet Cruze Automatic Launched by GM India

General Motors India today launched the Chevrolet Cruze Automatic in Bangalore at a ceremony presided over by its President & Managing Director Mr. Karl Slym. The manual version of Chevrolet Cruze launched in October has already redefined the D-segment with its coupe-like design proportions, comfortable interiors, class leading features and other exclusive product attributes.

The 6 Speed Automatic Transmission will be offered on the LTZ variant which also comes with a host of features like PEPS, Push Button Start, Cruise Control, Smart Screen and Electric Sunroof to name a few. The Automatic variant will also be available in a special 3 coat paint called White Diamond in addition to the exciting six colors already on offer.

The Chevrolet Cruze AT also has a triptronic mode which enables a sportier drive for the customer. Other highlights of this six-speed automatic transmission include Clutch-to-clutch shift operation for added precision and smoother shifts between gears. Also, it has a wide spread ratio with the first gear designed for a very high ratio to provide brisk acceleration from the top while the sixth gear has an overdrive ratio to keep the engine revolutions as low as possible for highway cruising and improved fuel economy. One of the key benefits of this model is that it uses premium fluids in the transmission that does not need replacement during normal use.

“Chevrolet has already become a driving force in India’s vehicle market,” said Karl Slym, President and Managing Director of GM India. “The Cruze has been receiving excellent market response since its launch in the last quarter of 2009. The auto Journalists in India who had test driven the vehicle have rated it as the best in its segment for its unique product attributes.

2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA

These are the very first images of the 2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA that will surely make it to our shores. The Aveo looks like the best interpretation of Chevrolet’s new design language so far. In fact it looks much more sophisticated that the Beat and the Cruze.



The interim facelifted Aveo U-VA didn’t make it to India. We believe that was a good move by GM as internationally the facelift did more harm than good to the U-VA’s image.

Going by GM India’s frightening (for its rivals) pricing strategy for the Beat, the competition has good reason to be scared. Expect the car to come with modern petrol as well as diesel powerplants and follow in the footsteps of the Aveo sedan after a gap of a couple of months. Stay tuned for more juice on this car.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

GM to build own electric engines from 2013

One does not need an MBA degree to understand that 'Tough times call for tough measures'. To excel during tough times one also needs to indulge in cost-cutting. General Motors, which is currently going through 'tough times' intends to do that by developing their vehicular components in-house rather than sourcing them from others.

General Motors has officially announced that it will be manufacturing electric motors for hybrid vehicles in house from 2013. The American automotive marquee is currently sourcing the engines from various suppliers. The decision to self manufacture the electric engines has been taken to improve their quality, reliability and reduce the costs involved in making them. The manufacturer intends to invest to around $246 million for the purpose. As of now GM has not announced which manufacturing facility will be utilized for building their electric engines. The manufacturer intends to launch a hybrid vehicle in 2013 which will be powered its own electric engines.
During a conference call with reporters, Pete Savagian, Engineering Director for electric and hybrid vehicles, said that the company needs to not only buy the parts but also to really understand them. He also revealed that GM had started work on developing an electric engine in 2003 and will shortly become the first American manufacturer to build its own electric engines. The manufacturer has some prior experience in building these engines. It had developed one to power its electric car EV1 in the mid-90's. In fact, the engineers which had earlier worked on that project have been roped in for developing their new electric engines.

New Chevrolet Aveo unveiled in China

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the new Chevrolet Aveo did not make it to the 2010 Auto Expo. It was unveiled today in China by Shanghai GM as the Chevrolet Sail. The small sedan has been co developed by Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) and Shanghai GM, both of which belong to the GM-SIAC group, which now owns a 50% stake in GM India as well. The modern lines and overall turn-out are way ahead of its predecessor. Even the interiors seem to be more in line with its newest rivals.

The Sail/Aveo is available with a choice of two petrol engines, a 1.2 litre S-TECH II and a 1.4 litre S-TECH III. The base 1.2 litre variant retails for just 3.9 lakh rupees in China. However, don’t expect it to cost anywhere below 6 lakh rupees in India. If priced competitively in India, this car can easily take on the might of established rivals like the City, SX4, Fiesta, Linea and even the upcoming Etios Sedan.

Chevy Spark tops the 2009 JD Power quality award in its category

Chevrolet Spark has won the top award for quality for the third consecutive year in the India Automotive Initial Quality Study announced by J.D Power Asia Pacific 2009. Despite stiff competition, the Chevrolet Spark was ranked the highest in the compact car segment in this year’s JD Power study, which is the industry benchmark for new vehicle quality.
The Chevrolet Spark was ranked first and won the top award in the Compact Car Segment, with a score of 116 PP100. This is the third year in a row that the Spark has bagged this prestigious award. The Chevrolet Tavera has bagged the second position in the MUV / MPV category while the Aveo U-VA was ranked third in the Premium Compact Segment.

The JD Power India IQS study, which serves as the industry benchmark for new-vehicle quality, is measured at two to six months of ownership. The IQS examines more than 200 problem symptoms covering eight vehicle categories. Overall quality performance is based on both design quality and production quality problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), with lower scores indicating a lower rate of problem incidence and higher vehicle quality. The 2008 India Initial Quality Study, now in its twelfth year, is based on evaluations from more than 6,600 owners who purchased a new vehicle between November 2008 and July 2009. It included 50 vehicle models covering 13 makes and was fielded from May to September 2009 in 20 cities across India.

A target too high? Time will tell!

General Motors today said that it aims to sell over 4000 electric spark cars over 1 year. The company has made investments in Bangalore based Reva for technology in its new Chevrolet Spark Electric version. It is also said that the electric version of spark will have a top speed over 100 kms per hour and would also cover a maximum distance of around 160 kilometers on a single full charge. However these have to be tested and proven after launch.

Chevrolet Cruze Launched at 10.99 to 12.49 Lakhs

Chevrolet have announced the launch of its latest luxury mid sized sedan "Cruze". It will join the segment with other cars such as Ford Fiesta, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Verna. The car is available in two variants LT and LTZ both riding on a 2.0 litre diesel engine.