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| GM to launch Chevrolet Cruze by September |
| BS Reporter / Mumbai/ Halol Mar 26, 2009, 20:33 IST |
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Brushing aside rumours of taking Tata Motors’ Nano head on, General Motors (GM) today announced that the company would be launching a mini-car next year. Karl Slym, president and managing director of General Motors India, said that the company would be launching Chevrolet Cruze, its new offering in the Chevrolet Spark segment by the third quarter of the current financial year ending December 2009. The new offering will be manufactured at the company’s Halol facility.
Refusing to divulge further details about Cruze, he said, “The car will be priced around Chevrolet Spark. As far as the mini-car is concerned, we are not competing with Tata Motors’ Nano, which is altogether a different segment.”
On the retail side, General Motors has tied up with state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) to set up Chevrolet service stations across the PSU’s petrol and diesel retail outlets. “We have so far set up three such service stations and intend to expand to 10-15 more by the end of the year. The reason we tied up with BPCL is because the company offers high-end customer service through its ‘V-Care’ initiative and we were looking for such a partner to set up quick service stations which do not require customers to leave their vehicles at our shops,” said Slym.
The auto maker plans to offer a multitude of alternative fuel options for its cars, including bio-diesel, LPG and CNG. For bio-diesel, the company has tied up with Bhavnagar-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) for conducting research on viability of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel.
Meanwhile, General Motors is also planning to set up a powertrain facility at its upcoming plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra. The powertrain plant’s annual installed capacity will be 1,60,000 units, which the company intends to ramp up later. The plant will manufacture 1-1.5 litre petrol and diesel engines at the facility. “It is for the first time that a GM plant will be manufacturing both petrol and diesel engines at a single facility,” said Slym.
General Motors India has invested around $1 billion which Slym said was enough for its plans till 2011. “The investment is inclusive of our plans for Halol and Talegaon plants as well as the technical centre for research and development (R&D) at Bangalore,” he added.
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