New Delhi, July 07: General Motors India (GMI) today launched a new premium mid-size car 'Chevrolet Optra' as part of aggressive plans to grow its sales over five-fold to about 50,000 units in the next three years. The base model of the 1800cc car has been priced at Rs 7.89 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), GMI president and managing director Aditya Vij told a news conference here.
"The 'Optra' will expand our existing portfolio and help us to further consolidate our position in the Indian automobile market," Vij said adding that the company expects to sell 10,000-12,000 units of the car this year. He said India was among the only six countries in the Asia-Pacific region where the car would be launched this year.
The 'Optra' would also be available in two more variants-premium 'LS' and luxury 'LT' models- which have been priced at Rs 8.4 and Rs 9.69 lakhs respectively. This is the second model to be introduced by GM India under the 'Chevrolet' brand, which it said would cater to the mainstream market and help the company become a volume player.
GM India had earlier this year launched the luxury sports utility-vehicle 'Chevrolet Forester'.
The 'Optra' will compete in the emerging 'D1' segment against vehicles like 'Skoda Octavia' and 'Toyota Corolla'. This segment has witnessed a surge in demand with sales during the first five months of this year growing by 97 per cent. Bureau Report