Earlier this month, we told you that Chevy might offer the Beat — sold as the Spark elsewhere in the world — as a four-door sedan in India. The rumor came rather unexpectedly, due to these three reasons:
- There have been no prior rumors or spy shots of such a vehicle
- Chevrolet/General Motors did not announce a sedan variant of the Spark when it unveiled it at the 2015 New York International Auto Show in April
- The Spark/Beat has been exclusively available as a five-door hatch since the inception of the first-generation, when it was called the Daewoo Matiz
Even so, a Beat sedan could actually be a great idea. Heres’ why.
Constantly on the best-sellers list in India is the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire — an inexpensive and rather goofy-looking four-door sedan (pictured below). A Beat sedan, therefore, would swoop right into the market’s best-selling segment, right there with the Honda Amaze, Hyundai Xcent, and the Tata Zest.
Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire
All in all, a Beat sedan could be a great step in turning around Chevy’s (seemingly) ever-slumping sales in India at the expense of rivals such as Maruti Suzuki, Ford, Hyundai, and Honda. Here’s to hoping that the model winds up a reality.
Comments
Calling a best seller in India , kind of goofy , and that the Beat has more WOW and will swoop into the marketplace , sounds to me like something a GM designer would trumpet across the land ! WOW means diddly squat , the Maruti Swift has a more vertical windshield , more open greenhouse for a better driving experience in such a crowded country . It must have a very good drivetrain and acceptable performance to sell in such high numbers . The Beat is basically a Chevy Spark , and how popular is it in North America or other parts of ASIA ? GM sales of their products in India have been deplorable and the Beat will just join that list . GM always tells these third world countries what they should be driving , not what the people there are buying and wanting more of the same !!
Spark is an also ran when compared against Corsa, Sail or Ford’s Fiesta.
India should be a hot market for GM. Turning around Chevrolet in India will require autos that surpass expectation and industry leader Maruti Suzuki.
Given the geographic proximity, GM should model future Indian efforts on the 1990s role out of Buick in China.
I’d also suggest offering both Chevrolet, Baujun-based product and Buick (Opel) in such a massive market.