Optras to have diesel engines by '07

General Motors (GM) India is planning to source common-rail diesel (CRDi) engines for its Chevrolet Optra Sedans by 2007.

Rajeev Chaba, managing director, said the company will source diesel engines from subsidiary GM DAT's (GM Daewoo Automotive Technologies) plants in Korea and Europe.

Currently, the GMI built cars, with the exception of Chevrolet Tavera, run only on petrol. Tavera gets its conventional diesel engines from Hindustan Motors.

"By 2007, 30 per cent of Chevrolet Optras will have diesel engines," said Chaba. Gradually, the diesel engines would be adapted to other models, he said.

General Motors has sold 6,820 Chevrolet Optras from January to November 2005, higher than the 10 per cent growth clocked in the previous year. Optra is priced in the Rs 7.75 to Rs 11 lakh range. "A diesel version of the vehicle is likely to be priced at a premium compared to the petrol version," said a Mumbai-based analyst.

Diesel engines featuring common-rail direct injection technology is fast becoming the favoured source of power for Indian cars. Diesel-powered cars constitute 15 per cent of the passenger cars in the country.

While more than 90 per cent of cars sold by Tata Motors are diesel powered (conventional diesel engines), other leading manufacturers such as Hyundai and Maruti are now focusing on modern diesel engines.

Hyundai has been using their patented CRDi technology in Accent for last three years. "Today, Hyundai diesel engines are imported and hence Accent CRDi is not cheap to buy, once they start building CRDi engines in India they will be a formidable player in the diesel arena," said an auto analyst.

Maruti is setting up an engine plant dedicated to CRDi engines near Manesar, Haryana.