General Motors has a shedload of new models and variants lined up for the next 18-24 months. Vehicles in all sorts of shapes colors and sizes will be launched in India with LPG, CNG, petrol, diesel and electric options.
There’s always been something for everyone in a GM dealer showroom. Perhaps the biggest and most significant drawback GM faced is the absence of diesel engines for its compact vehicles.
General Motors will showcase a battery-operated vehicle in April 2011. We’re uncertain if this is going to be a Beat EV or the Chevrolet Sail EV. Soon after showcasing the concept, GM will work on putting it into production. This is GM’s second shot at presenting an electric vehicle to India after the first attempt went astray with Bangalore-based REVA car company.
GM will launch the much-awaited Beat LPG in January 2011. The 3-cylinder Beat diesel is also being prepared for a roll-out next year.
General Motors will bring a 800cc variant of the Spark to India in the next 24 months its President and Managing Director Karl Slym has said recently. The 800cc Spark is sold in South Africa as GM’s entry level car.
When Daewoo introduced the Spark as Matiz in India, they used a 3-cylinder 800cc engine that was fuel efficient and sprightly to drive inside the city.
Karl Slym, President and Managing Director of GM India -
We have a small-engine Spark available in the overseas market and are looking to bring it to India in the next 24 months
The Chevrolet Beat hasn’t clocked the expected numbers and the rearguard action for its mediocre performance is the 800cc Spark. If the Beat had overtaken the Spark to become GM’s best selling model, the Spark 800cc could have stayed indoors.
Seen above, the South African Spark Lite has a 796cc 3-cylinder petrol engine producing 51 hp. It has a different front-end and wheel caps. A drop in power is seen on the low capacity engine Spark which scores high on fuel economy.
In the recent edition of Autocar India, it is mentioned that Toyota could introduce the Etios hatch in March 2011. The hatchback comes with a 1.2-liter petrol engine developing around 80bhp and return close to 20kmpl in the ARAI fuel economy test.
Toyota is also looking at the option of the 1.4-liter diesel engine employed in Altis diesel. The major difference here is the absence of a VGT. Toyota will instead opt for a fixed geometry turbo that will cost less. It goes without saying that an improved fuel economy will be achieved through the use of a diesel engine.
Toyota is weighing the option of throwing in the sedan’s 1.5-liter engine into the hatch’s engine bay at a later stage. This could make the Etios into a sort of a hot hatch.
The Toyota Innova shows no signs of slowing down, aging or fatigue. Despite more affordable options and slightly upmarket products there for the taking, there seems to be no better alternative to the Innova for the Indian MPV buyer.
But in 2012, that might change with the entry of the Nissan NV200 in India. We spotted the NV200 testing in Chennai a couple of months back with no camouflage. The vehicle’s rear resembles the Maruti Eeco and has enough cabin space to hold a football tournament.
The NV200 will be brought out under the Ashok Leyland-Nissan alliance. While Nissan will sell upmarket mini trucks and vans in India, Ashok Leyland will focus on lower segments.
General Motors is bracing for the launch of Chinese LCVs in India, while Ford and Changan are toying with a similar idea. Autocar India reported Mahindra is working on a stylish MPV as well and seeing all this I’m sure Force Motors, Tata Motors, Skoda and Volkswagen won’t stay silent for long. The MPV segment is going to be crowded with all these players, and that could mean bad news for Toyota and its Innova.
Auto Esporte is reporting that Fiat’s Cordoba plant in Argentina, with the help of a $352 million investment, begins production of the Novo Palio and Siena models in March 2011.
The CBD project is a government-funded venture, administered by the Central Bank. The Novo Palio will be the second car after the Chevrolet Agile to be funded by the Argentinian government.
It’s certainly an interesting development as Fiat India has a lot riding on the new Palio. The Punto and Linea have given them meaningful volumes and helped fix the tarnished image left behind by the pre-facelift Palio.
Fiat will position the Novo Palio under the Punto. Fiat’s excellent Multi-jet diesel engine will feature on the Novo Palio. The 1.0-liter Multiair petrol will take care of duties on the basic model.
Coming to the prices, Fiat could look at a 3.3-lakh rupee starting price for the Novo Palio range. We’re at least a year away from the local launch (Auto Expo in January 2012?) and more details are expected in the months to follow, especially with the overseas launch nearing.
After Shoeb R Kalania brought you a pair of renderings of Honda’s all-new small car for India, we have a really interesting interpretation from our friends in Brazil.
The Brio is Honda’s Etios. It will arrive in India next year with the Jazz’ 1.2-liter engine. There’s also a smaller petrol engine displacing under 1,000cc in the works we’re told, on which VTEC technology will be absent to lower costs. The Brio will make its international debut at the Thailand Motor Show on the 30th of this month.
As we reported earlier, Honda is busy fishing for an agency to broadcast the Brio in India. It will be interesting to see if door handles are placed on the C-Pillar as suggested in these images. Here in India, many parents travel with children in the back seat. If the door handle is higher up, kids will find it difficult to reach.
Honda could bring a sedan on the Brio’s platform to fill the gap under the City in 2012. Since the mini SUV market is about to kick-off in India (Ford, Mahindra and General Motors are going to be part of it), Honda should also think along the lines of a mini CR-V. Since Honda’s diesel engine line-up is scheduled only for 2012, the Brio and its siblings rely on petrol to fight its hard-knuckled rivals.
Thanks to a Chinese automobile website, we’re able to bring you completely unmasked pictures of the Nissan V-Platform Sedan disembarking in India around Diwali next year.
At this point, we’re told the likelihood of a 1.6-liter petrol engine and a 1.5-liter diesel engine is strong. Going by the Micra’s path, we don’t expect aggression on the pricing front for the V-Platform sedan whose name in India is still undecided. It could be in the range of the Honda City/VW Vento. For about 10 lakh rupees, one expects to drive home the diesel model with all the bells and whistles.
But headaches are abound for Nissan in 2011. Hyundai will up the ante with the Verna RB, VW should have put the Vento 1.4 in place, and Ford would have registered in this slug fest with the fascinating new Fiesta. With such promising new vehicles entering the fray, the V-Platform sedan needs a fancy price tag to hold a candle to this sort of a deadly competition.
Add the Toyota Etios sedan to that equation, will you?
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Our in-house photo manipulator took a short break from seeing how the future will pan out by heading to Gujarat and enjoying what the present has to give.
On his way, he spotted this single-cab Mahindra Xylo pickup which we are told is ready to hit step into the market very very soon. The development on the pickups have concluded and the launch is the only part of the project pending.
The pickups could come with the low-cost mDI CRDe engine that’s good for 90bhp. Micro-hybrid technology could feature on select variants of this medium size load carrier.
Mahindra are also working on a dual cab variant. For the passenger division, there’s a Xylo mHawk, Xylo 4X4 and Xylo 5-seater waiting to wage war.
