GM, Hyundai 800 cc cars for India

The 800 cc brigade is just waiting to get bigger with automotive majors such as General Motors India and Hyundai Motors all set to unveil their small cars in the country.

In the process, the two auto majors are likely to pose major competition for Maruti Suzuki which has been doing good business with its flagship Alto and M800 models. The new 800 cc cars that would be rolled out of GM India and Hyundai India facilities in the next few years, industry sources said. The cars are expected to be fuel-efficient models and would adhere to the CO2 emission norms.

Chevrolet Matiz - soon in an 800 cc version

GM India is said to be building its 800cc engine for the Chevrolet Spark platform for the Indian market. The company has said that its existing Spark platform is capable of using a mini-car with a 0.8-litre engine. Reportedly, the company has already kicked off operations at its Talegaon plant and is fast readying it to be fully prepared to make new cars and their variants. The proposed 800cc Spark will come and the LPG/CNG versions will also take shape at this plant. We should remember that the Chevrolet Spark, in its original avatar in India as a Daewoo Matiz, was an 800 cc car. And a good one too, the little 800 cc car acquired a great following in India.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor India is building its 800cc model and would be ready with the model in the next three to four years time. To be positioned below the Santro model, the car would be given its shape jointly by Indian and Korean engineer teams at Hyderabad and Namyang.

Hyundai is likely to place the 800 cc engine in the Santro or a new car which it would develop later on. Industry observers feel that Hyundai Motor India would make the new 800cc car for the domestic market and would also take it to the global markets later on.

With the two auto majors lining up their plans and research to bring out the 800 cc cars on to the car mart, the industry feels that Maruti will have tough competition in the 800 cc market place. However, Hyundai feels that the Maruti Suzuki car is already an old model and competition with it doesn’t exist.