With an eye to shore up numbers in the Indian market, General Motors on Friday launched its hatchback Chevrolet Aveo U-VA in India and said the company was targeting overall annual sales of 2,00,000 units by 2010, as it brought more products in the segment including the Spark.
The 1.2-litre Aveo U-VA, which will be pitted against segment leader Maruti's Swift and Hyundai's Getz, would be available in three variants with the base model being priced at Rs 3,99,000 (ex-showroom Delhi), matching the entry-level price offered by rivals.
The other two variants of the model have been priced at Rs 4,39,000 and Rs 4,79,000 respectively (ex-showroom Delhi) and the company offers the option of ABS on the top-end and airbags (after the next three months) for additional costs.
General Motors India president and managing director Rajeev Chaba said the company was banking on the success of the new model as well as the yet-to-be-launched Spark (a new avtaar of the erstwhile Daewoo Matiz) for changing its fortunes in India, where it is a fringe player.
"We have re-engineered the car to suit Indian conditions and it carries a local content of less than 50 per cent, which we plan to take up to about 55 per cent in the coming time," he said.
This is the second attempt by the company in the premium hatchback segment, after the failure of the 'Corsa Sail'. "We have learnt our lessons and have tuned our strategies accordingly," Chaba said.
Chaba said apart from keeping the acquisition price competitive with the U-VA, General Motors has also made efforts to keep spare part costs low as well as increase ground clearance of the vehicle.
The company is offering an attractive warranty package, service and after-sales support to buyers of U-VA, which being a 1,200-cc petrol engine also enjoys reduced excise duty levels at 16 per cent against the prevailing 24 per cent for bigger cars.
General Motors, which is setting up a second plant in India in Maharashtra, to add to the existing facility at Halol in Gujarat, is dogged by capacity constraints, which the company says it is addressing swiftly.
The company expects sales in 2006 to be around 37,000 units, which it hopes will more than double to between 72,000-75,000 units by 2007 as it will expand capacity at Halol to about 85,000 by the first quarter of next year.
The new plant in Maharashtra, which will be operational by the last quarter of 2008, will have a capacity of around 1,40,000 units. The company is also carrying out due diligence for a powertrain plant in India, which Chaba said would be completed in the next three months.
Photograph: Managing director, General Motors India, Rajiv Chabra (L) vice-president (sales and marketing), Ankush Arora (C) and vice-president (Corporate), Balachandran (R) pose during the launch of Chevrolet Aveo U-VA car in New Delhi.
Courtesy: Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images
