GM launches new small car, eyes Indian growth: company

(AFP PHOTO/Pal PILLAI)

General Motors launched a new small car on Monday priced at about 7,000 dollars that will be released first in the Indian market and eventually sold in 150 countries.

The Chevrolet Beat is a compact hatchback aimed at the growing Indian middle classes that GM hopes will help boost its sales in the country by 30 percent this year to 100,000 units.

On the eve of the Delhi auto show, which kicks off Tuesday, GM India chief Karl Slym admitted the Beat would enter an increasingly competitive market where foreign manufacturers are jostling for position in the small car segment.

"There is a competitive market in India," Slym told reporters. "There are more and more players coming in with different capabilities."

The Beat, to be priced at 334,000 rupees (7,000 dollars) in its basic model, will be sold in more than 150 countries worldwide, including Europe, other parts of Asia and North America, the company said.

Small cars account for 80 percent of passenger car sales in India.

The Beat will be one of the attractions at AutoExpo 2010 in New Delhi, which runs until January 11 and is a showpiece for compact vehicles.

Slym also said GM India would double production at its Talegaon plant in the western state of Maharashtra to 90,000 cars per year because of the Beat's introduction.

The company said its sales in December more than doubled to 8,258 vehicles, the highest ever in a month since it started selling cars in the country in 1996.

Indian car sales are expected to cross two million units in 2010.

- Dow Jones Newswire contributed to this story -

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