General Motors which is currently present with the Chevrolet brand of cars had announced its foray into the commercial vehicle segment in India. General Motors India’s (GM) much touted launch of its upcoming light commercial vehicle (LCV) is unlikely to see daylight in 2012.
GM will launch a Van and a 1 tonne pick-up truck under the commercial vehicle portfolio. However the company now plans to focus on the mini hatchback Sail and other two models, the Enjoy MPV and Sail sedan. Chevrolet will also launch the facelifted Captiva in a few weeks,
The LCVs from the GM and Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation (SAIC) joint venture will be manufactured from the former’s Halol plant in Gujarat. The company has invested $250 million (roughly Rs 1200 crore) for the LCV launches. The company’s Halol plant is currently witnessing a capacity expansion from 85,000 units per annum to 110,000 in near future.
“Our Halol plant is almost ready to roll out LCVs. However, the launch is unlikely to take place in 2012 as we are focusing on Sail and the other two models,” said Lowell C Paddock, president and managing director, General Motors India, on the sidelines of the company’s launch of Chevrolet Tavera Neo 3 BS IV MPV in Ahmedabad.
According to Paddock, the company is focusing on the launch of a mini hatchback in the sub Rs 5 lakh category Chevrolet Sail, a new version of Chevrolet Captiva and a new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in 2012.
With the auto industry already witnessing 80 per cent sales coming from diesel cars in India, GM India is planning to cash in on the trend by rolling out both diesel and petrol variants of the three passenger vehicles this year.
The company is looking to increase the market share in the MPV segment with the launch of a new Enjoy MPV this year.
