Chevrolet slashes Sail U-VA price. Already!

A big shout out to Amarjeet Singh for his heads up on Chevrolet’s price cut for the SAIL Hatchback. 

Today’s edition of the Times of India saw the hatchback being advertised at Rs 4.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Thane). The Sail U-VA's earlier starting price was Rs. 4.44 lakhs in Thane. This represents a desperate attempt to revive sales of the four-month old model with a price cut of Rs. 25,000 for the base 1.2L petrol. Incidentally, the latest ad didn't feature the U-VA moniker either. The car is now simply known as the Sail Hatchback. 

The Sail has suffered a slow start, beginning at 1,595 units in November 2012 and then, consistently sliding to a low point of 560 shipments last month (Full Report).  

One more reason that can be attributed to the price cut was the need to create a larger gap between the Sail hatchback & sedan variants. Chevrolet is said to have priced the sedan very aggressively, after the market's tepid response to the hatchback. The gap between the base petrol versions of the hatchback & sedan is now Rs. 80,000.  

The Sail U-VA is actually a very competent car (Team-BHP Review); however, the dated design and basic feature list are clearly working against it.  

The Sail sedan must prepare to face up to Honda’s highly anticipated Amaze, due to be launched in diesel and petrol versions shortly. The sedan can’t be positioned any lower in the Chevrolet family, as it will affect the Beat.