Fusion cuisine is big in India. In Mumbai, for example, all you have to do is take a walk through Nariman Point and you’ll be greeted by a mish-mash of the exotic blended with the indigenous. It isn’t at all unusual to see corporate Mumbai shun 5-star fare for streetside carts that peddle culinary wonders like Chinese bhel, tandoori paneer pizza and Punjabi-style chowmien. Even McDonalds have had to bow in deference to our penchant for fusion-flavours. Need proof? Buy a 25-rupee aloo tikki McBurger and be converted to the cause of mix and match.
As far as GM are concerned though, they don’t need to go burger-shopping. Over the years, they’ve come to understand the psyche of the Indian consumer. They know what the Indian car-buyer wants. The origins of a car are of little consequence – just give us reliability, fuel economy and above all, great value for money. And GM have learnt to oblige. In Chevrolet, they’re building a VFM brand under which they can sell various cars sourced from their multiple alliances from all over the world. Witness the Chevy Forester (Subaru), Chevy Optra (Daewoo) and now, the Chevy Tavera,which is basically a born-again Isuzu Panther. Not that you should be surprised. GM and Isuzu ties date all the way back to 1971– the two companies have collaborated on various cars, often with great success. And the Tavera could well continue that tradition in India. Over the last few years, the MUV segment has become really big here, with various Mahindras (Bolero, Scorpio), Tatas (Sumos, Safaris) and the Toyota Qualis waging war in showrooms. The numbers are big – manufacturers are already selling an estimated 1,00,000 MUVs in India every year. If the Tavera can grab a significant chunk of that, things should look very well indeed for the General...
We were invited to GM’s plant in Halol (near Baroda) to drive a pre-production Tavera and the first thing about Baroda that struck us was the heat. On the day of our drive, the city was baking in temperatures of 42-degrees celsius. ‘The Tavera better have good airconditioning,’ we thought to ourselves. But more on that later. While being transported from our hotel to the GM plant in an Optra, we caught our first glimpse of a Tavera that was being driven out of the plant. Painted in pristine white and free from any add-on adornments, the Tavera looked like a clean, honest, utility-vehicle. Later, when we got a chance to inspect a Tavera at close quarters, I liked what I saw. A utility-vehicle it might be, but the Tavera looks well proportioned. In the styling department, it quite whups the current-generation Qualis, though the next-gen Qualis (which is due to arrive soon) might change that.
We were slated to drive a top-of-the-line Tavera SS and I couldn’t help noticing the snazzy-looking bull bar at the front, ‘Turbo’ badging on the flanks, chrome-plated mirror-housings, front foglamps, side-cladding and twin-tone paint. Okay, so it’ll never be an SUV, but you can make out that the Tavera’s been trying. The Chevy is a mite longer (2 cm) than the Qualis and a full 11 cm longer than the Scorpio, but the latter is 2 cm wider. Bottomline is, the Tavera doesn’t come across as ungainly and carries its heft well. Our Tavera had a set of smart-looking 7-spoke alloys, which, combined with a short front overhang, lent the UV an almost sporty stance. Only, the long-ish rear overhang spoilt that effect a bit. Look at the SS from the front and it almost does a convincing SUV impression. But look at it from the back or in profile and we’re back in people-carrier territory.
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