General Motors India (GM) is gearing up to expand its presence in the small car segment with the launch of the Sail small car after June.
It’ll be the progeny of a joint venture (JV) with Chinese partner SAIC.
Lowell Paddock, who, succeeded Karl Slym as president and managing director of GM India earlier this month, expects the Sail and other vehicles to consolidate the Chevrolet brand position in India.
The Sail will be followed by a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), slated for launch before the end of 2012.
“There is no other small car market like India and we will have to be competitive in this segment. We are focusing on value-focused range of vehicles. We will develop products which are suitable for the Indian market,” Paddock said.
There will be Sail variants like the hatchback and the notchback versions in petrol and diesel segments.
Abdul Majeed, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said GM’s India strategy shows that “it is necessary to focus on small car segment in order to grow in a market like India. A company needs to have multiple nameplates in the small car segment as there are different customers with different needs”.
GMI already sells the Chevrolet Captiva SUV, Cruze, Tavera, Optra, Aveo, U-VA and mini cars Spark and Beat in India. GMI sources indicate that with the launch of the Sail hatchback and Sail sedan, the company might look at phasing out Aveo and U-VA.
The Sail will have a 1.2 litre diesel engine, which will be manufactured at its Talegaon factory near Pune. “With the kind of increase in diesel demand, it is necessary to remain competitive in the diesel portfolio. For Sail, we will have a new diesel engine. Sail in China does not have a diesel engine and for India we are looking at a new engine which will be made in India,” said Paddock.
The company currently manufactures diesel engines at its Talegaon plant.
Apart from the small car, the company is also looking at tapping the potential of the MPV segment. Many players have announced their plans for this category. GM, on its part, will launch a new MPV likely to be called ‘Enjoy’ to take on the Toyota Innova and Maruti’s upcoming Ertiga.
“The MPV segment is also seeing a lot of traction. We are expanding our presence in this segment by launching an MPV by the end of this year. Right now we just have the Tavera in this segment,” said Paddock.
Despite being joint venture products, the Sail and the MPV will sport the Chevrolet brand. With new products coming in, the company is also looking at increasing the number of sales outlets. It currently has 279 sales points, which it plans to increase to 300 by the end of this financial year.
“A lot will depend on the pricing and styling of the products. If that is right on target, then it will do what Cruze had done for them. Cruze is currently the segment leader,” said V G Ramakrishnan, director with Frost & Sullivan.
Comments