GM designed one front grill and has been tweaking it a bit to fit in its new range of cars. This grill has given the Beat and the Cruze a very appealing feel. The Spark’s electric variant whose drive train is developed by Reva gets to sport this grill and from what we see, it is quite electric.

Spark electric of e-spark as it is being referred will be lauched this October at a price tag of 7lakh rupees.

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GM turned heads with its transformers edition of the Chevy Camaro Bumble Bee at Delhi. We couldn’t feel more jealous of that fact that this “Boy’s best Toy” of a car could be bought in America for an equivalent of just 10lakh rupees.

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Photo Courtesy: tinnieboy

The Beat has been around us for more than a couple of months now and the blogger friendly CEO of GM India Karl Slym hasn’t kept this mini warrior from GM a secret. The car which is launched today comes with a petrol engine of capacity 1.2 cc and 80ps of power. To read more about the car and its features and check out 360 degree video of the car you can check out our earlier post here. we have kept the beat going on and on and finally it is ready for booking from this evening.

Karl confirmed during the launch event that a diesel engine will be launched by the end of this year. Right now the car comes in 3 levels of trims, the base model PS which costs 3.34lakhs ex-showroom Delhi, the mid-level LS for 3.54lakhs and the top end LT for 3.99lakhs. ABS and Airbags are an optional extra for the LT variant which would bring the total to 4.34lakhs. click here to check out the features of various variants.

Everything you would want to know about Chevy’s upcoming hatchback Beat is out on the air before its official launch on the 4th of Jan, the first day of the 2010 Delhi Auto Expo. Only the price of the car is yet to be disclosed officially, although it is expected to range from 4-5lakhs. The first batch of the beat will have a petrol power-train with a 1.2Litre engine which produces 80ps of power and 108Nm of torque.

According to Karl slym, The Head of GM India a made in India 3-cylinder 1.3Litre multijet diesel engine variant of the beat will be launched before the end of 2010. That’s not the end of it though; GM is going all the way with LPG and CNG variants of the Beat for the future.

The beat is 3640mm long 1595mm wide and 1520mm tall. The front end gets disc brakes and Macpherson suspension for sharp braking and smooth riding. The rear end gets drum brakes and compound crank suspension for smooth braking and sharp riding. The tyres are tubeless and make up for a ground clearance of 165mm. To gain a little perspective the Beat is a slight bit smaller than the swift in all these numbers. The hatch will be available in 3 trims of varied features and luxuries.

Standout features of the Beat:

Vertical Rear door handle
placement on the C-pillar
makes the rear a bit
closed from the outside

Driver Instrument panel
is similar to a motorcycle
Speedometer

Click through for a 360degree video of the Beat

Now that we are familiar with the car, let’s see what it looks like with a 360 degree tour of the car’s ins and outs courtesy Overdrive.

GM India is taking things seriously when it comes to its electric car on the pipe-line, Spark. As reported earlier GM has tied-up with India’s only electric car maker Reva to provide the electric technological backing for making the Spark electric variant. GM has gone few more steps to make its Greener vision more real.

Quoting the words of Mr. Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, GM India

“We already have a joint venture with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) for servicing our vehicles at some places, which can be replicated”, “For the success of the battery-run car, electric charging stations on roads and highways are a must”.

From this we can expect GM to strike a deal with BPCL to set up electric recharging units for electric cars at BPCL’s bunks, if that happens it would be a break through which pave way for zero-emission personal transportation.

Mr. Kark Slym also said that “We are going to manufacture not in hundreds but in thousands the electric car we would be launching next year,” GM India not stopping its Green theme here, it has an Aveo-CNG on the working for India.

Since we were too busy covering the Cruze, me missed this mid-day robbery offer from Chevy. Last month when the festival season started Chevy brought down the price of the Captiva SUV drastically, now the automatic variant of the Captiva gets a price reduction of Rs 2.32lakh and the manual transmission variant is down by Rs 2.16lakh. The Captiva manual will now cost Rs 18.37lakh and Rs 20.18lakh for the automatic (both prices ex-showroom, Mumbai).

