General Motors' electric Beat to hit roads next month

Following a bonanza for the electric and hybrid cars manufactured in India, General Motors (GM) is all set to showcase an electric version of its small car Chevrolet Beat next month. In the coming future, the car may become the second electric car after Reva to be launched in the country, provided the government follows up with more incentives for alternate fuel vehicles, GM said.

"We are glad that the government has woken up to the need to encourage alternate fuel and electric vehicles," said Karl Slym, president and managing director, GM India. "We will showcase an electric version of our mini car next month. Though we have not decided whether to launch it here or not, if the government follows up the budget with more incentives, it will only help us decide."

The government announced full exemption from customs duty, special additional duty and countervailing duty on some specified parts of hybrid vehicles such as battery pack and chargers as also for spare battery packs for electric vehicles.

Further, excise duty has been halved for hybrid kits and their parts.

In the past, GM had tied up with Reva electric car company to develop an electric version of its other small car Spark.

The project met with an untimely death after Reva was acquired by utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra and the two companies went their separate ways.

GM sold 88,568 units in April-January 2010-11, up 37% over the previous year. It has 235 dealers in the country.
Currently, India has only one hybrid vehicle the Toyota Prius.