[cadaver_prad]

Spotted this camouflaged Beat on NH-4 near Nelamangla going towards Bangalore. At first i was wondering why such crazy graphics on a Beat but on closer inspection it turned out to be a Beat diesel test mule. The clutter was unmistakable. It even had a small sticker on the back reading TEST CENTER. BTW sorry for the bad pic quality.

[pgsagar]

I am sick and tired of these GM guys. They have a stake in Fiat and have access to Fiat's famed multijet which MUL has been using to its advantage since 2007. It has been over 3 years now and GM is STILL THINKING. What is the matter with these bozos? When will they learn? Month after month Swift D is adding 15 to 20 thou cars ( Dzire incl. ) and here is the competition still sleeping. They have 3 hatches Spark, UVA and now Beat but not a single diesel car. And I am sure 5 years hence they will still be thinking. Maruti's success is more because of these bozos than because of its own merit.

[atrisarkar]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

I am sick and tired of these GM guys. They have a stake in Fiat and have access to Fiat's famed multijet which MUL has been using to its advantage since 2007. It has been over 3 years now and GM is STILL THINKING. What is the matter with these bozos? When will they learn? Month after month Swift D is adding 15 to 20 thou cars ( Dzire incl. ) and here is the competition still sleeping. They have 3 hatches Spark, UVA and now Beat but not a single diesel car. And I am sure 5 years hence they will still be thinking. Maruti's success is more because of these bozos than because of its own merit.

I second that. More than the swift D's inherent capability its the absence of other alternatives that has resulted in this monopoly and preposterous waiting periods. I'll call it a day when I see Swift D facing stiff competition and has to undergo facelifts.

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

I am sick and tired of these GM guys. They have a stake in Fiat and have access to Fiat's famed multijet which MUL has been using to its advantage since 2007. It has been over 3 years now and GM is STILL THINKING. What is the matter with these bozos? When will they learn? Month after month Swift D is adding 15 to 20 thou cars ( Dzire incl. ) and here is the competition still sleeping. They have 3 hatches Spark, UVA and now Beat but not a single diesel car. And I am sure 5 years hence they will still be thinking. Maruti's success is more because of these bozos than because of its own merit.

Originally Posted by atrisarkar

I second that. More than the swift D's inherent capability its the absence of other alternatives that has resulted in this monopoly and preposterous waiting periods. I'll call it a day when I see Swift D facing stiff competition and has to undergo facelifts.

Hello men
In which world are you...GM & fiat parted ways long back.

Yes, GM has the right to produce the national engine (1248c Diesel sourced from Fiat, not developed by GM), & they ought to have than in their cars long back, but the bad fortunes of GM America led to denying of funding to Indian subsidiary led to delaying to a number of projects & also hike in their capacity. To cut short GM India's expansion was put on hold, thereby causing the company to lag behind in India.

But, please do not underestimate the market leaders, as they are offering the best available in India, aptly aided by their A.S.S.. GM should come with good global products such as Beat, Captiva & Cruze to build credibility & thereby rise against the mighty opponents, but they are yet to replace Aveo (rated as amongst the worst cars in US) & UVA (same).

PS - Please do not say a (bad) word about Maruti-Suzuki , there are few fanboys who would try to best you black & blue with their posts (obviously totally biased & not supported with any fact).

[pgsagar]

Cardeep, IMO Aveo looks much better than Dzire. If ugly Dzire can set sales charts afire imagine what a dieselised Aveo can do. Yes, I too like Optra Magna and Cruze. They are very capable sedans which can gobble up cars several notches above their segment. Yet, GM hasn't had a good run with their Magna like Skoda had with their Octy/Laura. Even the stunningly beautifull Cruze isn't churning up big numbers. If only it had a Skoda/Toyota badge and an ugly nose and butt, then it would have been a run away success. We Indians LOVE ugly looking cars.

[Maverick1977]

Gents - these kind of agreements are very complex in nature. GM might have been blocked from plonking these engines in their cars. There could be more than what meets the eye in this case. I am sure no company including GM would realize the popularity of diesel engines in this country and do nothing about it. Suzuki is a very shrewd company & might have put a spoke in GM's plan for the diesel unit. Japs are known for such business policies (read dirty tricks)

[mjothi]

Will these would be of final test runs? Because I was told that the Beat Diesel is to hit the market sometime around sep-oct of this year.

Will they be ready by that time frame?

