BANGALORE: GM India announced the all India launch of the Chevrolet Aveo at Bangalore today. India is the second country after Singapore where the car was launched last week among the 120 markets that GM is present in. Contrary to norms this variant will see a US launch in March this year. An older generation variant of the Aveo already runs on US roads.

With this offerings GM plans to take on the current players such as the Ford Fiesta, the Honda City and the Hyundai Accent in entry level sedan segment. As per GMI President and MD Rajeev Chaba this particular segment has shown an impressive growth rate of 18 per cent last year against an industry growth of six per cent during the same period. Though GMI had displayed two other models the hatchback Aveo Yuva and the Optra SRV sedan during the recent motor show in Delhi, the Aveo is the first kid off the block. The other two models will be launched over the next few months.

The Aveo is a global product built to suit Indian road and driving conditions. Features such as high strength steel structure, tailor welded blanking, 2.5 mile-per-hour front and rear bumpers, tilt adjustable steering wheel, variable scroll AC compressor with air filter, AM/FM stereo CD/MP3 compatible radio with six speakers, a new two tone interior scheme, rich instrumentation and satin chrome wood-grain style trim are standard features as opposed to add-on features in competitors offerings.

GMI vice president marketing sales and after sales, Ankush Arora is confident of selling 14000 Aveos in two power train variants (1399 cc -1.4L and 1598 cc 1.6L) in India by the end of this year and around 20,000 plus on an annualised basis.

GMI has spent around Rs 1 billion to ramp up the capacity to 85,000 units per year as per Chaba. GMI plan to scale the number of dealers up to 107 in 84 cities from the current 77 Chevy outlets in 65 cities in India by the end of this year, as also the number of service outlets from 82 to 110.

The Union budget will affect the pricing, hence the Aveo will be available for display only from the second week of March and will be in the customer hands by the third week of March according to Chaba, who would like the excise duty to be cut from the current 24 per cent to 16 per cent.

A 360 degree ad campaign is planned to start in the first week of March including ground events for current GM car owners. Around four TVC’s are planned to be aired according to Arora. McCann Ericsson handles the creatives and Madison handle the media side of the business, which was reported to be around Rs 500 million.