General Motors today unveiled a new ‘Made-for-India' 1.2-litre petrol engine that was developed by the automaker's Bangalore-based technical centre. The engine will be initially used in the existing small car model – Chevrolet Beat. However, it will not make any difference to the pricing of the car.

The new engine, Smartech, has been customised for India and features aluminium cylinder heads and light weight pistons that result in better fuel efficiency. The petrol and LPG version of Chevrolet Beat sporting the new engine would be available starting February 1 at the existing price points, said Mr Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, General Motors India.

“The new engine incorporates engineering changes which optimise the performance for Indian conditions through innovative design techniques,” Mr Slym added.

The engine will be manufactured at GM's plant at Talegaon in Maharashtra for a range of new models to be offered by GM in India. The company has invested $230 million in the Talegaon facility that started operations in November. Claiming that the new engine was more fuel efficient, Mr Slym declined to quantify the difference it will make to the mileage factor. The mileage efficiency has not been validated by the Automotive Research Association of India.

“India is a key market for General Motors. We are focused on leveraging our unmatched global resources as well as our growing local capability to develop segment-leading vehicles and powertrains in India for India,” said Mr Tim Lee, President of International Operations at General Motors.

Mr Slym said the automaker planned to introduce six new models that include four passenger vehicles and two commercial vehicles over 24 months. GM India is targeting to triple its sales to about 3 lakh units by 2013 from 1.1 lakh units in 2010.

Commenting on the sales outlook for the year ahead, Mr Slym said the company would try to maintain its growth momentum by growing at twice the rate of industry growth, like it did in the previous year. “The industry grew at 30 per cent last year, while we grew at 60 per cent. For the current year, expectations are that the industry growth would slow down to 12-14 per cent due to factors such as the rising interest rates, input costs and fuel price hike. We will try to grow at twice the rate of industry growth,” he added.

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