According to an official of the Indian subsidiary of General Motors (GM), the company will introduce Sail, its fourth hatchback in the country, in the third quarter of this year. A new iteration of its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Captiva and a new Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) will also hit the Indian roads in 2012.
Sail will be available in petrol and diesel variants in the domestic market at approximately Rs. 4 lacs, though there are no confirmations regarding this from the company’s side. It is likely that the petrol version will be powered by a 1.2 L engine, whereas the 1.3 L motor should be assimilated to run the diesel variant.
Regarding this launch, S Sawhney, Vice President, Sales, commented "We would be launching the Sail in Q3, and the small car segment along with the multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) will continue to be our main focus." On the other hand, he denied reports about plans to roll out a sub-tonne truck in the Light Commercial Vehicle segment of the domestic auto market this year. The manufacturer had issued a statement regarding the official launch of the concerned LCV in August 2011, which will be made at its plant located at Halol, Gujarat.
GM anticipates that it will be able to raise its market share in India this year, which presently stands at 6.5 per cent. The Managing Director of the company, Lowell Paddock, said "The high interest rates and the rise in fuel prices had made the market sluggish but we expect it to improve shortly. We hope to increase our market share significantly."
The company will be producing diesel and petrol variants of all three new passenger vehicles that it will roll out this year. However, its focus will remain on diesel models, since the fuel efficient diesel cars are currently enjoying a boom in the Indian automotive sector.
