General Motors has lined up a slew of new launches by year-end, including Multi- Purpose Vehicle ‘Enjoy’, a top company official has said.GM India President and Managing Director Lowell C Paddock said ‘Enjoy’ would be the first product from their tie-up with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), China.
“We are exclusively announcing the MPV’s name in Chennai. It is Enjoy. We will be introducing it by end of this year. It will be the first product from this tie-up,” he told reporters after unveiling the Bharat Stage IV version of MUV Tavera Neo.
Chevrolet had showcased the MPV concept and its hatchback — Sail — at Auto Expo 2012 at Delhi earlier this year.
The Enjoy MPV would be manufactured from its Halol plant and engines from Talegoan facility, GM India Vice President (Corporate Affairs) P Balendran said, the company would also introduce its hatchback “Sail” by July. “We will be introducing Sail in the Indian market by June or July,” he said, adding, this product would also be under their association with SAIC.
Chevrolet India currently retails Captiva, Cruze, Tavera, Optra, Aveo U-VA, Spark and Beat.
More on the Enjoy MPV
The new Chevrolet MPV is designed for those who want a spacious, comfortable and well-styled vehicle to enjoy life with their loved ones. It offers space for large families, with flexi-seating and a choice of seven or eight seats. The MPV will also see a mid 2012 launch and will be sold initially with a 1.4-litre petrol engine churning out 94.6bhp.
Among its comfort amenities is dual-row air-conditioning. It also provides outstanding ride and handling. High-strength and ultra-high-strength steel are used in the body and chassis. In addition, the MPV comes with a host of active and passive safety features such as dual air bags, safety belts with load limiters, anti-lock brakes and tubeless tyres.
The Lotus engineering department worked on the MPV to fine-tune the chassis.The Enjoy MPV will be pitted against Toyota Innova, Mahindra Xylo and the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga which will be launched by April.
More on the Sail
GM’s Sial will compete directly with other big hatchbacks in the compact segment. The car looks quite alike in terms of shape to the outgoing UVA, it gets a big Chevrolet badge in the centre with a split front grille. We can expect some chrome treatment on the high end variants.
The Sail was developed by SAIC-GM in China and is also in sale in Brazil. The car will be powered by similar power trains which also does the duty on the Beat. GM could tune it for better performance.
The car will be powered by the 1.2 litre petrol engine which does the duty on the Beat small car and may get a slight power upgrade. The diesel avatar with the 1.3 Multijet will be launched later. Expect aggressive pricing by Chevrolet with a lot of goodies loaded in the car. The Sail sedan could follow in a couple of months.
