The race for the small car does not seem to end. After Tata’s Nano, Bajaj and Maruti announced their plans of launching a small car, to rival the former. The latest to join the bandwagon is General Motors Corp. It is being said that the world’s largest car maker is thinking of producing a small car in India, with an engine of less then one liter. GM’s main aim seems to be present a rival to Maruti Suzuki India Limited, which currently has dominance in the Indian small car market. The car is believed to be in the 800-900cc segment.
As per sources, General Motors plans to launch the car either by end of 2009 or early 2010. When GM launched its small car, Chevrolet Spark, in April, it hinted its intentions of launching another small car. The new car seems to be the offshoot of their plans at that time. Unconfirmed reports stated that the top brass of General Motors Corp. in Asia-Pacific region are already working on the small car plan. The concept of the small car is likely to be developed at GM Daewoo in South Korea.
When asked about the small car, P. Balendran, Vice President of General Motors India Ltd, did not comment. It is believed that the sales potential presented by the new small car will help GM in offsetting the slowdown in its sales in the US market. India’s small car market is offering great potential to the car makers. Automobile companies like Volkswagen AG, Nissan Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. all have intentions of cashing in on it. Who manages to win the race is what we have to see!
