General Motors India testing Enjoy CNG?

General Motors India launched the Enjoy MPV earlier this year, as a chief rival of the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. The Enjoy's price, which undercuts that of the Ertiga, has meant that the MPV is clocking decent volumes for the American automaker in India what with an average monthly sales figure of over 2,000 units. Presently, the Enjoy MPV is available with 2 engine options: a 1.4 liter petrol engine (104 PS-131 Nm) and a 1.3 liter turbo diesel engine (77 PS-188 Nm).

Gauging from the petrol-diesel sales split, the Enjoy's petrol variants make up only for a tenth of the average monthly sales. A third engine option might join the Enjoy line up in the coming months as a spyshot depicting a CNG powered version of the MPV has hit the interweb. The Enjoy CNG features a sticker on the rear windscreen that reads "CNG.ESA.3069", an indicator of a CNG power under the hood.

The MPV was spotted testing at Bangalore, a city that hosts General Motors India's Research and Development center. The 1.4 liter petrol engine of the Enjoy is likely to be the one receiving the CNG treatment. Notably, General Motors India used to sell a CNG-petrol dual fuel version of an older generation version of this very engine on the Aveo 1.4 sedan. Therefore, adoption of CNG power on the 1.4 liter petrol motor should be a straight forward affair.

The Aveo 1.4 CNG model's engine featured hardened valve seats and anodized pistons to combat the higher corrosive-ness of a gaseous fuel like CNG. Similar measures are expected to be taken on the Enjoy CNG's engine as well. The CNG powered version of the Enjoy could boost sales for General Motors in Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, where CNG dispensing infrastructure is well developed.

The Enjoy CNG could be aimed at family MPV buyers and the cab operator segments alike, as a cost effective and lower polluting alternative to the diesel engined model. A 30,000-40,000 rupee premium over the petrol engined model's price is likely for the Enjoy CNG. Notably, the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga MPV is also available in CNG guise. The Chevrolet Enjoy has Chinese roots. The MPV is a badge engineered version of the Wuling Hongguang MPV, a best seller in the Chinese domestic market. 

Also known as the Chevrolet CN100, the Hongguang MPV is built by Wuling, a Chinese automaker known for building small utility vehicles. General Motors is a part of an automaking joint venture in China called GM-SAIC-Wuling. The Chinese joint venture has given GM India the opportunity of launching cars such as the Sail twins and the Enjoy MPV, the likes of which were originally developed for the Chinese domestic market. 

Spyshots courtesy Motorbeam