Indian Autos blog

General Motors has added a souped up, limited edition Spark (Beat in India) in the Chilean market. Termed the Spark GT, the car features defogger, driver’s airbag, an MP3 music system with USB input, a height adjustable steering wheel and fog lamps. The limited edition GT variant of the Spark will be on sale for the next two months.

GM in India already has its hands full with the process of expanding production output of the the Beat and the Cruze, due to an increased demand for both the products. Due to this reason, special editions and one-off vehicles wouldn’t be on their agenda any time soon.

Both the Beat and the Cruze have proven to be very successful for GM in India, with good sales figures. This has led to the company recording good growth figures as compared to previous years.

The Chery QQ3 has utterly ruined GM’s plot for the Spark in China

After sales of the Chevrolet Spark was battered by the introduction of its clone QQ3 from Chinese manufacturer Chery earlier this decade, GM has been left with very few options. They’ve delayed the launch of the new Spark as the Chery clone, according to China Car Times sells in China like ‘free cocaine’!

The Chery QQ3 looks almost identical to the Spark, and costs a fraction.

To keep the Spark alive, GM has planned to add a few plastic bits to the exterior and a raised suspension. The Chinese Spark uses a 1.2-liter petrol engine. The steering wheel and dashboard have also been modified, but will it be enough for the Chinese to look away from the QQ3 and towards the original?

All I can say is it all starts with a Spark!

26-year old artist Ian Cook painted a Chevrolet Spark (Beat). He painted it using many colors. He painted in on canvas. His painting is close to the real thing.

What’s the catch?

He had to do it without using a brush!

Ian Cook, a highly talented artist from West Midlands is a car buff himself. He used remote-controlled cars and old tyres to draw the Spark on a blank piece of canvas. It’s not the first time he’s done it. This is his 41st painting and 6th Chevrolet.

Ian Cook -

I’ve done several commissions for Chevrolet before, so when the opportunity to be the first person ever to create an image of the Spark came along, I couldn’t turn it down. It looks quite simple but the logo is actually very intricate. The angles have to be exactly right, and the criss-cross detail of the gold inside the bow-tie was difficult to replicate.

His first three – of the Camaro Convertible Concept, Beat Concept (which evolved into Spark) and Rob Huff’s 2008 Lacetti WTCC car were created in front of thousands of awe-struck on-lookers at the 2008 edition of the British Motor Show. Cook’s next task is to judge the Young? Creative? Chevrolet! art competition which begins shortly.

A few months back, on an article regarding the Chevy Spark, we wrote how deeply GM India is obsessed with it, and in the future, it even awaits a diesel engine and smaller 800cc petrol engine. We never imagine this was in the roster – Chevrolet Spark with electric power train sourced from REVA.

Economic Times -

The two companies (REVA and GM India) will enter into a 50:50 joint venture (JV), which is currently awaiting the green signal from GM’s Detroit headquarters. If the JV goes through, it will be GM’s first deal since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

P.Balendran, GM India’s vice-president of corporate affairs -

We have been pursuing opportunities for commercial application of alternative fuel options, including bio-diesel, jatropha arrangement with CSMCRI (Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute), electric, fuel cell, hydrogen etc, with many parties for quite some time.

Obviously, GM is interested in strapping vehicles with more than just petrol and diesel motors. Thus far, it has not come out with any prototypes or suspicious looking test mules have not been reported. GM will introduce the Volt in India as a fully assembled vehicle in the future, probably to take on the Prius, which is certainly coming to India sooner or later.

With Tata studying the possibility of introducing the Indica Vista EV in certain cities, REVA bringing in the next generation NXG, and Bavina Cars setting up a high capacity plant in Chennai, the EV scene in India is the one to watch out for. If not this Auto Expo, the next one in 2012 should have more contenders displaying their concepts and production EVs.

When we got in touch with Mr.P.Balendran, VP GM India, he conveyed the Cruze will be launched in October and the Mini car is scheduled for December.

Now, leading websites and blogs like Inside Line report the mini car will have its birth day during the Auto Expo 2010.

GM’s mini car is expected to come with a 4-cylinder, 16-valve DOHC engine with a displacement of 1,000 cc that delivers 69 hp. A 3-cylinder diesel engine is also in the pipeline, set aside for the end of next year.

This vehicle has been rebadged as the Matiz Creative in Korea under the Daewoo banner and launched a few days ago.

We’ve already brought you a set of shots and video of a Chevrolet Spark/Beat test mule on Indian roads. On the previous occasion, things were a bit foggy, which is not the case with the new set of shots sent to us by Mahantesh who reads Indian Autos Blog daily.

Mahantesh spotted this camouflaged Chevrolet Beat/Spark on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. When questioned, the team that tested the mules reiterated the car’s December launch. The test mule had a petrol engine, but the displacement or power was not divulged.

The new Spark/Beat was unveiled during the Geneva Auto Show in March this year. Its similarity to the concept car has created a false notion that the production version is still unreleased.

Mahantesh observes the rear of the new Spark/Beat is similar to the Ritz in size and style. He peeped in to find a lot of leg room for both the front and rear passenger. The unique instrument cluster also caught his attention.

Mahantesh, we owe you

click through for the images

GM India has lined up a slew of upgraded and new roll-outs, which includes sedan Chevrolet Cruze (Rs 12-14 lakh), premium hatchback based on the Beat concept and facelift versions of existing models like Spark and Tavera.