Chevrolet Beat diesel prices to increase by Rs. 15,000, starting now

General Motors (GM) India has announced a price hike of Rs. 15,000 for the Chevrolet Beat diesel version. The price hike will be implemented from today. However, dealers we talked to were unaware of the price hike.

Other models from GM India will also see a price hike in January 2012.

The following table shows the Beat diesel prices now and what they will become post the hike (ex-showroom, Delhi).

[table id=386 /]

The Beat diesel with revised pricing will range between Rs. 4.44 lakh – 5.60 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The company has also announced that it will hike the price of its other cars such as the Spark, Beat petrol, UVA, Aveo, Optra, Cruze, Tavera and Captiva by 1-2% with effect from January 2012.

This is due to the current currency fluctuations and rising commodity prices according to P Balendran, Vice President, GM India (as quoted by PTI). The demand for diesel cars is strong in the market because of the ever rising prices of petrol.

The Chevrolet Beat diesel is one of the cheapest diesel hatchbacks in the country. The Beat diesel is powered by a 936cc, three-cylinder, multi-jet diesel engine, that puts out 58 bhp of power and 150 Nm of torque, mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The Beat diesel returns a claimed mileage of 24 kmpl, so expect figures above 20 kmpl in real world driving conditions. The Beat diesel is an attractive city car for economy conscious buyers.

GM India is not the only car maker to announce price hike for its cars. Last month, Maruti Suzuki announced a price hike of up to Rs. 10,000 on diesel cars such as Ritz, Dzire, SX4 and Swift. Read more: Maruti price hike.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) India too, will likely hike the price of its cars such as Liva, Etios, Innova and Fortuner by 1-2% with effect from January 2012. Hyundai India has announced an official price hike of 1.5-2% on all its models with effect from January 2012 due to rising inflation and rupee depreciation.