General Motors India’s MPV is likely to come out between April-June followed by the Sail hatch in July-September sources tell Indian Autos Blog. Both vehicles have been jointly developed by GM, SAIC and Wuling and are displayed at the Delhi Auto Expo.
A revised 1.3-liter Fiat diesel engine manufactured at the company’s flexible production line in Talegaon, Maharashtra hides under the bonnet. The Aveo siblings are gradually going to be phased out and the Sail twins fill up the vacancies. Even if GM takes its time with these launches, they should grace showrooms not later than the festive season.
General Motors will sell both vehicles through existing GM dealers.
General Motors has just unveiled two products, Sail hatchback and MPV, brought in from the joint venture partner SAIC’s portfolio. These vehicles will be launched in the market this year. General Motors is not delving into the details and the questions around branding and tech specs will be answered closer to launch.
Sail hatch built for emerging markets – Past 1.5 years in development to meet the demands of the Indian conditions – powered by Smartech diesel and petrol engines – Sail competes in mini segment, one of the world’s most complicated small car segments.
The “All new Chevrolet MPV” (branding not revealed) was designed for consumers wanting space and style – flexible seating – max 7 occupants.
These two products are just the start of the slew of launches in the next two years.
GM India was dormant in 2011. The company had no new launches to show. Sure, it presented the Beat Diesel/Electric/CNG and the Smartech engine but these are categorized as variants or upgrades. When it came to new models, Chevrolet was pretty much in ‘consolidation phase’.
However, Chevrolet is making super plans for 2012. Apart from the Beat and Spark, they have no mass market products in their portfolio. Their people mover Tavera was banished from the metro cities due to lack of BSIV compliance. So a facelifted Tavera is in the making which will use engines from ICML. Another people mover – Hong Guang MPV is expected to lock horns with the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, while the smaller diesel-engined HongTu is the Maruti Eeco’s nightmare.
However the MOST important segment in the Indian automotive scene is the B and C segments. Chevrolet’s existing contenders – the Aveo and Aveo U-VA went to high school with Stonehenge. Their replacement is coming in the form of the Sail twins.
The hatchback version of the Sail was spotted by a Team-BHP member with the handle siddhu_engg24 testing near Nashik. The Sail hatchback is powered by a 1.2L petrol engine and a 1.3L Smartech diesel to directly compete against Indica Vista, Maruti Swift and Volkswagen Polo.
The sedan version of the Sail was spotted first by IAB in a parking lot. It will go head to head with the Fiesta Classic, Maruti Dzire, Tata Manza et al.
However, Chevrolet has not opted to bring the Sonic twins to India as planned earlier. GM’s original plan was to land the Sonic sedan in early-to-mid 2011.
Do you think that the Sail twins will have a fighting chance against competition?
Zigwheels.com has posted spyshots of the Chevrolet Sail hatchback that could replace the Aveo U-VA next year. Earlier this year IndianAutosBlog.com was the first to bring photographs a Sail sedan test mule in a parking area. This is viewed as the Aveo’s successor and likely to wear the same brand plate. The lack of a diesel engine has reduced the Aveo twins’ combined sales performance to three digits.
Globally Aveos are replaced with the Sonic twins. India may not receive Sonic until the Sail siblings settle down and generate volumes. If the Sonic is brought down, questions arise on the price and positioning. Can GM India sell two B+ segment hatchbacks?
The Sail could be positioned just above the Beat. This puts it in direct competition with the Indica Vista, Maruti Swift and Volkswagen Polo.
The Sail was developed in China for emerging markets and recently received a minor cosmetic update. General Motors has to work on the hatch to suit it to our ecosystem. It needs a diesel engine (likely the Fiat 1.3 MJD), the ground clearance has to be jacked up, suspension reworked and interiors tweaked to give GM a fighting chance in the field packed with established players.
It is no secret that GM India is mulling the launch of the SAIC-developed Sail sedan in India to settle scores with the Tata Indigo Manza, Toyota Etios and Maruti Dzire. Chevrolet has been outpaced by the competition in the B+ segment as the Aveo twins, with outdated styling and petrol engines, are no match to the fuel efficient and updated diesel sedans.
Even with the class-leading 3-year maintenance pack, the Aveo has not contributed significantly to GM India’s sales composition. The blame is completely on the absence of a diesel engine and GM India is apprehensive about tweaking an old platform to provide the diesel option to customers.
GM has not provided cosmetic upgrades to the Aveo either. About three years back, GM gave the Aveo twins an edgier styling makeover globally which has not made an appearance in India.
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Update – GM China has launched the Sail facelift with a new grille, bumpers, updated interior and parking sensors.
India is expecting the Chevrolet Sail twins in 2012 in place of the Sonic twins and there’s a major development on this regard. GM China is working on giving the Sail a facelift with new bumpers, grille, updated interiors and rear parking sensors. The Sail is the first car to be developed in China in cooperation with an overseas partner. In the refreshed form, the Sail could land in India by July 2012.
The Chevrolet Sail facelift will be listed in China later this month, according to CarNewsChina.
The Sail twins are manufactured in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture. It uses a 1.2-litre S-TEC II and a 1.4-litre S-TEC III meeting Euro IV standards. Producing 87hp and 103hp respectively, they are married to a 5-speed manual transmission.
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Sources tell Indian Autos Blog that General Motors India has deferred the launch of its next generation Aveo siblings (renamed Chevrolet Sonic recently) to 2012-13. The initial plan was to launch the Sonic sedan in the market in the beginning of 2011, which hasn’t happened. What India will get instead is the Sail twins from GM India’ Chinese stake holder SAIC. A greyish silver Sail sedan in LHD configuration (like the accompanying image) has been spotted around Pune recently with Chinese lettering and Sail badge.
Expect the Sail twins with petrol and diesel engines. Powertrains will be manufactured in Talegaon. A high level of localization on these cars will lead to aggressive prices, our source adds.
As we reported earlier, Chevrolet exhibited the Sail EV at the Guangzhou Auto Show in China last week.
Jointly-developed with the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), the Sail EV showcased is only a concept.
Design wise, the front-end gains inspiration from the Chevrolet Volt. There are turbine style wheels and flush door handles, atypical of a EV.
Power comes from a small electric motor that produces 87 hp and 220 Nm of toque. The Sail EV is able to accelerate to about 130kph and travel up to 150km in a single charge.
Kevin Wale – President and Managing Director of the GM China -
GM is committed to delivering a range of advanced propulsion technologies and offering a portfolio of solutions that will allow our customers to choose the vehicle that best meets their needs.
The Sail EV isn’t approved for production but there is a strong possibility of it arriving in India next year in the prototype form. GM India has said it will display a concept EV in April 2011.
