Latest Car News in India

New Chevrolet Cruze displayed at Busan Auto Show

General Motors India will be launching the new version of its entry level hatchback, Chevrolet Spark in India in the month of October 2012; it was previously reported to be launched in December this year. Meanwhile the company’s Korean subsidiary has showcased the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze at the ongoing Busan Auto Show. Both the facelifted cars are incoming in India this year.

GM India did not give Chevrolet Spark any noticeable changes until now and the facelift in the making won’t either get any major change. On the exterior front, the car will get soft cosmetic changes similar to Chevrolet Spark electric displayed last year, while the interiors might get a new colour scheme. The company has managed to keep the details under the wraps; however Spark will remain the entry level hatch offered by the American car companies in India.

In the global market, General Motors has replaced the Spark sold in India with its next gen model (which is sold as Chevrolet Beat in India). As far as the Indian car market is concerned, the company has no plans to make this hatch redundant here, as it is a popular model here and company might tag it quite competitively for the Indian customers. The A segment is presently ruled by Maruti’s Alto hatchback that has been present in India for over a decade now, on the other hand, Hyundai Eon is also garnering decent amount of sales every month. GM India is eyeing to inculcate some newness to its petite hatch in order to improve its medium sales.

Chevrolet Spark was earlier named as Daewoo Matiz but after the Korean car major filed bankruptcy, General Motors acquired their car division. As per the recent reports, new Spark will get an 800cc-3 cylinder engine, that will help GM India to cut the price of Spark and the engine is also expected to offer enhanced fuel economy. The changes are being made at the company’s R&D centre located in Bangalore as Spark is not being sold in global markets and the facelift version is confined to the Indian market only.

Amongst the prominent changes, the car will get a reworked front and rear bumpers, fresh fog lamps, a new grille, a larger Chevrolet emblem and redesigned rear-view mirrors with integrated turn lights.

Chevrolet’s Cruze sedan is also up for a mid career facelift. The Korean subsidiary also displayed the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze at the Busan Auto Show. The sedan donned a new grille and fog lamps and this would the first car in Korea to get a Chevrolet MyLink infotainment system. The MyLink system can also be offered in India as GM hinted that it would offer the feature in global markets.