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General Motors (GM) has launched its brand new sedan Chevrolet Cruze in the Chennai market today. It has also mentioned that its yet unnamed small car will hit the roads by December.
"About 72 percent of the Indian car market consists of small cars and a presence is needed in that segment to be a volume player," P. Balendran, vice-president of GM India, told reporters after launching the car in Chennai.
The Chevrolet Cruze brand comes in two variants. The Cruze LT comes at Rs.10.99 lakh, whereas the Cruze LTZ, is priced at Rs.12.45 lakh.
"In order to cut costs, we will localise the components," Balendran said, adding that Chevrolet Cruze will have a local content of around 50%..
When asked on the unnamed small GM car, Balendran said: "We will launch a small car by the end of this year. The price and the engine specifications are competitive information not to be disclosed now."
GM has set the sales target for thus calendar year to be 72,300 units, which about 10% up from last year’s 65,700 vehicles.
"We have already sold around 50,000 units till September. We are confident of reaching the target," Balendran said.
GM India will also expand its sales points to 250 from 195 by March 2010 to boost sales, he added.
Sumit Sawhney, director of sales, said the company planned to export around 20 percent of its production to Asia-Pacific and Europe. At present, it exports small numbers to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
GM India has two plants in India - one at Halol in Gujarat and the other at Talegaon in Maharashtra.
Balendran said the company's 160,000-unit per annum engine plant at Talegaon is coming up fast and will go on stream by the end of next year.
