Archive for the ‘Chevrolet’ Category

Final run – 2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA

2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA

By Ragav Ramesh

With just a month to go for the Paris motor show, General Motors is performing final checks on the 2011 Chevrolet Aveo so that it’s ready for the flashing lights. GM is also doing rigorous testing in China to give the best ride and performance for its demanding customers.

The 2011 Chevrolet Aveo twins sit on the GM Gamma II platform and for the Indian market we are expecting a locally manufactured 1.3 Multijet diesel engine and the power terrain from Talegaon. Worldwide the next gen Aveo will come fitted with a 1.2L, 1.4L, and 1.6L petrol engines and we expect both 1.2l & 1.4l for the Indian market.

The new Aveo has got aggressive styling borrowing the shark front nose from the Mitsubishi Lancer and the interiors from its current Beat which has won accolades for its design globally.

Looking at the spree of small car launches and much more scheduled in the line up, all we can say is that the small car market is getting hotter in India and the manufacturers can’t afford to make mistakes in any department. GM will want to make sure the that the 2011 model doesn’t go unnoticed like the outgoing Aveo, which succumbed to competition without a proper diesel engine or facelift.

Bottom-line is for all the buyers looking in for a decent sized hatchback with good engines, comfort and boot space, and an unique design that’ll stand out even with the passage of time, help is almost here!

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Entry posted on August 28th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet, Spy pictures

General Motors working on electric Chevrolet Sail

Chevrolet Sail hatchThanks to Tycho, we’re able to bring you a development on the India-bound Chevrolet Sail.

Tycho reports that General Motors is developing an electric variant of the Chevrolet Sail hatchback in China. While there are no technical details to share, we can safely expect a powertrain meant for maximum range and modest power.

That brings us to the question – Will GM India use the e-Sail as a replacement for the defunct e-Spark project?

The Sail is a much bigger car compared to the Spark. The Spark’s localized well and the battery packs and motors were supposed to come from REVA which was based out of Bangalore. The Sail however, comes from China and the Indian government doesn’t see Bangalore in the same way as Beijing. The duties will be higher and GM would lose out on the pricing front.

The Sail was developed by GM China and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) – a 50-50 joint venture between General Motors and its Chinese partner SAIC. It comes fitted with a 1.2-liter and 1.4-liter petrol engine that is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

GM has said that it will bring out electric vehicles for India through its in-house program in the next few years. The launch of the e-Sail can serve as a probe testing local waters to more affordable electric cars from GM in the future.

GM India, what are you thinking?

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Entry posted on August 23rd, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet, Electric vehicles

GM’s Talegaon plant makes diesel engine for Beat from November

Chevrolet Beat Green

General Motors India announced a few days back that their engine plant at Talegaon will become operational by November this year. GMI had invested big money on this plant & is confident that it will further strengthen their foothold in the Indian Market.

This flexible engine plant can manufacture both Petrol & Diesel engines simultaneously. The plant is capable of manufacturing upto 160,000 engines per annum. Come November & the first engine to roll out from this plant will be the 1.0 liter diesel engine for the Beat.

GMI had not launched the diesel Beat alongside the Petrol version earlier this year as the engine plant was not ready. The company wanted to produce the diesel engine locally to keep the costs down and launch the diesel variant of the Beat at a competitive price tag. Expect the diesel Beat to go on sale in January 2011.

GM will also be manufacturing the Multijet diesel engines that will power the next gen Aveo siblings at this plant. So you can expect those cars to be pretty well priced too.

Meanwhile GM is very happy with its sales in the country. The company has a target of selling 1 lakh units this year as opposed to 69,579 units last year & has already managed to sell 68,000 units in the 1st half of 2010. The opening of this plant means that we can expect many well priced Chevy’s in the future which will further push the sales of GM.

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Entry posted on August 20th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet

Official – General Motors to launch Tavera BS4 early next year

Chevrolet Tavera bs4

Addressing the media at the inauguration of a new dealer showroom in Chennai, Managing Director of GM India, Mr.Karl Slym said the company will launch the BS4-compliant Chevrolet Tavera in the Indian market next year.

The BS4 Tavera will get a 2.0-liter CRDI diesel engine from Sonalika that manages to produce 100PS@4,000 RPM.

The same CRDI engine is presently employed by Sonalika on its Rhino SUV. The engine makes 120PS on that vehicle. General Motors would have requested for a de-tuning to help achieve better fuel economy.

