The Tavera’s Achilles heel has now been fixed. It gets a BSIV heart from Sonalika which means that it can be sold metros as well. However, the BSIII version, hailed as an economy champion by taxi cab operators, will also be sold along side. Here are the two engine options that you can book your Tavera Neo with:

• 2.5 liter BS3 diesel engine with 78 Bhp and 186 Nm of peak torque.
• 2 liter CRDI BSIV complaint engine with 105 Bhp 264 Nm of peak torque.

Other changes include:

• Minor changes to the front fascia – new headlamps, a new grille design and new bumpers
• New tail lamp design
• Dual Tone interiors
• New steering wheel design
• A dual cockpit design
• A refreshed instrument cluster

The price range starts at INR 6.72 lakhs for the entry level BS3 variant and heads north all the way to INR 10.26 lakhs for the fully loaded BS4 variant.

Your move XYLO!

[Images sourced from Facebook.com/ChevroletTavera]

The dashboards of these cars don’t differ, much like the Etios twins or the Swift twins. The Indigo Manza is perhaps the only vehicle in this segment to bear a different dashboard compared to its centrally-mounted dials its hatchback counterpart is endowed with.

At Pragati Maidan, the Sail hatchback’s display area was chained and hence one couldn’t get a close view of the interior. The Sails will at some point in 2011 replace the Aveos.

See hi res pictures of the Sail hatchback from the Auto Expo collection

The test mule has a driver side airbag so we conclude it is among the higher variants. It has a manual gearbox and power window switches are grouped between the front seats, a unique ergonomics strategy.

The interiors are dual tone, but there’s nothing exciting there. There are plenty of hard plastics and the features like steering-mounted controls, start-stop button and automatic climate control are missing.

After the launch of cars like the Beat and Cruze (on the newer 300 Series platform), that sport an unique design language, interiors that grab eyeballs and features that are smart, the Sonics should have followed them to present the similar experience to drivers in new segments.

As the Sails are based on an old platform and have a simple, uncontroversial design, the GM India’s lineup could be discontinuous and pulling in different directions.

Chevrolet Sail hatchback spyshot gallery

Can’t see the slideshow above? Head over to our Flickr page to see all images.

Showcased at the Auto Expo, the Tavera Neo3 is expected to launch in the next few weeks. It uses ICML’s “G-One” series engine that displaces two liters and pumps out 100PS of power. GM will continue offering the existing 2.5-liter engine on the Neo3 for customers in BS3 cities.

The Neo3 is going to be sold alongside the Wuling MPV. Either in late 2012 or early 2013, a smaller Wuling MPV (dubbed HongTu) joins the lineup as the third MPV.

See close-up images of Chevrolet Tavera Neo3 from the Auto Expo archive

The Neo3 features the Chevrolet bowtie on a larger twin-port grille. Clear lens headlamps, dual-tone body color on the highest variant, gold bumpers, beige and dark grey color combination on the interiors, soft-feel cashmere upholstery, ice blue dash illumination, perforated leather upholstery and seven captain seats are available.

General Motors says the high percentage of Neo3′s local content results in competitively priced spare parts.

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The Chevrolet Sail was jointly developed by Shanghai GM and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) off a new architecture in accordance with GM’s Global Vehicle Development Process (GVDP) and worldwide standards for engineering and quality. The Chevrolet Beat also complies to the same standards.

We have already discussed the design and mechanicals of the Sail. Now it is time to answer the big one – Safety. The Sail has secured 4 stars in the C-NCAP testing (an organizational body similar to Euro NCAP). It has a safety cage with integrated crumple zones. A steel frame surrounds the fuel tank as a protection in case of a crash. The car also features:

• Dual air bags in front
• A retractable steering column
• ABS with EBD
• Child safety locks are standard

What are the Sail’s chances against Etios, Manza, Verito and Fiesta Classic?

[ Image Source: IndianCarsBikes.in]

See high res interiors shots of the Sail

The Sail twins will replace the age old Aveos and the very important difference is the incoming models use Fiat’s 1.3-liter Multi-jet diesel engine manufactured at GM’s Talegaon plant.

These two models will be spaced out between the Beat and the Optra. Its main rivals incidentally turn out to be among the best selling cars in the Indian market – the Swift and the Swift Dzire.

The Sails were designed and developed by SAIC, GM’s Chinese partner which owns a significant stake in its Indian operations with the goal of providing affordable motoring. The philosophy of the Sail is very similar to the Tata Nano – it aims to broaden the customer range for car ownership. The twins were designed right from the start to meet a certain level of international standards. They were launched in China two years ago and and are being exported. Some of the features on the Chinese-spec models are dual airbags, ABS, EBD and good pedestrian safety ratings.

Our good friends at Team-BHP have managed to snap a couple of more images of the Chevrolet MPV near Ahmedabad. The Hong Guang is 7 seater MPV  with 2nd and 3rd row have flat-folding seats. It is expected to be powered by 1.3L SMARTECH XSDE engine.

Internationally, the Hong Guang is available with a bucket load of features. So GM can pitch it up against the new Toyota Innova and play the price game.

However, the Hong Guang will not have the market to its own. Nissan India has already showcased its contender – the Evalia for Indian market.

Ashok Leyland also plans to enter this segment with a slightly better looking NV200, called as the Stile. Maruti Suzuki’s Ertiga launch is also just around the corner.

[Source: Team-BHP.com]

The hatchback version of the Sail was revealed at the bygone Delhi Auto Expo. General Motors India officials were not very forthcoming on the car’s specifications. They did not allow pictures to be taken of its interior and said nothing about its price.

The same limitations applied to the Chevrolet MPV concept (Chinese readers identify this as the Wuling Hong Guang) that shared the Sail’s display area. During a chat with one higher official in the GM pavillion, it was confirmed that the Aveo twins will phase out to make room for the Chinese visitors.

We’ll be surprised if the model spied by Satyajeet is the highest variant as it has very little going for it.

There are no steering mounted controls we can see or auto climate control present on the Beat sitting a segment below. The interiors are a bit plain except for the chrome on the door handle and brushed aluminium finish on the release of the front door that act as relief.

The Sail uses India’s national diesel engine if you might – the popular Fiat Multijet engine displacing 1.3 liters is taking up yet another assignment this time reporting to GM India. The 1.4-liter petrol engine fortified with Smartech technology could provide high fuel economy and keep the cost in control.

Being a Chinese product, the first expectation is a groundbreaking starting price. GM has not shied away from price wars in the past, the Cruze, Beat and Spark are ready examples. The Sails could undercut most of the B+ segment sedans. It could be a Dzire rival as the price of the Tata Indigo CS. GM come on! Show us what you got!

Chevrolet Sail sedan close-up spy pics

Can’t see the slideshow above? Head to the Chevrolet Sail sedan spyshot gallery to view the images directly.