General Motors' new hatchback 'Beat' seems to be living up to its name as the sales of the company's most popular car 'Spark' has taken a beating after the former's launch.
Beat, which was launched in early January, sold about 2,825 units in the same month this year, while spark sold 3,477 units-- about 16 per cent less than what it did in 2009 at 4,147 units.
GM, however, blames it on "production constraints."
"It's only production constraints. There is a wait-list of 30-45 days for Spark also. In fact, we had to introduce second shifts at Halol and Talegaon plants to reduce the waiting period for Spark and Beat," General Motors India Corporate Communications Head P Balendran said.
If Spark sales in January-March quarter in 2010 are compared with that in 2009, there is a 25 per cent increase at 10,155 units sold this year against 8,130 in the last one, he said.
In February, Beat has left Spark behind selling 4,431 units, while Spark sold 3,142 units.
In March too, Beat sold 4,508 units, while Spark trailed behind at 3,266 units.
Beat had, within 24 days of launch, recorded 10,000 bookings. After Chevrolet Cruz, it is the only car produced on the 300-series platform.
While Spark is a 1,000 cc car, Beat is that of 1,200 cc.