GM rolls out 100,00th Spark, plans BS IV Tavera

General Motors India, which phased out its utility vehicle Tavera since it did not meet Bharat Stage IV norms, plans to bring in an upgraded and revamped version of the vehicle by the end of the year. This was revealed by Karl Slym, president and managing director, GMI, while speaking at a function to roll out the 100,000th Chevrolet Spark from the company’s Talegaon factory. GMI has stopped selling the Tavera in the 13 cities where BS IV emission norms have come into force from April 1.

Meanwhile, GMI’s powertrain plant at Talegaon is expected to go on stream by November. The first cars to have a petrol engine from this plant will be the Spark and the Beat while the first of the diesel engine-powered Beats will be launched by early 2011.

Company officials said the first engine products will comprise a 1.2-litre petrol followed by a 1.4- litre diesel engine. These engines are currently undergoing validation at the GMDAT plants in Korea and in China. GM’s Talegaon plant will be the first GM flexi-engine plant in the world and will have an initial capacity to make 1.6 lakh engines annually. GMI had announced a $200 million investment in this plant.

Going forward, the Talegaon unit will become the only car making plant for GM rolling out cars from both GM and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) stables while the Halol unit in Gujarat will make commercial vehicles under the GM-SAIC banner.
The first CVs are expected to roll out in end-2011. At present, the issue of their badging has not been finalised. Passenger cars from GM and from the SAIC-GM portfolio will be Chevrolet-badged, Slym said.

Passenger cars from the JV will be launched in 2012 after the launch of the CVs. “In India, passenger cars will have only the Chevrolet brand, even in the JV, while we debate the brand for the commercial vehicles. The CVs will have a separate dealer network,” Slym said.