General Motors to develop a small car wholly designed in India

"We are now developing vehicles for India at the Bangalore centre and the focus is more on small cars as India is basically a small car market," General Motors (GM) Vice- President (Global Design) Edward T Welburn said.

Asked when the company is likely to finalise the design of the small car being prepared at the Bangalore centre, he said: "In the very near future."
The Bangalore design centre with around 60 engineers is one of the 10 such centres of GM worldwide.

"The Indian centre has come a long way since its inception, from supporting our studios in North America to being involved in creative designing of models along with exploring features of automotive in India," Welburn said.

He said the company also believes that small cars designed in the Bangalore centre can cater to its global markets as well.
"I can see that happening...the Indian centre working on designing a small car for the global market. But it will be done may be with inputs from our design centres in South Korea and Brazil. This will help to market the product in different countries with certain variance in tastes," he said.
GM India at present, has two small cars in its portfolio -- the Chevrolet Spark and the Chevrolet Beat, which were launched today.

General Motors Monday launched its global mini car Chevrolet Beat in India priced between INR 334,000 (US$ 7214) and INR 394,000 (US$ 8510).The 1.2-litre car will be available in three variants.