Will Chevrolet Sail Be A Game Changer In India

Updated: Tuesday, July 31, 2012, 13:46 [IST]

General Motors journey in India so far has been a bit wayward. When there was a huge demand of mini B2 segment diesel compact cars, the company did not have any variants on offer. However, this scenario is expected to change soon with the launch of the Chevrolet Sail in India. The company is currently thriving on Chevrolet Beat diesel's sales in the mini B1 segment. In the coming few months, General Motors India would tap into the mini B2 segment with the Chevrolet Sail.

The company would follow it up closely with the launch of Enjoy MPV (Multi-purpose Vehicle). General Motors will be hoping for a sales bump, when the Chevrolet sail is launched this year. The sales volume has seen a dip of 11% in the first half of this year. In 2011, General Motors sales were flat at 1,10,000 units.

The company expects the overall sales to remain sluggish. One of the primary reasons is due to few factors such as, sky rocketing petrol prices, high interest rates, high commodity prices etc. Chevrolet on the hand is positive and expects the cars sales to pick-up after monsoons and during the festive (Diwali) season.

The company will be heavily banking on Chevrolet Sail, to boost its sales in India. It is believed Chevrolet will offer the Sail in petrol and diesel variants. The Petrol variant will be a 1.2 litre engine, which is also in used in the Chevrolet Beat. The diesel variant is expected to be offered in a 1.3 litre multi-jet diesel engine from Fiat. Globally, the Chevrolet Sail is offered in a 1.2 litre S-TEC II and a 1.4 Litre of S-TEC II petrol engine.

The big question here is, will the Sail be a 'Game Changer' for General Motors in India? For the moment, Chevrolet Sail is on a high with over 25,000 units sold in China last month. China being the largest passenger car market, the Sail managed to become the top selling vehicle. Will Chevrolet receive such bookings in India for the Sail? What are your thoughts?

Lets not forget, Chevrolet is working hard behind closed doors to tailor the Sail for Indian roads. We believe, an aggressive pricing and high quality manufacturing of the Chevrolet Sail, from the Telegaon plant can turn out to be General Motor's game changer in India. Stay tuned as the story unfolds!