Newly appointed President and Managing Director of General Motors India has sent Indian Autos Blog readers a quick video message from the launch of the Chevrolet Tavera Neo3.
can’t see the video above? Head over to the Youtube video page to see it there.
The Neo3 was launched today in Delhi that makes the Tavera compatible with BS4 emission standards. This is done using a 2-liter CRDI engine sourced from ICML, the manufacturers of Rhino MUV and Sonalika tractors. GM India has also promised to introduce an MPV with a more aerodynamic and modern design in the latter part of 2012.
Last year, the most important launch by GM India was not a car but rather an engine – a diesel engine completely developed in India. They called it the Smartech diesel and it made its debut in the Beat hatchback. The reason why this engine is so important is because it was the smallest diesel engine ever produced by GM and it was exclusively made for the Indian market in their new Bengaluru research center.
However GM has BIG (pun intended) plans for the diesel engine. Firstly, the company is developing a larger capacity engine for its Sail twins and Njoy MPV. Future GM-SAIC models that will enter India will also get the same diesel engine.
As the intensity of demand for diesel cars is rising day by day, it only seems logical to get more diesel variants out for the market.
At the Beat Diesel press conference, IndianAutosBlog.com asked the GM India management about their plans for the later half of the year. The management responded that GM India wants to become a key volumes player in India. In order to achieve that goal, a distinct plan has been established – to tap the semi urban and rural markets to maximize volumes with affordable cars.
If I am honest this is really a no-brainer considering Maruti Suzuki has already tried this strategy and it has worked for them. The tendency to think alike comes due to two important reasons – car sales in metro regions have shown a considerable drop owing to rising interest rates and many people in the rural areas don’t opt in for car loans and hence are less affected by interest rates fluctuations.
The company currently has 250 sales outlets and is planning to inaugurate another 50 by this year end. GM India currently sells 60 percent of its cars in the urban areas. With the new strategy the company wants to sell 70 percent of its cars in the rural areas. That is a paradigm shift in sales distribution.
GM plans to get there with two low cost vans, a mini lorry and affordable passenger cars. These vehicles will be brought in from China and fitted with diesel engines.
The company has set a target of 1.4 lakh units this year as compared to 1.1 lakh units last year. Rural areas will play a key role in making sure that GM India achieves its target.
Chevrolet India has bagged won three top awards in the India Automotive Initial Quality Study (IQS) and Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) 2010 from one of the most prestigious automotive survey company – J D Power.
On the occasion, Chevrolet, P Balendran, Vice-President, General Motors India said
“These prestigious wins from J D Power clearly reiterate that Chevrolet has become the preferred automobile brand in terms of quality, dependability and customer delight. We will continue to leverage the momentum gained thus far and build on the inherent strengths of our products in the future also.”
Chevy Spark took home the awards for the Most Dependable Compact Car and the Best Compact Car in Initial Quality. This is the fourth time the Spark has won award for quality. On the other hand, Chevrolet Aveo U-VA wrapped the awards for the Most Dependable Car in the Premium Compact Car segment.
General Motors India has taken the Indian market very seriously with launches like the Chevrolet Beat and the Chevrolet Cruze to make its presence felt in India. Furthermore, GM India with its Chinese partner SAIC is readying a wide range of low-cost vehicles like a small car (Tata Nano rival), a low cost MPV and a number of LCVs for India.
With competitors gearing up to launch mini-MPVs and gain a foothold in what could be one of the most lucrative segments in the Indian market in the coming years, we think GM India would have already chalked out plans for its contender. The most probable option for GM would be the Chevrolet Orlando MPV which is based on the same platform as the Chevrolet Cruze.
The Chevrolet Orlando is a 5-door compact MPV which can seat 7. With the Chevrolet Tavera being discontinued, chances of the Orlando filling in for the Tavera are very high. The Chevrolet Orlando could come with diesel engines and could compete against mini-MPVs like the Hyundai ic25, Maruti R3,Ford B-Max and MPVs like the Toyota Innova, Xylo and the forthcoming Nissan MPV.
General Motors India, along with its Chinese partners SAIC and Wuling, is developing a new range of LCVs for the Indian market. These low cost LCVs would be rolling out of GM India’s Halol plant by the end-2011. GM India would be investing 470 crore Rupees ($100 million) to produce these LCVs.
GM India’s new range of LCVs would be sold through a separate sales and distribution network and wouldn’t be distributed through the existing network for ‘Chevrolet’ badged passenger cars as the customers for GM’s LCVs would be entirely different form customers for the Chevrolets. Once the production of the LCVs begin, GM’s passenger car production would move to GM’s second plant at Talegaon.
Also the new range of commercial vehicles could get a new ‘Tavera’ badge. The Chevrolet Tavera is quite a popular name in the Indian market is a well known reliable cost-effective people mover and GM India using this name would cash in on the Tavera UV’s popularity.
Karl Slym, President, GM India
We will be investing $100 million in manufacturing LCVs in India next year. The investment needed in setting up a sales and distribution network would be separate. Together with new car launches and entry into LCVs, GM India sales should triple by 2012.
Chevy Cruze – 300 Series Platform fueling growth for GM India
If we talk of growing trends, here is one that certainly happening. Car makers appear to be targeting tier II and tier III markets. We saw it in the case of Ford, which has just opened 13 dealerships in these markets. Now GM India is pursuing a strategy to improve sales in rural markets.
The Chinese will also be entering the Indian commercial and passenger vehicle markets by 2011. Recently, Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation (SAIC) took a 50% stake in GM India and will enter the Indian market in 2011.
These are busy times for GM India. The company has announced that it would introduce a second shift at its Talegaon plant to meet the order book of Chevrolet Beat. The shift is being introduced as the Talegaon plant manufactures the Spark and the Beat and both these cars have received a good response in the market.
GM will also be introducing a third shift in their Halol plant which manufactures Aveo, Optra and Tavera to meet market demand. Here is an example of how different markets work.
