Small is beautiful, is definitely the new mantra post the arrival of the Tata Nano. Multiple companies are working on ultra small cars, which would rival the Nano and Maruti Alto. However, General Motors has a easier task. They don’t have to develop a car from ground up. All they need to do is slap on a smaller engine to the Chevrolet Spark and voila! The American automaker will launch an 800cc version of the Spark by the end of the year. This would help the company reduce prices of the car by close to Rs. 30,000/-. The 3-cylinder motor in the Spark 800cc will also be more fuel efficient, something of prime importance to small car buyers.

General Motors India will unveil its electric car on the 5th of June. The date coincides with world environment day. GMI plan to produce this green vehicle at its Talegaon plant in the future, however he launch of the vehicle is yet to be decided and the company is soliciting feedback from the public at large. This new electric car has no technology from Reva and is built ground up by GM. It uses a lithium ion battery.

“We will be showcasing a electric mini-car in June. This car has been developed in the US and is meant for a global audience. GM India played a big role in developing the technology for the car at its R&D centre at Bangalore,” General Motors India, President and MD, Karl Slym said.

Source – MyDigitalFC

General Motors India has confirmed its plans to launch the Spark with a smaller 800cc engine by the end of next year. The Spark 800cc will be GMs entry level Chevrolet in India and will compete with the Tata Nano, Maruti 800 and Alto. GM sells the 800cc Spark (known as the Spark Lite) in South Africa at $5200. GM will initially import the powertrain of the 800cc Spark till it localises its production in India. Powered by a 795cc SOHC 3-cylinder gasoline engine, the smaller engined Spark produces 51hp of power and 68.6Nm of torque. The 6 valve motor is highly fuel efficiency (22kmpl) and very environment friendly too (121g/km CO2 emissions).

“We have a small-engine Spark available in the overseas market and are looking to bring it to India in the next 24 months,” Karl Slym, president, General Motors India, said.

Source – Indian Express

GM India has rolled out the 1,00,000th Chevrolet Spark from the company’s Halol plant in Gujrat. The Spark has done exceedingly well in the market as an entry level hatch and more so due to Chevrolet’s 3 years zero maintenance service package. The Chevrolet Beat may have eaten into the Spark’s sales but with the Electric Spark on its way, the Spark is here to stay for a while.

General Motors will launch the electric version of the Chevrolet Spark by October this year. The e-Spark would be the first four-door passenger car in the world in this segment. Considering the extra cost incurred on electric engines, the car’s price will be slightly higher than the petrol Spark. However running costs are expected to be very low and the recent excise duty reduction for electric cars will give GM an upper hand on the pricing.

The “e-Spark” is GM India’s bold move into the Battery Powered Electric Vehicles and will be India’s first 4 door Passenger Electric Vehicle! The e-Spark is a local initiative of GM India in collaboration with Reva Electric Car Company. This is a path breaking initiative that has the ability to re-define how automotive companies in India plan for future mobility solutions keeping the carbon footprints and environmental issues in mind. The e-Spark will be one of the leading platforms of GM India in its Drive to Green initiative. The e-Spark is a true Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). It is going to be based on the existing Chevrolet Spark architecture and will be powered by the RECC EV powertrain. The vehicle will be equipped with a host of smart consumer friendly features.

This car will boast of smart and comfortable seating for four. The 4 doors will allow for ease of entry and exit. The e-Spark will be an “automatic drive” car owing to its unique propulsion system and will be extremely easy to drive without the hassles of using a clutch in the dense city traffic conditions. The easy drive system will be coupled with an equally informative and intelligent Driver Display System that will provide all necessary and vital signals on the dashboard, easily visible to the driver.

The Electric Drive AC Motor provides 100% torque on tap as soon as the accelerator pedal is pressed down. This leads to fantastic acceleration performance. The e-Spark will have a Regular Drive Mode and a Boost Mode that will provide power to the vehicle through a high torque AC electric motor. The Boost Mode will provide additional torque to the driver for a short duration to manage driving style and during those critical moments on the go! The e-Spark will be launched end of this year.

GM India will launch a electric version of the Chevrolet Spark next year. General Motors and Reva Electric Car Company (REVA) have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop electric version of the Spark for the Indian market. GM need to price the electric Spark competitively if they want electric sales.

General Motors India is in advanced talks with the world’s leading electric car manufacturing company, Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company, for a technical collaboration and a joint venture. GM India will source electric vehicle technology from Reva to roll out electric variants of the Chevrolet Spark in India and select overseas markets.

“We have been pursuing opportunities for commercial application of alternative fuel options, including bio-diesel, jatropha arrangement with CSMCRI (Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute), electric, fuel cell, hydrogen etc, with many parties for quite some time,” said GM India’s vice-president, P Balendran. “Our efforts are ongoing and we have nothing to announce as of now. As soon as we finalise our plans for introduction of any alternative fuel solutions, we will announce the same,” he added.

The two companies will enter into a 50:50 joint venture, which is currently awaiting the green signal from GM’s Detroit headquarters. If the deal goes through, it will be GM’s first deal since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The new alliance is another indicator of how much the Indian market means to the Chevrolet brand and the significance of electric vehicles in GM’s growth plans. GM has already indicated that it will introduce the Volt electric vehicle in India in a completely-imported form.

We called up a GM dealership and inquired about the Spark LPG. The salesman told us that the Spark LPG is capable of a mileage of 13.75kmpl. It has a range of 355kms and has a 26.2 litre tank. In addition to the LPG tank, the Spark LPG has a petrol tank of 33 litres. The car is Rs. 30,000 dearer than its non-LPG counterpart and is available in PS and LS variants. However the most interesting part of the conversation was when we tried to show dis-interest in the Spark due to GM bankruptcy. The salesman told us that only GM UK is affected by bankruptcy and not India. Yes you read that right, GM UK. He said that Obama had done something, blah-blah. So we said that we are looking at a Maruti. To which he said that the Spark has a discount of Rs. 40,000 and has a bigger wheelbase.