By IANS,
Hyderabad : General Motors India will launch Sail sedan and the Enjoy multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) during the current financial year.
Launching the all-new Chevrolet Sail U-Va premium hatchback here Wednesday, P. Balendran, vice president, GM India, told reporters that both Sail sedan and Enjoy MPV would be rolled out in the fourth quarter.
Chevrolet Sail U-Va is the fifth product launched by GM in India this year to cash in on Diwali boom.
He said the car market in India remained sluggish and was not likely to improve unless the interest rates are reduced.
“The market remains sluggish as the interest rate, inflation and input costs are high. The market sentiment is absolutely low,” he said, but hoped that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would cut the interest rate by 50 basis points in January and that market would pick up.
Balendran, however, said GM was excited about long-term growth potential in India.
Ashwani Muppasani, vice president, sales, Sail U-VA has received a good response in Delhi with 4,000 inquiries.
Priced at Rs.4.44 lakh to Rs.5.57 lakh in petrol and Rs.5.87 lakh to Rs.6.62 lakh in diesel variants, the car is expected to take styling, performance and safety to a new level.
The Sail U-Va is building a new global small passenger car platform created especially for fast-growing emerging markets, including India. Balendran said engineers at the GM Technical Centre-India in Bangalore spent nearly two years adapting the platform for India.
He hoped the car would bring vitality to fastest growing mini B2 market segment. With 50,000 cars a month, this segment accounts for 38 percent of passenger car market in India.
The segment is also witnessing 48 percent year-on-year growth.
Chevrolet is the most exported brand of GM. The American carmaker exports these cars to 16 countries, including China, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Every month 30,000 Chevrolet cars are sold in China while they account for 33 percent market share in Latin America.