Chevrolet India has started massive ad-campaign for its upcoming car, UV-A. UV-A is a hatchback version of Aveo which was introduced in February this year. The UV-A is expected to be launched this month only, the latest would be first week of January 2007. Initially GM planned to house the same 1.4 litre engine in UV-A that is found under the hood of Aveo 1.4 but in order to get tax benefits they reduced the capacity to 1.2 litre. This decent looking car has a very good interior space which might be the USP of this car.
Aveo UV-A's 1.2L SOHC Petrol engine can deliver maximum 76ps of power which might not be enough for performance-buffs. I am afraid that car might give a sluggish feeling in situations like climbing an over-bridge with AC on and there are four people inside! The power output is nowhere close to Swift (90ps) and even Getz (83ps). It's crystal clear that as far as performance is concerned, Maruti Suzuki Swift will still rule in the segment and the UV-A will make no apparent change in the scene. For people who needs good space inside, UV-A is definitely a good option and it will give tough competition to Getz who is the only spacious premium hatchback as of now.
I was expecting this car's price starting at ~3.5 lakh due to the fact that it qualifies as a small car as per Indian government rules (length should be less than 4 meters and engine capacity less than 1200cc for Petrol cars). But surprisingly this car has a starting price-tag of Rs.4,15,000 ex-showroom Mumbai (as per their advertisements) which is quite similar to Swift. The fully loaded version with ABS is priced at Rs.5,05,000 while you can avail an ABS-version Swift for Rs.4,65,000 in Mumbai! Chevrolet Aveo is selling well, however it cannot be considered as a hit. The USP of Aveo is its low price and good interiors, Aveo UVA is lacking at price factor, lets see if it can really fight with the segment-leader, Swift?
