Speaking to Indian Autos Blog yesterday, a top GM India official revealed that the diesel variant of the Beat is only 6-8 weeks away from market introduction. Plenty of information has come out on the public domain, and in a press release published by GM during the second week of April all major details including output, features and construction of the engine were listed.
The 1.0-liter 3-cylinder mill produces 140 Nm @ 1,750 rpm and 57bhp of power. ARAI fuel economy figure will be a touch below 24kpl. With the Dual Overhead Camshaft and a turbocharger in place, this engine has to be better to drive than the petrol.
In a press release General Motors has spoken about the 1.0-liter 3-cylinder diesel engine that will debut on the Beat during the second half of 2011. The diesel heart was designed by GM’s Torino Engineering Center supported by engineers at the Bangalore Powertrain facility.
Producing 140 Nm @ 1,750 rpm, the engine will be fitted with a Dual Overhead Camshaft and a turbocharger. There is no mention of power output, but we were told by an inside source that it will make 57bhp.
OnCars.in is reporting that the Chevrolet Beat diesel, expected here in June, will carry the XSDE nametag which stands for ‘Xtra Smart Diesel Engine.’
The word “Smart” has appeared twice before on the Beat’s marketing strategy. During the launch last year, three keywords GM described the Beat with were tough, sexy and smart. Two months ago, the Beat received a modified petrol engine capable of handling LPG fuel under the name “Smartech.”
We already know that the 1.0-litre three cylinder motor is a derivative of the 4-cylinder Multi-jet engine featured on the Indica Vista, Swift and Linea. The engine will generate 57PS of power and 145Nm of torque and its Powertrain development facility in Bangalore has played an important hand in its development.
The locally-manufactured diesel engine, strapped to the Beat, will return close to 24kmpl, sources have told IAB.
IAB reader Sagar Parikh from Vadodara caught this Beat diesel on test inside the city limits. There’s nothing secretive about this Beat diesel that arrives before June in India.
The 936cc, 3-cylinder Fiat Multijet-derived diesel engine powers the Beat, married to a 5-speed manual transmission. The engine produces 57 bhp power and 140-150 Nm of torque. The ARAI certificate would be a pretty sight for GM as the fuel efficiency will slip past 23kpl.
Sagar, who came very close to the test mule, says the inaudible engine indicates a highly refined diesel motor lurks beneath the bonnet.
Last month we reported that General Motors will showcase a Beat EV prototype in April for the Indian market that will set out to do what the defunct the Spark EV couldn’t. Talking to Business Standard newspaper, Karl Slym, MD of GM India has confirmed this development somewhat. He’s not mentioned the name or type of car in his statement. The vehicle could be the result of General Motors’ independent [ Read More ]
General Motors has launched the Beat LPG at 4.10-4.53 lakh rupees (ex-showroom Mumbai). The Beat LPG is fitted with the SMARTECH engine displacing 1.2-liters, developed for the Indian market. The car comes with 3 years and 100,000 km warranty. Chevrolet Beat LPG Features * Less weight * No power loss * No jerks and backfires which means smoother hassle-free transition from petrol to LPG and back. * Better routing control [ Read More ]
Christmas means Santa Claus. And Santa Claus means gifts.
If you live in Britain and a new Chevrolet Beat is the best present for your loved one, then you don’t want to miss out on this.
Chevrolet UK is offering complimentary gift wrapping on the Beat (known as Spark in UK). Chevrolet claims the gift wrapped Spark makes “the opening ritual a bit more fun.”
The offer is running as we speak and available to people who book their cars till the 21st of December (today). A group of expert gift wrappers will then take over and use as many as ninety nine rolls of adhesive tape and forty six square meters of festive wrapping paper to prepare it for the “tadaa” moment.
We wonder how many rolls of adhesive tape Chevrolet needs if this offer was available on the Chevrolet Captiva. One could buy a new Spark with that money!
We always complain that most cars come in India years after their global launch. Well that trend is changing gradually and more and more companies are trying to get their products in the Indian Market first, especially compact cars.
Companies like the General Motors which showcased the Beat in the transformer movie and then immediately launched it in the Indian market. And sure, they have been rewarded as well; The Chevrolet Beat is currently doing reasonable volumes in the India and is expecting strong future growth with the arrival of the diesel engine.
The Chinese sadly couldn’t say so – well at least till now. Chevy didn’t introduce the Beat in the Chinese market as the Spark was still a capable small car fulfilling their requirements. But with competition making moves, finally the day has arrived and the Beat is all set roll on the streets of China. For that, it has also been given a Chinese name – (Si Pa Ke), a phonetic translation of its English name Spark (note the Beat is sold overseas as Chevrolet Spark).
What about the good old Spark you ask? We think that the Wuling brand will absorb that car under its umbrella.
Speaking to Indian Autos Blog yesterday, a top GM India official revealed that the diesel variant of the Beat is only 6-8 weeks away from market introduction. Plenty of information has come out on the public domain, and in a press release published by GM during the second week of April all major details including output, features and construction of the engine were listed.
