GM starts trial runs of 'Enjoy' at Halol plant

Commercial production expected in year-end

Working on its planned line up of new launches, General Motors India (GM) has started trial production of its new multi-utility-vehicle (MUV) Enjoy at the Halol plant near Vadodara. The company plans to start commercial production from the end of this year.

A worker at the Halol facility informed that trial production of the car code-named CN100 has begun, and that they were making around 40 cars per month at the moment comprising both the petrol and diesel versions. "Commercial production is expected to begin from December and the car will be available in the market from March next year onwards", he said on grounds of anonymity.

The upcoming MUV Enjoy, that was showcased at this year's Auto Expo in Delhi, is from the GM and China's SAIC Motor Corp's joint venture. "We plan to start producing the Enjoy by the end of this year.", said P Balendran, GM India vice president (corporate affairs). The MUV segment accounted for around 13-14 per cent of the passenger vehicle market in 2011-12, and is expected to clock a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 20 per cent for the next two years. The segment has seen a lot of activity in the recent months, with the launches of the Renault Duster, the Mahindra XUV-500 and the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga.

Talking about production volumes, Balendran said, "We have the capacity in place. Production volumes would depend on demand in the market." GM plans to make the engines of the Enjoy at its Talegaon plant in Maharashtra, while the car would be made at Halol. The company has already started making the upcoming hatchback Sail, which too is from the GM-SAIC stable, at Talegaon. "We plan to launch the Sail in October", Balendran said.

While Balendran did not give out the exact pricing for both the Sail and the Enjoy, he said, "Pricing is always determined by the market dynamics. The Sail will compete with the Maruti Suzuki Swift and Ritz, Ford Figo, Hyundai i-10, and we have to price it competitively. Same is for the Enjoy; if we want to gain market share in the segment, the pricing has to be attractive."

The Enjoy will have to fight for space with Maruti's Ertiga (Rs 5.8-8.45 lakh), Renault's Duster (Rs 7.19-11.29 lakh) and Mahindra's XUV 500 (Rs 11.58-14.10 lakh).

Insiders say that while the Sail is expected to be in between Rs 3-5 lakh, the Enjoy can have a starting price of around Rs 7 lakh. GM already has an utility vehicle Tavera in the segment, priced around Rs 6.6 lakh, and the Enjoy is likely to be positioned as slightly premium compared to the Tavera.