GM To launch Mini car by Year End!

surely new spark is more sparkling then earlier, i guess later on they would switch over to beige interiors to all models?? :D , i saw the interview yesterday night on NDTV car and bike show, stating the confirmation about new spark with 800cc engine coming in near future, lpg variant of spark, chevy cruz coming, and also the news of bringing new models in their venture here.Also was stated the services and repairing jobs of Opel brand owners here which chevy would look after.

So GM's going great guns. 800cc Spark with decent power would make Spark do some figures in sales. Any thing they said about MINI car?

no he didnt confirmed anything but said thats in line for future plans of GM.

As most of us were eager to know more about this "Mini" car, Heres an update -

Mumbai, General Motors India is betting big on its global mini-car that is scheduled to debut towards the end of this calendar.

Mr Karl Slym, President & Managing Director, said at a press conference here on Tuesday that this was part of the company’s efforts to focus on the Indian compact car segment which accounts for nearly 75 per cent of sales.

Codenamed the M300, the mini-car will roll out of the company’s new plant in Talegaon near Pune. It is important from GMI’s point of view because it will be part of a full-fledged manufacturing operation which will pay particular attention to localisation. GMI will also look at exporting the M300 to parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

The Talegaon plant has a capacity of 140,000 units which could be increased to 300,000 cars. The powertrain facility in the same area has been planned for 160,000 diesel and petrol engines, but can enhance this to 300,000 units. Sources say that the big numbers planned clearly reflect the company’s intention to use India as an export hub.

Spark’s LPG version

GMI launched the LPG version of the Chevrolet Spark with a price tag of Rs 3.69 lakh (ex-showroom, Thane).

The Spark accounted for half the company’s total sales of 65,702 units in 2008. It is being manufactured at the Talegaon plant but will also be part of the assembly line at the Gujarat plant once the M300 debuts.

The LPG option would only be confined to small cars like the Spark while the bigger models from the GMI stable would use compressed natural gas as an alternative fuel.
(Source)

That's really a great news. If the MINI comes with a price tag lesser than Spark, it'll do great. If it comes with a diesel, it'll be a volume seller IMO.

IMO, MINI car will not have a diesel version. It'll become too tough to maintain.

GM starts Trail production of its Mini car In India!


General Motors intends to launch its new mini car by the end of this year. The company has started trial production of the car. The new car will be developed on the Beat concept and will have multiple fuel options, said the President and Managing Director of General Motors India, Karl Slym.

GM India enjoys a comfortable position in India despite its parent company sailing through choppy waters back home. In India, the company is facing pressure from the employees to roll out the new car early in the market. General Motors India has already invested more than Rs. 5000 crores in setting up its plant in Halol and Talegaon. Its combined manufacturing capacity is to produce 2.25 lakh cars annually which it plans to increase upto three lakh cars per annum.

Slym added that the company plans to roll out new cars this year. A mid-size luxury sedan Chevrolet Cruze priced around Rs 12 lakh will arrive in September and a new mini car will be introduced by the end of this year. The mini car will be priced around Rs 4 lakh.

(cartradeindia.com)

Hmm....So trail production has begun.
It means they will soon start testing it too!
TAI'ians keep a watch on this new small baby from GM.

RoadRocket

Mini car at 4 lacs? So that should be the new Spark.

yeah seems it would be new spark with 800CC engine at that price, hmm yes RR keep eyes wide open TAI'ians!!

thackervijay wrote:yeah seems it would be new spark with 800CC engine at that price, hmm yes RR keep eyes wide open TAI'ians!!

I'm talking about the all-new Spark based on Beat concept. 4 lacs is more for Spark 1000, then how would be 800cc spark be priced at 4 lacs? it should be some where in the 2.5 lacs bracket.

oh ok yeah may be that new spark on beat concept.

That will be the beat.

I think the Chevy Beat will be priced between the Chevy Spark and the Chevy UV-A. It is likely to have a 1.2lt petrol engine and a diesel angine too. IMO, space will be better than the UV-A and will have very nice styling. It may also be that the UV-A faces price cuts and the Beat positioned above it.

The diesel engine is expected to be a 1.0 litre engine. I read that width of Beat is not so great, but i don't know about U-VA width to compare the same.

UV-A is pretty wide, as much as the Fabia, I believe that the Beat isn't as wide as the UV-A, from what i could make out through pics.

Guys, does any one remember that GM has filed for Bankruptcy in US, that means that we need to be really cautious to buy their cars, what if spares will not be available that easily after a while.

roadlover wrote:Guys, does any one remember that GM has filed for Bankruptcy in US, that means that we need to be really cautious to buy their cars, what if spares will not be available that easily after a while.

it was already mentioned by the gm motors president that bankrupt problem in usa wont be making any difference for gm motors india so no big deal

roadlover wrote:Guys, does any one remember that GM has filed for Bankruptcy in US, that means that we need to be really cautious to buy their cars, what if spares will not be available that easily after a while.

yes this is what major buyers think before opting for GM products in India. but till now they are well insulated with their finance for indian and china operations and US bankruptcy has not affected them, only time will tell how does indian operations do, say 6-8 months.

I think GM-India will remain well insulated in the future and it may also contribute to cooling down GM's condition in the west.

Do u think GM can launch a car as of its current status ?? that too with recession ?

It all depends upon the mentality of the customers. There is no doubt that GM will go ahead with its launches, but has to work hard to ensure their own stability. Its like the dropping of share prices after something bad happens to the company.

GM is sure to launch the car. moreover as they are targetting other nation markets as there US market has no more expansion space left. they will agressively try to make a strong hold on other markets now. that is what the need of the hour is. potential markets like india can save their company from totally shutting down.

GM to launch new spark in petrol variant only


At the sidelines of the launch of Spark LPG, we spoke to
Mr.Balendran,Vice President Corporate Affairs, General Motors India.
The media friendly man answered our long list of questions. Also he
spelled out few things on Chevrolet’s product plans which are exclusive
and first time in any Indian media. Here are few excerpts from the
interview and the full video
* GM Chevrolet to launch two CNG variants of its existing products
* GM India is working on a small diesel engine.
* The new engine plant at Talegaon will come only by end of 2010.
* Besides Cruze and new small car, GM India will launch two special edition variants of its existing products
* Cruze will be out sometime in September and the new small car will be out sometime in December
* The small car will not come with a diesel engine
* GM india plans to position the new small car above the spark and it would priced around Rs4 lakhs
* GM’s small car won’t compete with Jazz or Fabia
* Though the sales of Chevrolet Captiva has halved, captiva automatic has a waiting period of 85 days
* He refused to comment on Spark with 800cc engine
* GM India does not see enough volume to produce captiva in India
(vicky.in)

archit wrote:
* The small car will not come with a diesel engine

I think GM is making a mistake some where. Without diesel it is not going to sell well.