The diesel version of the Chevrolet Beat, fitted with an all-new one-litre engine is due for its official launch in the Indian market on July 25. At a preview of the new car in picturesque Goa, Mr Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, General Motors India, spoke to Business Line on the new product and the company's plans for the next 18 months. Excerpts from the interview:

GM will be the first to launch a 1-litre diesel engine for cars in India. Can you elaborate on the new car and this engine.

Both the car and the engine are being manufactured at Talegaon and India is the only country making the Beat with a diesel engine. The basis for the engine is GM's 1.3 litre 4-cylinder SDE version that went through the Bangalore Technical Centre, which has been working on it for nearly three years in association with GM Powertrain Europe.

They took one cylinder off and modified it specifically for India and, more importantly, specifically for the Beat. It is lighter, has better fuel economy, and uses non-corrosive materials. Some of the features are availability of power in the second gear and different second gear ratios.

Are you planning for exports?

There is an opportunity for both power train and cars, but exports are not my priority. We want to consolidate in India first.

What is your current production of the Beat? And what new products are on the cards?

Both the car and power train plants at Talegaon work in two shifts. We now make around 3,000 units of the Beat a month.

We will launch five more products with fuel variants in the next 18 months. Some of these will be segment-defining vehicles.

GM India has said it will launch two products from its joint venture partner, SAIC's (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) stable by 2012. What is the status on this?

We will start with light commercial vehicles. Right now, they are in Bangalore to be converted to the Indian version.

The most important change is swapping them over to right-hand drive for the local market.

Will these be sold through existing dealerships or will you set up an independent network?

These will be Chevrolet products and will be sold through our dealerships. Currently, we have over 240 sales outlets. We will expand this to 300 outlets during 2011.

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