Rajeev Chaba (right), president and MD of General Motors India, in Calcutta on Monday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, May 29: General Motors India is likely to launch Chevrolet Spark by the first half of next year, which would require an additional investment of Rs 100 crore.

The model would have less than 15 per cent commonality with Daewoo?s Matiz. It is two generations ahead of the Matiz on which the car was modelled.

Spark has been designed by General Motors and Daewoo Auto and Technology and Italdesign studios at a facility near Seoul in South Korea.

?We have spent a lot of time in trying to procure Daewoo?s Surajpur plant which was mired in a host of customs and other problems. This plant is ruled out for the moment. Therefore, we would be rolling out Spark from our Halol factory for the time being,? said Rajeev Chaba, president and managing director, General Motors India.

Internationally, the model has been launched in various countries with the engine varying from 796cc to 995cc. It is available in aqua green, highway yellow, sunset orange and flame red among others.

Chaba said in India, Spark would compete with Wagon R and Santro. However, it would be a premium car in the segment. The car would have a high local content with only certain components being imported.

?In order to be a significant player in the Indian automobile market, one should have a presence in the mini-car segment. Our vision is to have 10 per cent of the Indian auto market by 2010 and roll out 2 lakh cars,? he said.

Till last year, General Motors had invested Rs 1,200 crore in its Indian operations. This year, it would pump in Rs 100 crore for the Aveo model and its variants and another Rs 100 crore for capacity expansion.

The Halol plant had started with a capacity to make 40,000 cars. It is currently manufacturing 60,000 cars, which would be ramped up to 85,000.

The target for 2 lakh cars would require considerable capacity expansion.