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-   -   Chevrolet India : The Way Forward (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/167655-chevrolet-india-way-forward-2.html)

True. They are duds everywhere except US and China(and Brazil to some extent). India would definitely take long to reach at point where these two countries are. Exports is where they would want to recover old losses and mint new $.

Many of them. Even if these products do sell in less numbers, they would for sure improve brand's perception.

Me too. that's the reason he's a respected person in the post as well.

Awesome info. Thanks!
But I don't think they lack in diesel engine options. They anyways got access to all the engines which GM jointly developed with Fiat.

How much time Chevy needs to sync the engine & gearbox in any prospective car?

If I'm not wrong, it was Chevy's Indian R&D which brought the 1.0L mill out of the 1.3L MJD. Can't they repeat that with 1.6L in Chevrolet Trax & Equinox? How about a new affordable 1.6L Chevy Cruze?

To add to the insult, Chevy should be the first car company in last 5 years whose car (SAIL Sedan) wasn't even (complete)reviewed by TEAM-BHP. I have a similar feeling for Spin as well.

You said it right.

Such a great opportunity missed by Chevy.

Chevrolet has been busy defending their American Business and Fending off Tesla. They have strategically not allocated much capital to their Indian operations.

I only see Renault being the company fully committed to India and willing to take the market leaders head on. Trying different things and taking failure in their stride.

The Chevrolet dealership in my town has just shut down. Along with Fiat and Tata. They didn't really try enough. It was a half baked attempt.

Well , China and the USA are number 1 & 2 markets in the world. They can afford to fail everywhere else.☺

GM lacks in good powerful diesel engine options. The GM-Fiat diesels hardly have an output of more than 150 HP. That is why the launch of their premium brand Cadillac which makes very good cars of late is being postponed in India. Cadillacs with powerful diesels like a 3000 cc diesel is being designed and will launch by the end of the decade.

Don't forget one thing. The volumes of models above the 10 lac price are hardly 100-200 units per month and hence it simply doesn't make sense to re-engineer them with diesel engines only for India.

The solution is building volume products. The Spin MPV, Sonic twins and Trax SUV are the ones that can build volumes because they are in the affordable price range. It also helps that they are built on the same platform as well.

I think the market to capture in INdia is not by just sales. If they can build a comprehensive and trust workthy service network, offering 3-5 years service package and also providing assurance on warranty claims, i am sure people will think about it.

Many are capable to buy german cars and yet they prefer a toyota for the trouble free ownership(inspite of their service being slightly costlier than a maruthi)

Chevy needs to bring in the camero :) and create a trust worthy brand by backing it up with service.

Kill the SAIL twins, kill the breadbox Enjoy.
Bring in the Sonic twins, build the Trailblazer locally.
Update Beat.
Does the Captiva even sell?
Keep the Tavera - it has it's own following the Taxicab segment.
Bring in the Camaro as a halo car.

I own a Beat Diesel, bought the first crop in 2011. Why ? Simply because the Beat was good looking and the build quality was top notch (This was the biggest differentiator for me).Also, Petrol and Diesel difference was almost 25 Rupees a litre. Everything was good in the first two years of purchase. Fast forward to 2015.
- The dealership on NH4 (Pashankar Motors) shut down and now there is only one dealer in PMC that too at the fag end of the city (Singh Motors). Getting the car serviced from authorized service center means driving 30 kilometers one way !
- I don't get any reminder calls or any mails now. Maruti still calls my dad for getting his Zen (2006) serviced though it is sold to our relatives !
- Although spare part availability has never been an issue with the Beat in Pune, the availability of good service centers is definitely a problem lately. Singh motors has not been as satisfactory and courteous as Honda's service centers.
- The car herself although face-lifted, has been stripped off some goodies like adjustable rear headrests, Automatic Climate control etc. Even the dashboard was better looking. This was a differentiator then, since no car in that price bracket offered these things !
- Just received a snail mail from them about the accessory recall. Also attached was a letter of appreciation giving 5000 Rupee discount on any Chevvy car we buy by December 2015 lol:
- Accepting that my car has been trouble-free since purchase and still going strong with normal maintenance expenses, I decide to upgrade to another Chevvy, what are my options ?
The Chinese outdated Sail twins ? that would be disrespectful to my Beat, and there are much better options outside. The Enjoy ? I've read enough about engine swaps and recalls, so thank you, and the dashboard sucks as well. The Cruze ? Out of my Budget. How about a small funky sedan the size of City/Verna ? No, we don't have any, not after we pulled out the Optra.

I put my money on Chevrolet, it did work out for me then, but now, I do stare at the problem of service center availability and getting a good bargain for my Beat if I decide to sell her. Do note that the car is way better built than the Santro, Zen and Brio we have had in our family.

