Chevrolet Beat TCDI Diesel : Test Drive & Review

[Maverick79]

Yes.. the pricing is soo tempting.
It could attract the private buyers of eV2, and micra I guess. Ritz has the MASS advantage over the GM after sales network.
But, I feel the FIGO is still the hot cake on the factors like space and features.
Anyways, let the figures speak.
It would be a lot of fire works with a slew of launches in the coming months till the festive season.
God Bless Competition!

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by GTO

Prices announced:

4.29 lakhs (Entry)
4.59 lakhs
4.99 lakhs
5.45 lakhs (With option pack)

Entry & mid-variants will make for great work-horses. Top + option pack are pricier than expected.

Live launch webcast here:

Chevrolet India - Live Webcast | Facebook

I expected the prices to be even more competitive. the PS petrol is 3.55 ex-showroom model. The LS is 3.79 ex-showroom.

The LS model is 80k ex-showroom costlier than the petrol model. All for a puny three cylinder engine. However, when you look at the prices in isolation (notwithstanding the petrol model), they look ok.

EDIT: I stand slightly corrected. Even the base version has power steering. So, then it s competitive. I expected 50k premium, but this is ok.

[ghodlur]

With the same exterior as the petrol one ( which I feel is very cramped) how is GM looking at selling the diesel one? Purely on the cost wise since a comparison with Ford Figo would stil make the Figo more VFM buy.

The prices do look mouth watering but time will only tell how much can GM sell these with a 3 cylinder engines.

[ACM]

After the Spark, in manyways this is the first practical car from GM focused on the consumers basic needs rather than style or power. Though the beat is a very stylish car, this makes for a very practical one, it would surely tempt those looking for practicality to find great looks being thrown in for free.

The 3 years warranty, + 15k service interval, + 24 kmpl ARAI values make for the right ingredients to take on the Diesel Figo and a whole lot of petrol maruti's.

prices are as per expectations except for the top spec variant.

Nice crisp review GTO.

[oxyzen]

The prices are as expected. I hsd hoped it would be a tad cheaper. But anyway it is the cheapest Diesel hatch in India. (Not considering indica)

In contrary to others I feel the Beat is anything but Practical. Courtsey to its claustrophobic rear and inexixtant underthigh support. It might not be flying off the shelf like GM predicted. But still it should take the overall sales of Beat to a respectable number. Maybe 7000 per month.

7000 may sound great but it is not. Look at the no of i10 finding new homes every month. That too without a diesel variant. Beat as such a VFM product deserves to sell more.

[shivaprasad]

Beat Diesel Bangalore on road price,
Beat PS Tcdi 5.15 Lakhs
Beat LS Tcdi 5.51 Lakhs
Beat LT Tcdi 5.99 Lakhs.

[vibbs]

Saw some posts on turbocharger so thought I d add in a few points just to clear any confusion. In a diesel engine air is compressed in the cylinder and as that happens it increases the temperature of the air being compressed which causes the fuel to burn once it is injected. The Power produced and the efficiency of the engine depends on how efficiently the fuel is being burned which in turn depends on the amount of air too. A turbocharger is basically a compressor which is driven by the exhaust. It increases the amount of air being sucked into the cylinder during the suction stroke (There is no mixing of air and fuel that is done by the turbocharger- fuel is injected directly into the cylinder in diesels) there by resulting in increased power delivery and better burning of the injected fuel thereby resulting in better fuel efficiency too theoretically. But whether you see any actual increase in the efficiency depends on a lot of other factors too.

[fangface]

Originally Posted by ACM

After the Spark, in manyways this is the first practical car from GM focused on the consumers basic needs rather than style or power. Though the beat is a very stylish car, this makes for a very practical one, it would surely tempt those looking for practicality to find great looks being thrown in for free.

The 3 years warranty, + 15k service interval, + 24 kmpl ARAI values make for the right ingredients to take on the Diesel Figo and a whole lot of petrol maruti's.

prices are as per expectations except for the top spec variant.

Nice crisp review GTO.

I agree with you, the 3 yrs warranty + 15k service interval should result in low cost of ownership and maintenance.

With respect to the pricing, the differences b/w variants is identical for the petrol and diesel versions. No real surprises here!

The top spec beat LT (O) with ABS + Airbags + Alloy wheels is 50k costlier than the LT for both petrol and diesel.

The final on-road prices for the LT (O) are ~20k lower than the Figo Titanium. A bigger price difference would have made it a easy choice to pick the Beat.. now its more subjective

[Nash24]

I'm very happy, I've booked the RITZ VDI for 6.05 OTR, will be getting the car next month.

BEAT LS is working out to 5.55Lakh OTR , which has couple of features less than RITZ VDI, plus beat has 3 cylinder engine and very poor rear seat comfort.

