New Delhi, Nov 2: In a bid to boost sagging sales, General Motors India has launched its premium hatchback Chevrolet Sail U-VA priced between Rs 4.44 lakh and Rs 6.62 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), which is lesser than market leader Swift from Maruti Suzuki.
"The Sail U-VA is a strong addition to our small car portfolio. With the market preferring bigger cars in the compact segment, with Sail U-VA we are able to balance our presence in the segment along with Beat," General Motors India President and Managing Director Lowell Paddock told reporters here.
The Sail U-VA will be available in both petrol and diesel options. While the petrol version will be powered by 1.2 litre engine, the diesel variant will have a 1.3 litre engine.
The petrol option of Sail U-VA will be available in four variants between Rs 4.44 lakh and Rs 5.58 lakh and will be competing directly with Maruti Suzuki's Swift, Hyundai Motor India's i20 and Ford Figo.
While the Swift is priced between Rs 4.47 lakh and Rs 5.72 lakh, Hyundai i20 is tagged at Rs 4.74 lakh to Rs 6.66 lakh. Ford Figo is priced between Rs 3.85 lakh and Rs 5.01 lakh (all ex-showroom Delhi).
In diesel, the Sail U-VA comes in three options priced between Rs 5.87 lakh and Rs 6.62 lakh. Swift diesel is priced between Rs 5.57 lakh and Rs 6.82 lakh, while i20 diesel is available in the Rs 5.97-6.98 lakh range. Ford Figo comes at a range of Rs 4.81 lakh to Rs 5.99 lakh (all ex-showroom Delhi).
"The Sail U-VA has been designed for the Indian market and we have test driven the car for 10 lakh km in India before launching it," Paddock said, adding the sedan version of the car would be launched by the end of the year.
While declining to share sales expectations of the Sail U-VA, he said: "We are at the launch phase now and we will gradually ramp up".
GM India is pinning hopes on Sail to expand volumes in India and expects it to be its best selling model in the country. At present, the company's small compact car Beat is its best selling model in India.
The company has been witnessing declining sales in India over the past months and in October it declined by 32.87 per cent to 6,754 units from 10,062 units in the same month last year.
Paddock, however, is bullish on long term potential of the Indian market.
"It is a sluggish market in India right now. Sales going up and down is all part of any market. However, we are confident about the market here in the long term. India will soon take its place as one of the biggest automobile markets in the world," he said.