I feel GM has underestimated the Indian buyer a little too much. We are exposed to their global products and their drool worthy cars (Sonic Twins, Trax, even the Spin) and yet they launch some cheap Chinese cars here because they are economical to manufacture. Then there are recalls and engine failures. I wonder if they ever take a look at what their competitors are offering. If they want to succeed in India, they must bring something desirable to the table. The only Chinese thing we Indians dig happily is the Chow-mein.

P.S. For Pune team-bhpians : A new Chevrolet showroom is coming up near Warje Flyover (right in front of my apartment :) ), hope they also have a service center !

If there is a discussion going on about Tata, I will at least pen down the thoughts here though it might be a criticism.

But for GM, I don't have any interest in suggesting anything. They look so irrelevant to me as a consumer.

I still remember the incidence in April 2011, when I was in the market for a car. I kept calling Pashankar (Satara road) since morning to enquire about their cars. The receptionist kept telling me that the sales persons are busy with other customers and that someone will call me back.

No call returned. After making 4-5 calls since morning, me and my wife went to the showroom after noon. There was no customer there and all the people were watching a cricket match on TV!

That's an interesting point. Outside of the Bolero and the Alto, the market rewards fresh (visually) cars with strong resale (both are related). They care less about outright frugal (Sail/Fiat) / low TCO (Figo/Etios) / super comfortable (Spark vs Alto!).

The Indian market is simply quite demanding - just getting the decent global models and not making it attractive enough won't work.

To my mind, flagship models are good for getting a buzz/PR going. Outside of that, their bread and butter A/B/C segment vehicles need a solid overhaul together with the sales teams themselves (e.g customer experience of Hyundai vs Chevy TD/follow ups!). Without it, they are going down a slippery slope as the OP indicated.

Personally I quite liked their service/maintenance offers and it mattered a lot to me when i was considering buying Spark.

Ironic that they were doing much better when teamed up with companies like Daewoo ;) seems like their modern offerings don't really excel at anything. Beat was fresh and funky when launched and can still do well if updated (better petrol and diesel motors will go a long way) Cruze was a bargain for the kicks it gave but then the company decided to start charging way too much for it, Captiva was capable but I've heard enough horror stories regarding long-term maintenance to never consider or recommend the product. This Trailblazer seems nice but not in the face of the upcoming Endeavor, Paj Sport and Fortuner. I don't see the brand going anywhere in our country for the time being

Problem with GM is, they are LAZY.

God knows who brought the idea of selling chinese models here in India? Didn't the marketing team even study what perception does chinese products have on Indian mindset? I am not saying that all chinese products are cheap or of low quality. I have seen some unbelievable quality and feel ashamed when I compare a similar product with an Indian example. But 99% Indians think otherwise. Why do you want to challenge it GM? This is least expected from GM as we all know how Americans are at marketing.

Just showing out their marketing skills.

A few days back I visited their SB Road Pune Showroom, to enquire about the captiva. Some people in the showroom did not know about the vehicle, and those who knew were not sure whether the vehicle is still made.
Looking at the comfort, seat posture and ride, coupled with a very bad resale value, I was thinking that a pre-worshipped Captiva was the most VFM vehicle, and with current three cars with us all purchased brand new, a daily work horse could be a pre owned one.

Rahul

The numbers look very promising. Chevorlet should also work on improving the quality of customer service and spreading their dealer network. We bought Chevorlet in Shimla and now there is no dealership here hence no service I have to run to Chandigarh every time.

While the Chevy products carry cheaper price tag, the car feels cheaper as well compared with competition. Cruze and Beat kept aside, all the new launches had uninspiring design, boring engines/transmission, low on features list. While Chevy cars are the cheapest to maintain even when compared to a Maruti, the resale value is also the lowest.
Chevy needs to revive the brand, remember that powerful Chevy ad during Tavera, Optra time? Chevy badly needs somebody to turnaround.

I think GM has to launch some fresh products with aggressive pricing to get the market's attention which has been already lost. I dont think launching a facelift of cruze and a CBU SUV alone cant help doing it.

They surely can look into the Vaxhaul lineup. The Corsa's, Astra's and Insignia are the best optopns IMO. Just finished a road trip with Insignia and the car was superb inside out. And the new Astra looks really nice too. I'm sure with proper price and marketing they can bring volume in Indian market too

Launch fresh products, improve marketing and offer some extended warranties to gain trust from customers, Improve quality etc (their products were always vfm IMO), chevy can also sell cars. But the way to that will be only through Hard work


Asish

A good product but not special enough to justify the unreasonably high maintenance costs. Just warning you since you said this would be your first used car, and I wouldn't want you to go through a bad experience and lose faith in the idea of buying a VFM used car. Why not look at the X-Trail if you're confused about what to buy :thumbs up