[Mafia]

Originally Posted by kaushikr

Liked the Beat for its exterior looks and quirky interiors. The diesel heart should appeal to people as a more practical and serious small car contender. Specifications like 1 litre - 3 cyl, does not sound all that bad.

Hope GM get the pricing and after-sales package right.

If the way beat is priced currently an indicator and with a 3 year maintanence pacakge thrown in GM has the pricing and after sales covered better than most. Although they can do with a few more centers in metros and tier 2 cities.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Mafia

If the way beat is priced currently an indicator and with a 3 year maintanence pacakge thrown in GM has the pricing and after sales covered better than most. Although they can do with a few more centers in metros and tier 2 cities.

I believe they have enough learnings from the recent launches they did and seriously don't think they will make a mistake on pricing! And this is one strong variant that can make their bank account stronger.

Also I have not seen anyone offering a great service package on Diesel variants yet! But having proven the mettle, I don't understand why manufacturers cant offer a neat package at least for 2 years on this engine. But if Beat does it, it will be another feather on its cap.

OT: I don't think Beat will ever be considered to be a taxi - none of its attributes is good for taxi. And could anyone compare the space in this car to Ritz / Swift / Figo [Vista comparison is a no-brainer] ?

[auto-one]

Though the Beat is a modern and stylish car aimed at the young customers, strangely, it is not positioned as a feature-rich offering. Instead, it has always been positioned as a VFM offering. We have the petrol version sans some essential features like driver's seat height adjustment, bluetooth music system, keyless entry, etc. The LPG version is not offered with the LT option pack. Considering this, I won't be surprised if the diesel Beat is offered without some of the existing features.

[motorworks]

I think the beat diesel may not offer much competition to the swift Diesel. When the new Swift is launched, Maruti is going to price it atleast 15% higher than the current one and would start branding it as a premium hatch like the I20/POLO/Fabia/Punto, but better VFM compared to these cars. What the Beat might do is affect a bit of Ritz's numbers. The ritz is not a cult car like the swift hence it may be easier for a customer to get convinced to buy the beat rather than the ritz. But then again, beat is inherently smaller than say a ritz and its cramped interiors are going to push away customers who buy diesel for long journeys.

[Mafia]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

OT: I don't think Beat will ever be considered to be a taxi - none of its attributes is good for taxi. And could anyone compare the space in this car to Ritz / Swift / Figo [Vista comparison is a no-brainer] ?

Originally Posted by motorworks

What the Beat might do is affect a bit of Ritz's numbers. The ritz is not a cult car like the swift hence it may be easier for a customer to get convinced to buy the beat rather than the ritz. But then again, beat is inherently smaller than say a ritz and its cramped interiors are going to push away customers who buy diesel for long journeys.

If only the price were a criteria along side of being the 'first car' for a lot of people, Beat can be some what compared to Wagon R and Santro inspite of having a larger engine. IMO beat fits in the gap between entry level hatch and the premium hatches.

IMO, diesel Beat will get its numbers from multiple models same as the Figo. Though Figo is clocking imressive numbers, it has not affected any single car model sales directly.

[anu21v]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

3-cylinder engine. Ugh.

3 cylinder + MJD turbo lag = econo commuter = taxi != fun.

Hilarious to see that comment from a ford guy(owner or employee)

In my opinion GM india knows it pretty well that matching the prices of Ford Figo is not possible, unless they incur huge losses hence they are clearly underscoring that beat-diesel wont be a big volume player in India.

Read this analysis.
Coming Soon: 2011 Chevrolet Beat Diesel primed for a June 2011 Launch! | Indian Cars & Motorcycles Blog

[rajushank84]

Originally Posted by anu21v

Hilarious to see that comment from a ford guy(owner or employee)

In my opinion GM india knows it pretty well that matching the prices of Ford Figo is not possible, unless they incur huge losses hence they are clearly underscoring that beat-diesel wont be a big volume player in India.

Read this analysis.
Coming Soon: 2011 Chevrolet Beat Diesel primed for a June 2011 Launch! | Indian Cars & Motorcycles Blog

Why is it hilarious? What does Ford have to do with it?
(By the way anyone will have a pic of their car interior or exterior. It doesn't make them a "Maruti guy", "Toyota guy" and so on. Your comment makes me suspect that YOU are the one probably working for one of these companies).

Why exactly can Beat not match Figo's pricing, that too with a lower configuration engine?

[akhilesh]

I don't agree with the choice of engine here. It neither has the sheer CC nor power. Beat if I am not wrong is not exactly light and tip scales at around 950 kgs or there abouts. With a heavier diesel under the hood, expect it to reach a ton in which case the power to weight ratio doesn't cut in today's world.

