General Motors India Private Limited (GMIPL), the country's fifth largest passenger car maker, is working towards introducing a compact sedan version of its Chevrolet Sail premium hatch in the domestic market somewhere in first half of 2013. Recently, the American auto major introduced its Sail U-VA model and since then, many rumours had begun circulating in the car industry regarding launch of its compact sedan version. At present, compact sedan segment of Indian auto market consists of three prominent products, such as Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire, Tata Indigo and Mahindra Verito. Accordingly, sedan version of Chevrolet Sail seems like an intelligent and direct challenger in the segment.
The upcoming Sail U-VA based compact sedan from stables of General Motor India seems like a convincing new product, which could check the market dominance of Maruti Suzuki's Swift DZire. The situation in Indian compact sedan market is obvious- Swift DZire contributing to major share in annual sales, whereas Indigo and Verito managing 'not so' good sales in the country. Since, the competition is almost one sided in favour of the Maruti Suzuki compact sedan, GMIPL has a great chance of introducing a potent challenger to check the supremacy of Swift DZire in the domestic passenger car market.
Coming to under-the-hood specifications, the yet-to-be launched Chevy Sail compact sedan is expected to be holding similar Smartech engines, that can be found in both of its petrol and diesel powered hatch sibling. The diesel variant of the compact sedan could feature a 1.3 litre SDE Smartech DOHC engine, whereas the petrol variant could see a 1.2 litre Smartech engine under-its-hood.
Evidently, Swift DZire is the clear winner in terms of sales witnessed by compact sedan segment of the Indian auto market. The market champion faces little competition from other segment contenders like Tata Indigo and Mahindra Verito, which could help GMIPL in establishing a solid market share with its upcoming Chevy Sail compact sedan.
The Swift DZire is offered to local consumers within a price bracket of Rs. 5 to 7.5 lakhs in the country. Sources suggest that the upcoming Sail U-VA based compact sedan could carry an introductory price tag around Rs. 5.5 to Rs. 7 lakhs in the Indian market. Hence, some stiff battle is certain between Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire and Chevy Sail compact sedans in 2013. Interestingly, several other car makers like Honda and Hyundai are also readying their own compact sedans for launch on domestic turf next year. Honda will be launching its Brio hatch based Amaze model, whereas Hyundai is developing its premium hatch i20 based compact sedan especially for Indian car market.
