Chevrolet dealers delivered a total of 4,157 vehicles during November 2014 in India, including 150 units exported to Chile. The results represent a 33 percent decrease compared to the 6,214 units sold during November 2013.
“Even though the lower fuel prices are encouraging, the interest rates remain sticky and inflation continues to be high. The outlook remains grim and it is very unlikely that passenger cars will post positive growth this fiscal under the current economic conditions,” said Paramu Balendran of GM India communications.
Despite various efforts and promotions drum up sales , GM expects the difficult sales environment to continue into the future unless consumer sentiment is in some way ameliorated.
“Discounts are at their peak and sales of diesel vehicles are tapering off as the price differential between the two fuels is dropping sharply. Going by the market scenario, we expect the challenging times to continue till some major announcements take place in the budget to improve customer sentiments,” added Mr. Balendran.
Comments
Suzuki’s brand sells nearly 100,000 a month , is it possible that GM could do a thorough study of this competitor’s
products and find out , even from owners , why they are so popular . However , understanding your competitors products is fundamental to any merchant/manufacturer and I’m sure GM has done this . So why hasn’t GM done its homework here and producing a more compelling vehicle line up ?? This shouldn’t be about reinventing the wheel , give the people of India what they really want . It’s in front of you , learn , understand and then produce a more driveable , economical and more reliable product ….perhaps , though , is there a poor reputation about Chevy’s vehicles that is long standing ?? Something doesn’t add up here !!
Suzuki has massive sales in India, as does Hyundai. The formula is simple. The car should look good, have good seats and space. Good space for bottle holders / cubby holes in the vehicle and the service network should be vast. Most of gms vehicles in India don’t have well thought out interiors and come from Chinese designs. So the perception of the cars are bad. (who wants to drive a Chinese car?) Also, the service network is very restricted in India compared to Hyundai, let alone Suzuki. These and lastly, the petrol cars on offer, don’t offer great fuel efficiency(the fuel efficiency part I can vouch for as I own a spark (not a beat) and on the highway the average is 14kmpl. Other cars in the same category would give at least 15 or 16, if not 17), and are bland to drive.( read “underpowered) so gm is the cause of gms problems in India. I would like them to have more market share, if not no1 or no2 position, but don’t think it may happen anytime soon.
Hold up here.
How do the following stack up against Suzuki or Hyundai:
Beat (global Spark): very good if not at the top of its class, in terms of looks, convenience (what you call cubby holes), interior technology, fuel economy, and reputation. Problem is that they’re more expensive than the Nano, etc. but also much nicer.
Cruze and Captiva: see above, especially the more expensive part.
Sail: that’s just a Chinese car that might fall into the category of no one wanting a Chinese car, as you describe.
The Spark (old Daewoo) and Tavera are simply old models made to drive down the price point of getting a Chevy.
Am I right?
You are partially correct. The beat (spark) is more advanced then the version that I have, and is also better designed. But, the average is still 13/14 on the highway. Really? Let’s put it this way. My spark is about 70,000 rupees cheaper than an equivalent beat. So, Americans may think that it is good value (if I choose either one) and it may be true. When comparing cars. But, in India, even if a person owns a car, it is still a status symbol. Even though more and more people are buying cars. So, an important factor in buying a car is many times based on fuel efficiency. Which first Maruti – Suzuki (basically, the full engineering is done by suzuki ) nailed. Then did hyundai. How difficult is it to understand, that the Indian customer wants a car that he can buy AND use as well, rather than spending a massive percentage of his income on his vehicle, only to realise that he can barely afford the petrol bills. With regarding a nano, there are Honda sedans that sell in more numbers than that car! We want value for money. If you spend 2.5 lakhs on road for a car that doesn’t have a boot/hatch, then what is the point? Might as well spend 3/ 3.4 lakhs and buy a proper Maruti Suzuki hatchback? It has almost the same fuel efficiency, give or take 1kmpl, and it’s more comfortable , has a hatch and has higher status. The nano has the status of a toy. Would anyone want to be perceived as driving a toy?!? As for the cruze, I would love to own that car. For that money, I can buy 4 beats(global sparks) if you drop that much money on a car, you should get a very good all rounder. The ride quality is Ok, not best in class. But, it should be available in both petrol and diesel. But, over here it is only avaliable is diesel. Fine, that wouldn’t be too big a problem, but the clutch is supposedly very heavy (I haven’t driven it, but I have driven vehicles with heavy clutches, and, it is not good) also, the engine has a lot of turbo lag. (again haven’t driven, but heard about it) so, in our congested cities in start-stop situations where most of our commutes take place, who would want to buy this sort of vehicle for this sort of price? We buy it for convenience. There are more easy to drive vehicles (notably volkswagon, Toyota, etc) Regarding the captiva, for around 60% of the price I can buy a mahindra xuv 500. Similar road presence, and wide service network. Great quality. Why spend so much, for a muscular looking suv, when I can buy this? As for the sail, it doesn’t actually matter is it is Chinese, Japanese or Korean. If you sit in a Honda Amaze or Maruti Swift sedan or hyundai xcent you will choose any one of them, but definitely not the chevy sail sedan. Why? Because the interiors are not as good as them. When you sit in a car for hours on end, you do not look so much at the exteriors. It is the interiors that you are worried about, and how much of USE the interior is. That’s why I say ” get the sonic, sonic sedan, and trax ASAP ” increase the service network. Work on the little niggles in your current cars, and things should look better for gm in India.