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-   -   Should GM contemplate the relaunch of the SRV (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/104895-should-gm-contemplate-relaunch-srv.html)

Hi,

I have been wondering..should GM contemplate the relaunch of the SRV hot hatch?

What do you guys think? Im sure they will have to work on the interiors and chose a motor that the market will accept in a big way so a 2L TCDi and maybe a smaller 4 cylinder deisel (Do they have a smaller deisel? Pls not the 1.0, 3 cylinder Beat one:eek:)and ofcourse a 1.6 petrol.

With the SRV they should not expect great volumes but they can fill in the gap for a premium hatch and who knows if the price is right they can "cruze" their way to the bank!

I was (and still am!) a big fan of the Chevy SRV's looks. The rear styling with those fantastic looking tail lights had me bowled over. The front closely resembled the Optra Magnum but still the SRV retained a persona of its own.



Someone in my city bought a black Chevy SRV about 2-3 years back and every time it crosses me on the roads, I slow down to stare at it.

Designed by Italdesign, it is a superb looker which turns heads everywhere it goes. From what I have seen, the rear bench of the SRV had ample space and the interiors looked very comfortable. It looked pretty solid and planted in it's road manners, with good grip on the road. The suspension might be on the stiffer side though, because I have noticed the owner slow down the car to a crawl every time it approached a bumper, however small it was.

I think it was a tad over-priced for what it offered, back in it's day. Maybe 50K lesser and it could have been still on the roads even today, giving the i20s and the Polos a real run for their money. Too bad it died an untimely death.

It can be definitely re-launched with a revised price, better suspension and slightly modified front looks. I think it still has the potential to be a killer premium hatch.

The better cars from GM has always failed in the Indian market. Of course the SRV is one of my favourite Hatch in the Looks department. The car in reality looks 1000 times better than the one in the above photograph.

They do have 2L diesel. All they need to do is change the front styling. Cruze up the interiors, stiffen up the suspension & Provide an AT. I believe there will quite a few takers for this car.

However GM at this point of time is not in a position to experiment. A facelifted Magnum would be a logical not the SRV. It is still the cheaper variants of I20 that sells more. Indian market is still not ready for premium hatch.

For enthusists, the Handling has to be taken care of as well. This is where Fiat, Ford, VW, Skoda and even Suzuki have the upper hand.

I think the SRV looked so good that they incorporated its front end on the optra. But retained the old rear design:Shockked: which means soft curves in front and boxy butch at the rear...doesn't work for me.

Definitely. I would be first in line if they relaunch it with even a 1.6D.

And indeed, the pic in my earlier post doesn't do justice to it's stunning looks. Here's a couple of the black SRV -







It's okay. You can breathe now! :D

The Chevy SRV though an average product overall, is undeniably one of the best looking hatches that the country has seen .It was killed by the tag price,lack of driving enjoyment in the petrol and absence of diesel.
But today it's a different market, what with the i20s and Polos having a free run with premium tags.
They could absolutely plonk in the Magnum's diesel heart into it and sell it for 7 lakhs.
But Chevy won't be willing to do it.
Well, that doesn't serve as an excuse for not launching a successor for the SRV.
Yes. The Chevy Cruze hatch.

The cruze hatch would be a costly proposition. A hatch at 10L will not be accepted by Indians.

A SRV facelift would be more cost effective.

I for one would not mind coughing up a reasonable price (8.5 Lac odd - am using the i20 top variant price as a benchmark for want of a better bench mark, but if the product is available for even 50K more that is fine ) for a powerful hatch which is reasonably well appointed in terms of creature comforts, is robustly engineered and following from the foregoing is not a maintenance intensive vehicle. Not a deal breaker but it will be icing on the cake if it is able to seat 5 in comfort, which is possible, as proven by the Vista and Liva.

The SRV was destined to fail; looked "sporty" but lacked sprinting ability, poor interior quality, restricted head room for rear benchers and priced too darn high. Heck, many potential customers who walked into the Chevy showroom became Optra converts. What's the use of a sporty car that lacks performance & costs over 9 lakh rupees?

To answer the question in the thread title, the answer is a firm NO. Chevrolet has more important products on their hands to focus on, namely the Beat diesel, Spark, Cruze, their upcoming range of commercial vehicles and of course, new UVs.

There is simple no market for a C segment hatch in India. Thats the reason why Hyundai I30 and VW golf are not sold.

Your logic is irrefutable.

Digressing from the primary question in the thread title, the feasibility/success potential of a C segment hatch will be known if Honda do it with a higher rated power plant in the Jazz - IF they do it. Till then we have only the failures as benchmarks.

The SRV had great looks, but sadly the car as a whole wasn't great and GM India made an error in pricing it too high.
The company has just begun to taste success in the form of the Cruze and is busy with it's other offerings namely the Beat, Spark and the upcoming vehicles ( including the SAIC ones). Under such circumstances, why would GM re-launch a failed product ?
On the other hand, probably the SRV should have been launched ( not re-launched ) in today's market with better interiors, features and engine ( along with a diesel option ). A sensible pricing and even an AT option might have worked wonders for the car.

Even a Punto, in many people's mind is too big to be a hatch.

I think if they put in the Optra diesel engine, and price it around 7.5-8l it will be a winner. Since the car is quite spacious, and will have a stonker of an engine.

A big NO. Now its matter of image. Even the Optra Magnum is not finding new buyers that quickly. As GTO pointed out, Chevy has a lot of work to do. Beat not doing good numbers despite good pricing, Spark still not able to make a dent where it should and it looks like Beat hit Spark sales actually.

But I would also like to point out at a new place for Chevy. Why not spend energy and make cosmetic changes to Optra ? Update the Optra Magnum diesel, price it a bit lower and fight against Verna, Vento, Fiesta and SX4 diesel.
Optra has many positives like :
Space
All Independent suspension
A bigger motor
Class ( which SX4D, Verna and Fiesta lack )
Good dynamics and high speed stability

None of the above mentioned competitors have all these points to the best of my knowledge. Why not relaunch the Magnum ?