This might do something with the launch of the Fortuner SUV that’s spinning everyone wheels to make a run for it.

Click here to get the ex-show room price of the Captiva in your city.

Click here for the Brochure.

The much awaited, the most important car of the year has arrived in India. This one is a money minter for GM globally and with a pre-launch booking of 1100cars it surely will do a great deal of sales in India as well. The Cruze is one helluva of car to look at. The front grill is pitch perfect, the entire design of the car is a beauty to be admired at. Leave alone the car, and check out the price. The Cruze costs a mere 10.99 Lakh Rupees ex-showroom Delhi, that’s a bargain by any standard. The higher end LTZ variant costs 12.45 Lakh with added features.

The base LT variant gets features like alloy wheels, ABS, airbags, power windows, LCD display and turn headlamps, the LTZ variants will have these and additional features like park assist, cruise control, sun roof , 6-cd changer, leather seats, steering mounted audio controls. Other features include the PEPS (Passive Entry Passive Start) system which allows you to get into and start the car by just having the key with you; both models come with a real time performance indication system which calculates the fuel consumption and average speed.

The interior looks spot on with the elegantly designed dashboard, with all the controls positioned at harmony. The engine is a 2L Diesel which produces 150bhp and 325Nm of torque. It will soon be followed by 1.8L petrol. This Diesel engine is said to have performance in mid and top range, which is better than a petrol. The motor pushes the car to a top speed of 210kmph at an acceleration of 0-100kmph in 9.6 seconds. Every thing about the Cruze is sweet, the mileage according to ARAI is 18.6 how about that?

General Motors India President and Managing Director Karl Slym said

“The Cruze has been receiving rave reviews since its recent debut in some other markets. We expect it to perform well against the established D-segment players, GM’s investments in manufacturing the Cruze in India is a demonstration of our sustained commitment to making Chevrolet the most admired and preferred vehicle brand in this country”

Other info from the launch are:

• Chevy Beat to be launched by the end of 2009 with a price tag of Rs. 4Lakh.
• Chevy spark will be given a fuel efficient 800cc engine in 2010.

click here for Pictures of the Chevy Cruze.

This is a new addition to the premium sedan stable in India which just has the Civic and Altis. The Cruze is not just another launch; it is promising with its international success and its bold appeal. The Cruze will be priced somewhere between 12-14 Lakhs. If you are planning to buy an executive sedan, it is worth it to wait till the 12th of October.

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GM India and Reva finally strike a deal. The speculation has been around for a while now and it has been made official. According to the deal GM India and Reva will jointly make electric versions of the GM’s small cars starting with Spark. U-VA and GM’s yet to be launched small car beat will also benefit from the deal.

The first EV from GM will seen the sun in 2010. It will have options of both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. The lead-acid batteries are the conventional one with a range of 80kms. The lithium-ions are expensive with a longer range of 120kms. The lithium-ion battery version of the cars will be twice as expensive as the petrol variants as the battery itself costs 3Lakh rupees and it has to be imported.

GM India’s platform will be used by Reva to install its electric technology in to the car for which GM pays a royalty fee to Reva. Both the firms have strong backing of the Indian Government, since this promotes the step towards zero-emission personal transportation.

When Karl Slym, President and Managing Director of GM India spoke “Electric car technology is fast growing in the domestic market, primarily due to government support, by this agreement signed today, we hope to get the first mover advantage in the consumer’s minds”

Chetan Maini, Deputy Chairman and Chief technology officer of Reva said that they have been approached by other companies for a similar deal but “Nothing has been finalized”.

Chevrolet beat was spotted in Chennai service station, the car looks great on Indian soil, it couldn’t have a better name, it’s new and refreshing and the rear door handle placement says it all.

The car being in a service station means the official launch isn’t far away, Hope it doesn’t transform into skid-z and dance to the beat at the launch.

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Pictures: team-BHP