With Toyota, Tata Motors, Maruti and several other car makers interested in exploring the inexpensive MPV market, GM has made the right move by making the Tavera available in major cities where people as well as fleet operators want practical, fuel economical, inexpensive and well-furnished products. General Motors is said to bring more MPVs in the future from the Chinese Wuling brand.

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Entry posted on August 11th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet

Rendering – BS4 compliant Chevrolet Tavera

BS4 Chevrolet Tavera

General Motors will revamp its sole MPV model for India, the Tavera, for a re-launch later this year. General Motors would source a sub 2-liter CRDI engine from Sonalika that will enable the Tavera to meet BS4 emission norms that are in effect across major cities in India.

The Tavera will get a 100bhp CRDI engine which should work wonders for the aging workhorse. General Motors could also give the BS4 Tavera a cosmetic overhaul to imply to the layman that there’s something new about it.

Sonalika’s diesel engine is expected to return close to 16-17km/l. General Motors has said that its future offerings will all have diesel engine options and the advantage of diesel fuel cannot be overlooked anymore.

We’ve tried to fuse the next generation Chevrolet front-end with the Tavera and the result isn’t too bad. General Motors should add alloy wheels, roof rails, body graphics, etc to the new Tavera to set it further apart from the taxi cab model, which we see all the time.

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Entry posted on July 20th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet, Renderings

Could Sonalika’s CRDI engine power the BS4 compliant Chevy Tavera?

Chevrolet Tavera

Speculation. And if its speculation, GM India can’t stay away from it for very long.

GM post bankruptcy filing, has been in the news only for the right reasons. The company has every reason to be happy. Its Beat mini car is doing sparkling numbers. The Chevrolet Cruze is steadily climbing, surpassing expectations and according to the latest figures is the segment leader.

It plans to bring in the Beat diesel and the Aveo twins next year giving the ability to penetrate the market further. There are also a heap of Chinese cars that GM intends to sell in India at killer price tags. The Chinese vans from Wuling will be built at the company’s Talegaon facility with Fiat Multi-jet engines.

In all this noise, many of us have forgotten the Chevrolet Tavera which was not upgraded to meet BS4 regulations. There were rumors last year the GM will outsource production of Tavera to Argentum.

We have heard from our sources that the Tavera will be relaunched in India by the end of this year with a sub 2-liter Sonalika CRDI engine producing 100bhp. The vehicle could have a ECU sourced from Continental.

The 100bhp CRDI engine could help the Tavera take the fight to Toyota’s Innova and Mahindra’s Xylo. GM could also give the Tavera new features and updates in the styling front.

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Entry posted on July 16th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet

Leaked – 2011 Chevrolet Aveo twins

2011 Chevrolet Aveo sedan

Thanks to Carscoop, we’re able to bring you patent drawings of the 2011 Aveo twins heading to India next year. General Motors will bring the Aveo sedan to India in the first quarter of 2011. It might bring the Aveo hatchback by the end of next year or the beginning of 2012.

These new Aveos are important models for the Indian wing since it doesn’t have a diesel hatchback to challenge the might of the Suzuki Swift, Hyundai i20 or Indica Vista. General Motors will fit the internationally acclaimed 1.3-liter Fiat Multi-jet engines to these cars and that will place GM in a suitable position to grab vital market share. The current Aveos don’t have the important diesel option and that reflects in the poor sales numbers.

GM has said in the recent past that the current Aveos will not receive any upgrades this year. It does not have any plans to phase out the models either.

Internationally the Aveo twins will lock horns with the Ford Fiesta hatch and sedan. The hatchback model has been shown in the form of the Aveo RS concept at the North American Motor Show in January this year.

Since these models are based on the 300 Series platform, there will be many similarities between the smaller Spark (Beat) and Aveo. Many components will be shared, the hidden rear door handles is just one example.

The Aveo twins could debut at the Paris Motor Show.

There is no doubt that the Aveo twins will be the most striking and concept car-like designs in India. GM should market these models aggressively, run television commercials that strike a chord and are true to the product’ traits. Competition in the form of the next generation Swift, Etios twins and Honda’s small car is coming next year, and GM better work on getting a head start.

click through to view the image gallery

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Entry posted on July 14th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet, Spy pictures

Quote of the Day

Karl Slym

We plan to look within the General Motors portfolio for alternate technology vehicles

Karl Slym, President and Managing Director of GM India, in a chat with NDTV profit on the way ahead with electric vehicles.

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Entry posted on July 7th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet

Spied – Chevrolet Captiva facelift; coming Diwali 2011?

