GM seeks sops for green cars

General Motors India on Tuesday sought incentives for owners of cars driven on alternative fuel and tax rate cuts to encourage adoption of such eco-friendly vehicles.

The company, which has already launched few eco-friendly vehicles in the domestic market, said it aims to sell as many as 5,000 vehicles this year.

"There are three things that have to happen to change people's mind from just fossil fuels. The vehicle has to be available. We as producers need to do that. "The government needs to make sure that it is incentivised for both the producers and the consumers," Karl Slym, president and MD, General Motors India said.

Besides, he said, consumers also have to decide that they want use the eco-friendly vehicles. He said this at the first drive of electric Spark (e- Spark) which has been developed by GM in collaboration with Reva Electric Car Company.

Among other things, on making these cars affordable, Slym said, "You can do things on a large scale such as (reducing) percentages of duties... There should be positive incentives on things for people to buy electric vehicles."

Slym suggested schemes like not charging parking fees or any toll rates from customers using such eco-friendly vehicles among others. The company also launched variants of Aveo CNG and Spark LPG under the Chevrolet Green Strategy.

In all, the company displayed 11 vehicles, including Chevy Volt, another electric vehicle that is to be launched in USA this year.

Under the Chevrolet Performance Category, it showcased Chevrolet Camaro, WTCC Cruze. GM also launched limited edition of Captiva SUV called Xtreme priced at 18.8 lakhs.

The company had on Monday launched the much-hyped Chevy Beat under its Hot-Hatch theme. Slym said, "GM is looking at 50 per cent growth (in sales) this year over 2009," when it sold around 70,000 units.