General Motors India said Monday it has commenced vehicle exports to Chile. The first 140 left-hand-drive Chevrolet Beats were shipped from the Mumbai Port Trust of Maharashtra on Sept. 25. They are expected to reach Chile in the next few weeks.
''The first shipment of Chevrolet Beats demonstrates our commitment to make our India-built products available in global markets,'' said GM India president and managing director Arvind Saxena. ''We will continue to ship models to Chile on a monthly basis.''
The Beat is produced at GM India's manufacturing facility in Talegaon, Maharashtra. ‎Available with gasoline and diesel engines, the Beat is India's most fuel-efficient hatchback and GM India's best-selling model. The city car is also built and sold in many other markets around the world, it said.
Saxena said, ''We expect to identify additional export markets going forward. This will help drive capacity utilization at our Talegaon plant.''
As part of GM CEO Mary Barra's recent trip to India, she participated in the rollout of the first Beat for export on Sept. 10. The Talegaon manufacturing facility has an annual production capacity of 170,000 vehicles and 160,000 engines.