General Motors India is gearing up to launch the iconic Cadillac range of luxury cars in India. The US auto giant has, however,put off its plans to introduce luxury multi-purpose vehicle Hummer in the country. “We are now vying for the luxury space. The company was planning to launch SUV Hummer earlier but its entry now seems distant as consumer sentiment has changed. So, we have zeroed in on the Cadillac CTS sedan, which was showcased in the Auto Expo last year,” General Motors India president and MD Karl Slym said.
The Cadillac CTS would compete with the Mercedez Benz, Audi and BMW which together sell 6,000 cars in the country annually. The Cadillac that was showcased in India came with a 3.6-litre direct-injection V-6 VVT engine delivering 311 bhp of power with 18-inch wheels.The car is priced at Rs 50-60 lakh range. General Motors has already announced the launch of Cruse sedan around June-July , which will compete with Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Sonata in the premium car segment. It will also launch a small car that will complement Spark in the compact segment. It currently sells seven vehicles in Indian market, all under the Chevrolet portfolio spanning from the Spark at the starting price of Rs 2.59 lakh to the Captiva SUV at Rs 20.30 lakh.
“We are gearing up to launch more products powered by alternative fuels like CNG and LPG. We have already launched Optra sedan on CNG and will launch a few more vehicles fired by LPG in the first half of this year,” Mr Slym said.
The company launched the automatic transmission variant of its all-wheel drive sports utility vehicle Captiva priced at Rs 20.3 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) on Friday.