Tag: gm

Chevrolet Beat gets a minor interior upgrade

General Motors has given the Chevrolet Beat two minor cosmetic upgrades. The exterior is unaffected, with both changes taking place on the inside of the budget hatchback. These updates come in the form of driver-side seat height adjust and additional silver accents on the otherwise unchanged dashboard. These accents were earlier seen only on the steering wheel.

The Beat continues to be available in a choice of petrol, CNG and diesel powerplants. The same 1.2-litre petrol and the India specific 1.0-litre diesel engines are on offer with, the petrol engine producing 90PS of power and 108Nm of torque, and the diesel churning out 58PS and 150Nm of torque.

Owing to poor sales figures, GM has also introduced a limited period offer of Rs. 3.39 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the base PS petrol variant. Additionally, all versions of the Chevrolet Beat are on offer with free insurance that saves you upto Rs 15,000. There’s a Rs 10,000 loyalty bonus for those who currently own a Chevrolet and want to also buy the Beat. In case this is your first Chevrolet car, Rs 15,000 will be offered as exchange bonus when you trade in your old car at the showroom.

July 13, 2013
Peugeot Citroen to allow GM takeover due to financial troubles

Reports suggest that the founding family of PSA Peugeot Citroen is running out of cash and could step back to let US-owned GM take over the ailing business. Sources have already warned that PSA could get close to not having enough free cash to run the business by the end of 2013, having burned 3 billion euros in operating cash last year. GM, which operates Vauxhall, Opel and Chevrolet in Europe, already owns 7% of PSA having invested in March 2012.

Both GM and PSA are suffering from over-capacity, in spite of plans to scale back production. A report from news agency Reuters suggests that if GM were to take control of PSA, it would want to shut down factories and make redundancies in France and Germany, something that would be especially unpopular with French president Francois Hollande.

Peugeot is reported to have sought finance for the business elsewhere, but a lack of willing bidders has forced it to turn to GM, which owns seven percent of the current business. The move was made with the support of current PSA Chief Executive Phiippe Varin.

The Peugeot family initially asked for financial support from Chinese partner Dongfeng, but turned to GM when those talks came to nothing. According to Reuters, GM is ‘playing hardball’ by holding out for assurances that it can cut plants and jobs at a reasonable cost. It’s also reported that any decision is unlikely to be made before the German general election in September.

The Peugeot family has now accepted that they’ll lose control.

Plans are already afoot to produce a range of Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall and Opel models with shared engines and platforms, including a new Vauxhall Zafira, Peugeot 3008 and Citroen C3 Picasso.

Overall the Peugeot family owns a 25.4 per cent stake in the company, but controls 38.1 per cent of the voting rights. Peugeot currently employs 77,000 people in France, while sales of Peugeots and Citroens fell 13.9% in the first five months of 2013 versus 2012, slightly worse the GM Europe’s drop of 11.0%. Neither Peugeot nor GM has commented on the story.

[Reuters]

June 29, 2013
GM suspends production of diesel Sail and Sail U-VA

General Motors (GM) India has suspended production of the diesel variants of its newly launched Chevrolet Sail sedan and the Sail U-VA hatchback, suspecting problems with the 1.3-litre diesel engine used in these cars.

GM India has also suspended production of the BS III variant of the Chevrolet Tavera due to emission concerns. Not only might the delivery of these cars might be delayed, the issue may lead to a product recall of all diesel models of the Sail saloon and Sail hatchback manufactured over a certain period. GM India, for now, did not say if a recall of the cars was likely. P Balendran, vice president, GM India, said, “We will come back to you with an update after thorough investigation in the coming days.”

Neither issue is safety-related. The Tavera BS-IV and Sail HB & NB petrol models are unaffected and production of these vehicles is continuing.

It is not clear when the company will resume production the three vehicles. GM launched the Sail U-VA hatchback last year and the Sail sedan this year in the country.

June 13, 2013