The diesel engine for the Chevrolet Sail will be made at the Talegaon plant. The Sail is the first of two products under the General Motors-SAIC joint venture that is due for roll out in India around July.

The Sail, which will have both notchback and hatchback versions, will be launched in both diesel and petrol variants. The car will be around 70-80 per cent localised initially, Mr Lowell Paddock, President and Managing Director, General Motors India, said.

While the diesel engines for it as well as the MPV due for launch in end 2012 will be made indigenously, the company may import the petrol engines, he said. “We have the capability and technology to make CNG engines if conditions dictate.”

GM’s flexi-engine plant, that currently caters to the Beat, has an installed capacity to make 1,60,000 units annually up to 1.5 litre capacity. “We are running two shifts for the power train,” Mr Paddock said.

In the city to launch the revamped Tavera Neo 3, which has been fitted with an all new BS IV compliant 2 litre engine, Mr Paddock said that by the end of the year, the GM portfolio will cover every segment of the Indian car market.

Operating in India as a 50:50 joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Company, GM has invested nearly $1 billion since its entry. All future investments will be made by the joint venture, he added.

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