GM India is banking on the Beat to conquer the small car segment as the Chevrolet Beat and things have been going according to plan. GM's bestseller in India in about to get additional firepower, and we have proof here.
GM India recently announced that it would soon be introducing a diesel Beat with a 1.0l engine. Now we have spy pictures of what DWS claims are diesel Beat test mules. We expect the Chevrolet Beat diesel to be launched a year after its petrol model's arrival (January 2011).
The engine is speculated to be a 936cc, 3-cylinder engine based on the Fiat 1.3l Multijet. This engine is expected to produce around 57 bhp and around 140 to 150 Nm of torque. This core focus of this engine would be to deliver high on fuel efficiency. The ARAI figure could be around 22-23 kpl which translates into a real world figure of around 20kpl.
This engine is said to have been completely developed at GM's world-class engine facility in Bangalore.
We can expect the sales numbers of the Chevrolet Beat to soar once the diesel version is launched. The LPG Beat which is also going to be launched soon would make the Beat range very lethal to competitors like the Ford Figo which has been doing very well in the market.
Image source: Dance with shadows
Image Credit - Ritesh Madhok
