GM upgrades automatic Captiva SUV

General Motors (GM) has launched an upgraded model for the automatic variant of the Captiva SUV priced at Rs 24.59 lakh. Expected to give the company an increased slice of growing diesel SUV market, the new variant sports a more powerful 186.5 bhp 2.2-litre diesel power plant. The manual transmission models (starts at Rs 18.74 lakh) continue with the smaller 148 bhp 2-litre engine. The Captiva (sold 44 units in April-May, 2012) competes with the segment leader Toyota Fortuner (sold 2,669 units), apart from others such as the Ford Endeavour, Hyundai Santa Fe and Mitsubishi Pajero. The seven-seater SUV features projector headlamps, cruise control, electric parking brake, rain-sensing wipers, a sunroof, apart from six airbags for safety.