Overall i'm paying exactly 50k extra for the loaded RITZ VDI, had chevy priced the beat around 5.2LAKH OTR bangalore for the LS variant it was a different story, then i would say beat is VFM.

[avisidhu]

All I am wondering at this point is, Fiat had such a competent product in Palio. A four pot diesel in the same price bracket, with no rear seat issues wrt the Beat, and excellent ride quality.

Let's hope the Beat succeeds in this venture, which in turn encourages Fiat to relaunch the Palio

[nikhil3456]

Originally Posted by Maverick79

But, I feel the FIGO is still the hot cake on the factors like space and features.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Purely on the cost wise since a comparison with Ford Figo would stil make the Figo more VFM buy.

Originally Posted by dar3dev|l

Well i would still put my money on the Figo. The prices are really good, but figo takes on the beat on the amount of space and gadgets it offers.

Talking purely on features/gadgets, Beat-D offers EPS, Tachometer, Auto AC, Rear Power windows, 60:40 split seats, tilt steering, fog lamps, height adjustable rear head restraints and more importantly 175mm ground clearance over Figo.

Figo has Electric osrvms, bluetooth and height adjustable seats which Beat-D doesn't.

Going by this, isnt Beat-D more VFM than Figo? What other features/ gadgets that does Figo have, that Beat-D doesn't?

Having driven the Beat, it is an amazing city car, a decent highway performer, has a much better FE, has an additional year warranty over the Figo. From what I have studied, its cheaper to maintain than Figo, even more so if GM is offering the 3 year cashless ownership thing.

[adg_andy]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to know- is BEAT D fine for a tall person? I am 6'2" and am planning to buy a car soon, and I felt pretty cramped and claustrophobic when I went to check out the Alto.

[needforspeed88]

Let me make it simple.

IF u compare it to the Figo,

For 28k extra you will be getting

4 cylinder proven , frugal ,drivable 1.4 liter engine producing 160 nm torque and 68 bhp power with minimal turbo lag.

Bigger car-roomy interiors , better back seat,bigger boot ,great driving position and visibility.

Better Ride and handling and a big car feel

Better brand value [relatively],bigger service network, better resale value.

The petrol engine in beat is a four cylinder one producing 80 hp and 108nm torque.
How can they charge a higher premium against the petrol,compared to the competitors when they are offering a 3 pot diesel 150 nm torque may be but it only produces 57bhp.

It does not require rocket science to see Figo is still much more value for money when compared to the Beat

[abhi1309]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

All I am wondering at this point is, Fiat had such a competent product in Palio. A four pot diesel in the same price bracket, with no rear seat issues wrt the Beat, and excellent ride quality.

Let's hope the Beat succeeds in this venture, which in turn encourages Fiat to relaunch the Palio

You mean the new 2010 European Palio right? Cause there is something called is 'End of Life' for every product , be it a cellphone, car or software. The Palio we know is way past that time and it is also a Fiat.

Beat should succeed, but they can't beat the Hyundai and Marutis cause they have dealerships at places where people don't know what is GM/Chevrolet. They can't really do much about it but put dealerships but Maruti has almost 900, GM just has 250. I know my cousins in MP, they only know Hyundai and Maruti and Tata for obvious reasons. No one even thinks about considering anything else cause they havent seen any dealerships other than these. So count that factor as well.

Should be a decent success where it matters the most.

[okvinu]

GM made a good pricing strategy (but folks, are you sure that this is not 'chevy initial price' as they do for most of their products!).

MHO....
From the price tab GTO given a few posts before, I would rather compare beat with figo. Reason being the longer waiting period of Ritz, higher price of Micra and dull image of Indica.

When we talk about safety, both the new BEAT and Figo (basically the previous generation fiesta) have almost the same rating in crash tests. This too only for the high end versions with dual airbag+ABS. The new suzuki swift or i20 will be the best in the lot for safety measures, but then too only with airbag+ABS.

In all versions (BEAT vs FIGO), the difference is only 20k. Beat LS and Figo EXI, though showing larger difference, we have to take into account that Figo is giving a music system (decent I think!) for that price, whereas we'll have to spend another 15-20k for adding the same head unit and better speakers in the BEAT LS.

Now this price difference is tricky and purely depends the purpose of a customer. If the car is purely for city use, younger generation, worried about the 'ford ownership expense', etc., then BEAT is a good product for them. Visibility vis, BEAT will loose a point compared to figo.
Figo will be for those looking for a car which they can also take for (more frequent) longer trips. It's true that the EXI version does not have body coloured door hadle,etc., but choosing a darker shade of colour can solve this. Moreover, figo will definitely give better driving experience over the comparison.

Afterall competition is always good for the customer and let's hope the Liva diesel will also be priced similar!

PS. I'm not a ford owner, neither an enemy to chevy brand