2011 Chevrolet Captiva

The horsepower paparazzi have an interesting catch to share that Indians will be interested in. The 2011 Chevrolet Captiva with the nose of the next-gen Chevys was spied, undisguised, in an unknown location.

The grille of the new Captiva is carried over from the Aveo RS concept. The headlamps and bumper have also tagged along from the concept which once again signifies GM doesn’t build show cars for the heck of it. Their concepts are built for the production line.

Under the hood, a new 2.2-liter CRDI engine will find a friend in a 6-speed manual transmission. The new engine generates more horsepower and twist and exhales fewer emissions.

The Captiva facelift should make it to India by Diwali 2011. That’s more than a year away because GM will introduce the new Aveo sedan next year and could follow it with the next gen Aveo U-VA which are more significant launches. On the heels of the hatch, the SUV could see daylight.

The Captiva is a CBU brought from Korea. Despite being a CBU, it is positioned in the mid-size SUV segment that’s seeing a lot of action in India. The introduction of the BMW X1 could send many impatient customers to Chevrolet showrooms.

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Entry posted on June 24th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet, Spy pictures

Quote of the Day

Ankush Arora

Although we have been studying the scope of launching EVs in India, it hinges on a lot of factors like the government’s support in terms of providing infrastructure, incentives, etc. Right now, the cost equation for Volt is not there. Although we are in talks with the government for assistance and other incentives to develop infrastructure for such products, we don’t expect any sort of support in the near term.

Ankush Arora, GM India vice-president (marketing, sales and after sales) speaking to wheelsunplugged.com on Chevrolet Volt and its prospects in India

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Entry posted on June 18th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet

Is the Chevrolet Sail coming to India next year?

CHevrolet Sail India

GM China recently launched the Chevrolet Sail sedan and hatchback in China recently. GM developed this car specifically for the developing markets like the China, Brazil and India. We had already brought you spy shots of the Sail being tested in China. And rumor has it that this car is heading to India in both its sedan and hatchback avatars probably in the next couple of years.

The Chevrolet Sail sedan could be GM’s entry-level sedan in India. The car though conservatively styled, looks smart with its clean, fuss-free lines.

The front has a tinge of Chevrolet family look, but the execution appears like desperation crept in to resemble the nose of the Cruze and Beat. The rear of the car looks extremely pleasing (its got a hint of the Fiat Linea).

The hatchback could be placed above the Chevrolet Beat, possibly between the Beat and the next gen Aveo. GM India would keep the length of the hatchback under 4,000mm to enjoy small car excise benefits.

The interiors of the car almost look sporty mainly because several components and styling elements look like afterthoughts than a pre-set design goal. But then, the interiors are good enough for its competition, and if GM are to lure cab operators, this is a perfect vehicle.

The Indian version of the cars, if they intend to sell it to families, would have loads of beige and chrome as GM knows the Indian car buyer lover beige.

The car could get a 1.2 liter petrol engine from the Beat tuned to produce 87hp. A small frugal diesel engine should be offered, only then can GM get this car to sell in large numbers.

click through for gallery

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Entry posted on June 12th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet

Is this how the upcoming Chevy Aveo U-VA will look?

2011 Chevrolet Aveo

The upcoming Chevrolet Aveo U-VA should debut in India by the end of 2011 after the next gen Aveo sedan, and that doesn’t mean the existing Aveo twins will be shown the door. Both generations could co-exist and for that to happen peacefully, the cars shouldn’t have major similarities.

The next generation Aveo will be sold in India with a locally-manufactured 1.3-liter diesel engine. It will also use a petrol engine, which could be a derivative of the 1.2 S-Tec motor on the Chevy Beat.

The sub-compact segment away from India has zero-tolerance for mediocre and half-baked hatches. When you have cars like the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit, not to mention Ford’s new Fiesta, you better cross over to the battle field with weapons that can destroy.

The next gen Aveo U-VA/Aveo sedan will use the 300 Series platform (same as Beat, Cruze). You don’t have to look hard to understand styling cues will carry over from those two.

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Entry posted on June 9th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet, Renderings

Quote of the Day

Karl Slym

It’s true that we are looking at (launching) cars in various different segments, but I don’t think it’s fair to say we are trying to launch a Nano.

President and Managing Director of GM India Karl Slym when someone asked him if his company is going to launch a Tata Nano competitor in India.

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Entry posted on June 7th, 2010 and filed under Chevrolet
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