Chevrolet rolls out big discounts on U-Va and Aveo; Beat and Spark get Rs. 20,000 off

General Motors India has unveiled a host of discounts on its Chevrolet cars. The discounts range between Rs. 55,000 (on U-Va LT) and Rs. 20,000 (on Spark and Beat).

Like its competitors Hyundai and Maruti, GM has avoided discounts on diesel models of its sub-Rs. 10 lakh cars. Only Cruze, which is available in diesel, gets a nominal cash discount of Rs. 15,000.

The discount make entry level variants of Spark, Beat and U-Va (if it’s still on your radar) attractive buys.

Discounts on Beat and Spark

The entry level Spark comes with Rs. 20,000 cash discount or a 32-inch Panasonic LCD TV (which should cost roughly the same on the market). That brings down the effective price of base Spark E1.0 from Rs. 3.05 lakh to Rs. 2.85 lakh making it Rs. 19,000 cheaper than base variant of Alto K10.

The next model in the Spark line-up, at Rs. 3.23 lakh can be had for Rs. 3.03 lakh making it Rs. 14,000 cheaper than Alto K10 Vxi. Both are similarly spec-ed—Alto has two power windows which Spark lacks.

But factor in the 3-year free service offer from GM, and Spark certainly looks like a better deal. While there are discounts on higher-end models too but considering Wagor R itself is available starting Rs. 3.21 lakh (at least for this month), the more expensive Spark models don’t make that much sense.

Beat too gets the same discount of Rs. 20,000 but there is no three-year free service.

The base version Beat 1.2 LS can now be had for Rs 3.35 lakh as opposed to its original price of Rs. 3.55 lakh. That’s a good deal, particularly for driving enthusiasts, as it’s the most powerful car available in that price band with 80 BHP. The similarly priced model of Wagon R and i10 have less than 70-BHP on tap. They also offer fewer features making the base Beat version a pretty attractive buy.

The higher-end versions of Beat are a tad costly and therefore, the discount, at best brings them on par with some of i10 models.

Besides, the discounts are only on petrol models while it’s the diesels that have caused a jump in sales. In the first six months of 2011, when there was no diesel option, Beat notched up an average of 2,600 units in sales per month. After the launch of Beat diesel in July 2011, the sales have almost doubled to an average of 5,100 per month during the July-September 2011 quarter.

How we would love to see some cash back on Beat diesel!

Big discounts on U-Va and Aveo

The base version of U-VA gets a hefty discount of Rs. 40,000 bringing down its effective price from Rs. 4.13 lakh to Rs. 3.73 lakh. A pretty good deal considering the car is spacious; has a decent 75 BHP on tap; and the variant has both power steering and power window. The higher-end LT variants, which also has an airbag and four power windows gets a heftier discount of Rs. 55,000 reducing its effective price from Rs. 4.84 lakh to Rs. 4.29 lakh.

Only downer is that it hasn’t set the sales charts on fire with just 71 units getting sold in September 2011.

The higher-end LT variants, which also has an airbag and four power windows gets a heftier discount of Rs. 55,000 reducing its effective price from Rs. 4.84 lakh to Rs. 4.29 lakh.

Aveo gets Rs. 50,000 off on all models but again, its sales numbers at 121 units are a bit disappointing in category where brand image also matters.

And Cruze, which is doing well with sales of 814 in September 2011, gets a cash discount of Rs. 15,000—not much considering its Rs. 12 lakh-plus price tag.

Conclusion

The discounts are a mixed bag—they make a few variants attractive. Even marginal discount on Beat diesel would have helped GM get attention ahead of Maruti and Hyundai.

Biggest discounts—understandably so—were reserved for Aveo and U-Va but their sales might have dropped too much for these discounts to have any significant impact.  Or would you still consider these two as options?