General Motors México Refurbishes Vehicle Portfolio

Despite being one of the automakers most affected by supply chain disruptions, General Motors México will refurbish its vehicle portfolio with the new Groove 2022 to target the small SUV segment, where it had no presence.

“We are going to enter the lower part of the segment B (of SUVs), where we have never had presence. We are very happy that Groove will be a winner as Captiva was, which in the first half (of 2021) was the number one SUV compact, one of the most competitive segments,” said Héctor Villarreal, Vice President, Sales, Service and Marketing, General Motors México.

The Detroit-based company has been in Mexico for over 85 years, with manufacturing plants in Ramos Arizpe, San Luis Potosi and Toluca. In the latter, GM also has an engineering center and aftersales parts facility. The company is Mexico's top automotive exporter and manufacturer and one of Mexico's top 5 best-sellers. The automaker announced a US$1 billion investment in its Ramos Arizpe plant back in May, reported MBN.

Chevrolet Groove 2022 will become customers’ first choice when it comes to small SUVs, following the market exit of Chevrolet Beat and Spark, said Villarreal. "This is a highly anticipated launch; Groove 2022 arrives to complete Chevrolet's broad SUV portfolio. We are convinced that thanks to its attractive and youthful design, equipment, customization, space and price, Chevrolet Groove will be the first choice of customers who want to enter the SUV segment," added Yammil Guaida, Marketing Manager, Chevrolet.

GM’s sales decrease in Mexico was not only caused by semiconductors shortages but because of a strategy driven by the automaker to refurbish its product portfolio, said Villarreal to El Economista. In addition to the new Groove 2022, there will be two new Captiva models and a new generation of GMC Acadia, Terrain, Chevrolet Travers and Buick Enclave will be presented in the next months.

The new Chevrolet Groove 2022, manufactured at SAIC China Plant, will be available in both automatic and standard drive versions in November from MX$332,900 (US$16,487) to MX$390,900 (US$19,360). Customers will be able to choose from over 20 accessories and three additional-equipment kits.

“We began a complete renewal of the portfolio and we did not stop despite the situation that we are going through derived from semiconductor shortages, which is a situation that affects the industry but is temporary. The important thing is that we did not stop and we are renewing, entering segments where we had never participated, and now with Groove we are going to complete the range of SUVs and the product portfolio offered by Chevrolet and GM is going to be very important,” said Villarreal.