GM to enter compact SUV segment with Opel Mokka
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Finally, the day has arrived when we have to say good bye to the 11th Auto Expo. Today happens to be the day seven of the seven day automobile event held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Two segments were found be the point of focus by many car manufacturers across the globe this season, the hybrid, electric car segment and the compact SUV segment. After Ford EcoSport, we have already seen a couple of new compact SUVs in the making and General Motors India also might be jumping on the bandwagon not very long from now.
General Motors seem to find its subsidiary’s products more interesting to tap the growing demands for a compact SUV and Opel Mokka could just be one. Unlike Ford EcoSport which happens to be GM India’s prime target, the Opel Mokka is the new SUV from its German subsidiary Opel, but is over 4 m in length and can comfortably house a 1.7 L 130 Bhp diesel engine and a 1.6 L petrol engine in different tunes mated with a 6-speed automatic gearbox to serve the purpose just right in the Indian car market.
No car manufacturer would like to see any segment unoccupied in the car industry. General Motors India line-up is fraught with the entry-level hatchbacks like Chevrolet Spark, Chevrolet Beat to premium sedans like Chevrolet Cruze and high-end Chevrolet Captiva. GM India like any other car manufacturer observed the MPV segment slowly gaining traction in the domestic car market and hence right on its toes, pulled out its Chinese partners’SAIC and Wuling product CN-100 out of its kitty and unveiled it at the 2012 Auto Expo.
Impressed by its own clever ploy, now the auto major could be mulling to trace the same steps once again to introduce the Opel product Mokka which is also sold by its British subsidiary Vauxhall in the UK markets. General Motors apparently hopes to introduce the compact Opel Mokka SUV at the Geneva Motor show, this year under its own name and probably it is the same model we will be seeing in the Indian car market later this year or early next year.
