U-VA

New Chevrolet Sail U-VA Due

 WHEN: October 2012

HOW MUCH: Rs 4 – 6 lakh

ENGINES: 1.2-litre petrol/LPG, 1.3-litre diesel

          General Motors had introduced the Chevrolet Aveo U-VA here in India in the year 2006. The Aveo U-VA was the first large hatch from Chevrolet for the Indian market and came with only 1.2-liter petrol engine option. The Chevrolet Aveo U-VA was spawned on the GM-Daewoo T200 platform however the hatch did not set the sales charts on fire as the American major was expecting. The Indian automobile market was not ready for larger hatchbacks, lackadaisical design and poor performance with missing diesel option were a few reason that dampened Aveo sales. Also hatchback segment was absorbed by smaller hatch’s like Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10 which looked more appropriate and suited the mindset. 

         Now six years later from the Chevrolet Aveo U-VA launch, General Motors is ready to play again and would tap the large hatchback segment with an all new large hatch, the ‘Chevrolet Sail U-VA’. The soon to be launched large hatch from General Motors, Chevrolet Sail U-VA also sells as Chevrolet Sail and is made available in both hatch and sedan body styling. For now India will get the large hatch version or the Sail U-VA which is slated to launch on the 2nd of November, while the sedan version of the Chevrolet Sail will arrive in December 2012. 

       We were one of the blessed few who test drove the upcoming Chevrolet U-VA Sail across the Pune Expressway and up to the twisty roads on the hills of Aambey Valley to bring you this exclusive road test of one of the most anticipated cars from General Motors in recent times. 

Design – Exteriors

                The Chevrolet Sail U-VA hatchback was designed and developed by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Centre (PATAC) which is jointly managed by General Motors and SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation). Chevrolet Sail entered the Chinese shores in January 2010 and became an instant hit by clocking in a consistent 25,000 units per month. Exports to Latin America started in 2011 and currently the Chevrolet Sail U-VA enjoys the distinction of being the bestselling export market car from China. 

                  One look at the Chevrolet Sail U-VA would take you over and make you curious enough find out more. The looks on the Chevrolet Sail U-VA are not something that will captivate you the very instant but the design is alluring enough to make you like it, its something that will grows on you and grows quickly. 

            The Chevrolet Sail U-VA has an overall length of 3946mm, while it stands at 1503mm in height and is 1690mm wide. The dimensions of the Chevrolet Sail U-VA make it one of the biggest large hatchbacks in the segment, way larger than the Maruti Swift, Ford Figo, Maruti Ritz and the Toyota Etios Liva. 

The front profile or front fascia of the Chevrolet Sail U-VA reveals the hatch belongs to the Chevrolet family with the family grille that we have also seen on the other Chevrolet cars namely Beat, Cruze and Captiva. The nose of the Chevrolet Sail U-VA has the Chevrolet Bow-Tie engraved in the middle of the twin chrome garnish that runs around the honey comb mesh grill in black.

Interiors

                  The overall styling on the front and sides is very appealing on the Chevrolet Sail U-VA and flat on the rear section. All in all the Chevrolet Sail U-VA is an elegant and neat looking large hatch. The build quality and paint job is also on the better side. 

Chevrolet Sail U-VA has one of the best aerodynamics, a feature that leads to the lowest drag coefficients in its segment resulting in enhanced fuel efficiency. 

                   The interior of the Chevrolet Sail U-VA are adorned with beige colour theme that adds more depth to the already large cabin area. The dashboard uses beige shades and the quality of the plastics can be felt outright. The instrument cluster gets the amber backlight glow and consists of a smart looking digital RPM meter on the left, a large semi-circular speedo in the middle calibrated to 200kmph and the tell-tale warning light cluster on the right side along with a single trip and odometer.  

                    The tri-pod design of the cluster has a neat looking silver lining around the dials while the speedo gets a soft amber glow effect in the middle with a red needle that indicates the speed. The steering on the Chevrolet Sail U-VA comes with a 2-spoke design along with individual horn buttons on either side. 

                     The leather wrapped steering feels good to grip but the horn buttons are a bit difficult to get used to as you need to use your thumb each time you need to honk the horn making it an ardous task especially while turning. There are two cubby storage areas on the right side of the steering wheel on the dash. The centre console gets an all silver fascia shade. A single-DIN CD-MP3 player with AUX, USB port and Bluetooth audio playback connectivity does a good job duty in here. A small storage space can be made good use of just under the MP3 players head unit. The single zone manual AC unit with round dials works well to cool down the largish cabin of the Chevrolet Sail U-VA. The centre console has a large deep storage space upfront. The manual gear shifter has a somewhat angular design on it; the stalk is good to grip. 

                This shifting of the fuel tank has extended the space of the floor area of the Chevrolet Sail U-VA. The rear seats get the 40-60 full split fold option and due to the fuel tank repositioning, loads of space is available under the rear seat. There is more than enough leg and head room for the rear passengers and three passengers can comfortably sit abreast on the rear seat of the Chevrolet Sail U-VA. A pair of fixed headrests do their job on the rear seats. Map pockets behind the front seats are standard on the Chevrolet Sail U-VA. 

Verdict

                    The Chevrolet Sail U-VA diesel is a well-made car from the General Motors stable and shines in mostly all departments. It’s got a large and spacious cabin area with some clever fuel tank re-positioning that increases the already good space. The 1.3-litre SDE motor is a gem of an engine that excels in power, performance and fuel economy giving you good power at all times. The Chevrolet Sail U-VA has loads of space in its cabin while it drives and handles nicely. The Chevrolet Sail U-VA will be a very exciting car to buy if priced well by General Motors. Till then let’s wait and watch what General Motors is up to with its pricing.

                     We can see nothing but exciting times for General Motors and Chevrolet Sail U-VA ahead provided it’s competitively and cleverly priced. 

 Pricing

        We expect General Motors to price the Chevrolet Sail U-VA interestingly starting just under the Maruti Swift’s pricing of both the petrol and diesel versions at Rs. 4.30 lakh for the petrol and Rs. 5.50lakh for the diesel (Ex showroom).