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Cardeep, IMO Aveo looks much better than Dzire. If ugly Dzire can set sales charts afire imagine what a dieselised Aveo can do. Yes, I too like Optra Magna and Cruze. They are very capable sedans which can gobble up cars several notches above their segment. Yet, GM hasn't had a good run with their Magna like Skoda had with their Octy/Laura. Even the stunningly beautifull Cruze isn't churning up big numbers. If only it had a Skoda/Toyota badge and an ugly nose and butt, then it would have been a run away success. We Indians LOVE ugly looking cars.

but, how many people know that for payment of Rs.13,000 additional you can have peace of mind (regarding maintenance & servicing of GM cars). and as mentioned in my earlier post the A.S.S. of GM is no match to Maruti-Suzuki (which built up such network riding on Govt's head at cost of tax payers' money). Also, there are perception of superiority of Maruti-Suzuki amongst the fanboys (including those in Auto Mags) who rate Ritz better over Jazz (only for Jazz's pricing).

In my opinion Aveo has the best interiors in its class.

Originally Posted by Maverick1977

Gents - these kind of agreements are very complex in nature. GM might have been blocked from plonking these engines in their cars. There could be more than what meets the eye in this case. I am sure no company including GM would realize the popularity of diesel engines in this country and do nothing about it. Suzuki is a very shrewd company & might have put a spoke in GM's plan for the diesel unit. Japs are known for such business policies (read dirty tricks)

If Japs are known for shrewd business policies then Americans aren't novices, managing the biggest auto corps in the world. I do not think Suzuki could put any blocking clause in Diesel engine (in Indian scenario) because GM transferred the technology to Suzuki.
GM is lagging because of average products offered in the past & poor service owing to small dealer network.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Cardeep, IMO Aveo looks much better than Dzire. If ugly Dzire can set sales charts afire imagine what a dieselised Aveo can do. Yes, I too like Optra Magna and Cruze.

Me too thinks same. When they can plonk the diesel in the Optra, why not in the Aveo? Even the same diesel engine in this Aveo will make the sales figure raise to north I guess. Will it be too powerful for Aveo?

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by mjothi

Me too thinks same. When they can plonk the diesel in the Optra, why not in the Aveo? Even the same diesel engine in this Aveo will make the sales figure raise to north I guess. Will it be too powerful for Aveo?

Too powerful? When Verna's engine can be plonked into Getz, Linea's engine into Punto then why not Magnum's into Aveo? It will be hooligan of a car.

[vikrantj]

Well I just guess that since Fiat's engine is internally developed and a smaller capacity 1.3 Litre. So it may be easier for them to re-tune it and plonk it anywhere .
But for GM it may prove to be difficult since they have a hugh capacity engine to start with a 2 litre . Secondly it is a externally developed engine by VM Motori if I am not wrong. So creating flavours of that engine may not prove cost effective for the company.

--Vikrant

[Damu]

Hi Folks,

We were returning to Bangalore yesterday (May 10th) from a weekend break at Coonoor and stopped for lunch at Pugmark Restaurant in Bandipur. This Chevy Beat was parked there along with an Optra. Not sure what this camouflage is for, you guys can tell me!

The Optra was also carrying the red registration plates but wasn't disguised.

(PS, I see that other members have already spotted this- just saw some threads on this).

[fiat_tarun]

The funny thing here is that Suzuki got manufacturing rights for this engine through GM. The multijet engine or SDE(small diesel engine) as its called was jointly devleoped by Fiat & GM. GM had a 20% stake in Suzuki (which has been dissolved after the VW tie up), through which Suzuki got the license for the multijet engine. Now that the GM link is no more may be why the 1.6 and 1.9 multijets have not yet seen (and maybe never will see), the SX4 and the likes...

[designersf]

Great find man. I think that this is the Chevrolet Beat ELECTRIC undergoing testing.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by cadaver_prad

Spotted this camouflaged Beat on NH-4 near Nelamangla going towards Bangalore. At first i was wondering why such crazy graphics on a Beat but on closer inspection it turned out to be a Beat diesel test mule. The clutter was unmistakable. It even had a small sticker on the back reading TEST CENTER. BTW sorry for the bad pic quality.

Spotted a white Beat in Bombay rush-hour traffic (surprisingly) with the same graphics. Yup, it was a diesel. Chevy seems to frequently use the main artery between Central - South Mumbai for bumper-to-bumper traffic testing; I'd caught a Cruze test mule 2 months before its launch on the same stretch too.

Come to think of it, no one would even notice the Beat diesel test mules if they wore regular body colours. Its as if Chevy wants people to catch the car.