| Auto major General Motors India (GM India) has revised its sales target downwards by about 8,000 units at 40,000 for the current calendar year from the earlier 48,000 units.
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| The downward revision has been predominantly owing to the delay in the launch of its premium hatchback Aveo U-VA (1.2 litre), which will be out only in December, a delay by 5 to 6 months from the earlier scheduled launch period, said P Balendran, vice-president, GM India.
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| "The company had plans for an earlier launch of U-VA with a bigger engine. However, when the Union government, in the recent budget, announced the excise benefits for small cars with specific engines, we decided to avail of the benefits for U-VA. More time was required for remodification of the vehicle with the new 1.2 engines," Balendran clarified.
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| Fitting the U-VA with a 1.2 litre engine will help GM bring down the selling price and thus be competitive in the highly price-sensitive segment. The U-VA will be positioned against Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Getz.
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| In the Union budget, excise duty on cars having an engine capacity up to 1.2 litre (petrol-based engines) and 1.5 litre (diesel-based engines) and length of the car up to 4 m was reduced to 16 per cent from 24 per cent.
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| This year, GM India launched mid-size sedan Aveo in March and Sportsback Optra SRV in July.
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| GM India has sold 24,027 units from January to August 2006 as against 20,322 cars in the same period in 2005, a growth of 18 per cent.
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| GM India's sales during August 2006 were down on account of the Gujarat floods. The company sold 2,720 cars in August 2006, a decline in growth by 14 per cent compared to 3,159 cars sold a year ago.
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| The sales comprise 1,706 units of Chevrolet Tavera, 312 units of Chevrolet Optra and 702 units of Chevrolet Aveo.
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| The company had to shut its Halol (Baroda)-based plant for a few days during the floods. Sales to Maharashtra, another high-selling state for the company, was also hit during August. |
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