[samarth.bhatia]

Hi all,

The Chevy Beat is definitely a VFM hatch. And its sold in pretty good numbers to prove that. With the launch of the Diesel Beat, the one thing Chevy gains is customers looking away not seeing that option.
Moreover, utilizing a well proven unit like the Fiat unit would be a safe bet. The lower weight with the Three Cylinder configuration would mean lesser weight,and hence better Power to Weight ratio. This should make the car utilize the power better.
I believe that this would be a serious contender for buyers looking at upgrading from the likes of the Spark/Alto league. This would also be a nice first car for many younger generation people with the combined effect of a Diesel unit and unique looks.
This car would most likely not turn out to be a very good buy for taxi fleet owners for the reasons of lack of space, less glass area, etc., as pointed out earlier.

Cheers.
Sam

[pgsagar]

Beat is one hell of a looker. Stands apart from other hatches. Now with diesel plant, it should do some big numbers. Real VFM. GM doing a Ford (Figo)?
But 3-cylinder engine is what they should bear in mind while pricing the car. It should be very fuel-efficient though. Now if they provide features like climate control, electric ORVMs, airbags, ABS etc. on diesel too, they will have a winner here.

[anu21v]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Why is it hilarious? What does Ford have to do with it?
Why exactly can Beat not match Figo's pricing, that too with a lower configuration engine?

No offence mate. Glad you think i could work with one these companies, If only HR folks in these companies thought the same

Hilarious for the single reason, you said 'beat' can be sold as taxis.
And i used to think for taxi segment reasons that matter are
a) Low price b) Big Space. c) High mileage. d) Low technology product. e) Diesel Engine. Don't think beat meets all these criterian.

I dont think it can match figo's cost for these reasons below.
a) Going by the article on net, Company says its a new development by GM india Engineers. Meaning really High initial Engineering cost. Just think, Had it beeen really cheaper to engineer a sub 1.0 L diesel engine, it should have been maruti engineering that engine first. Afterall with all the volume number on its side, it could surely utilize this in so many small cars offerings it has.
b) Beat anyways have a low volume, also Company itself says diesel would not generate much extra volume.
c) Figo diesel engine is an old engine hence most of the engineering cost etc would have spread over a larger volume. (Read fiesta and other european car whereever the 1.4 is used.) Hence low cost for figo and cost advantage over beat.
d) being a sub 1 L engine it cant be utilized in UVA (too big a car), and i doubt if any diesel engine can be utilized in spark at all (such a small engine area) Hence the engineering costs doesn't get spread over any volumes at all.
d) I also suspect cost difference of diesel engine wrt petrol engine is what is stopping Hyundai to come out with a India version of diesel i10. (As far as i know they already sell a diesel i10 in europe).
e) Look at the price difference of Diesel models of Polo, Micra, i20 with their petrol versions. The above arguements kind of gets justified.

Hence my conclusion would be, most likely the price of Beat diesel would be in the higher range of pricing and it cant match the pricing of Figo.

[.anshuman]

^^ The 1 litre Engine in the beat is a 3 cylinder engine is modified version of 1.3 MultiJet with one cylinder removed.

[BuRnT RuBbEr]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

^^ The 1 litre Engine in the beat is a 3 cylinder engine is modified version of 1.3 MultiJet with one cylinder removed.

which is not a very straight forward job if I am not wrong. this engine would have to prove its road worthiness before the volumes go up. and those of us cribbing about the 'puny' specs of the engine need to answer the question that if fiat starts offering a 1.9 mjd, how many of them would choose to buy 1.9 instead of 1.3?

Not a good move for fiat. they are equipping their current, future rivals with their engine.

[avishar]

I think its a good alternative for any buyer who is on the hunt for a budget diesel hatchback.With petrol prices going through the roof,diesel will make a strong statement even in small hatchbacks.

Till now most of the hatchback market was cornered by the Ritz,Swift and Indica.And the rest of the diesel hatchbacks were north of 5 lakhs.

So here we have a good product by GM,is already selling decently well at around the 3K mark,good styling and new age design,with a proven engine albiet with a less cylinder.Also in city stop go traffic torque is way more important and that lesser CC and power will be well compensated.

Now its over to GM to price it correctly.

[vignesh_ny]

Adding another dimension to the discussion is my thought that , it should be offered with all the safety features ( Airbags, ABS) and not go the swift or the ritz way with the diesel being low on safety. Even the beat , wagon R LPG models have the same fate with no option of ABS and Airbags. IMO all diesel and gas powered cars should have more safety features as options due to their possible highway mileage.