Hold on, new Impala fans

[Flybrian]

New Impala won't be shown until next year
Posted Jan 8th 2007 2:44PM by Alex Nunez

Sketch by C&G Member Yellowjacket894

Link to original article @ Autoblog
We interviewed Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper at the Detroit Auto Show earlier today. While we won't have the full interview up for you until sometime tomorrow, there was one tidbit of information that we wanted to share with you straightaway, and it relates to the next-generation Impala.

Many of us presumed that we'd get to see the car sometime during this auto show season. That's not the case. The enormity of GM's new product onslaught was such that we simply assumed that we'd be seeing an Impala this year, an assumption that Ed corrected us on. He couldn't give us any specifics about timing, but if the Impala turns out to be one of the stars of '08 Detroit show, let's just say we wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

[I hope GMRULES again]

I wasn't expecting it any sooner then next year. The last thing I want is for them to be showing it 18 or 24 months before its on sale.

[prototype66]

I hope they can keep tight wraps on this one without too much leakage. It seems everyone wants to see way ahead and then the slamming begins!! Like the NuBu. I absolutely love it but I hear more people crabbin than usuall(not so much here) I also hope MT was wrong. Blech! I still like my chop better Design wise that is.

[hyperv6]

The Impala will not be as far out as the Camaro was from Concept to dealer. I would expect it as a 09 model.

Also the MT image did not contain the elements I was told to expect.

Look for elements form the 60's in the car 1967 was mentioned. Also look for the traditional 6 round tail lights.

At this point stop complaining how long it will take as it will not make it come any faster. GM wants this car out even sooner than we do but it take time and money to get these thing done. Both have been in short supply if you have not noticed. Even GM has to live on a budget like we do.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I think for now Chevrolet needs to focus on the Malibu and getting it off to a strong start. It is a crucial step in having presence in the car market again. And this car actually has a shot at gaining some share. Quality needs to be spot on.

[hyperv6]

I think for now Chevrolet needs to focus on the Malibu and getting it off to a strong start. It is a crucial step in having presence in the car market again. And this car actually has a shot at gaining some share. Quality needs to be spot on.

So true the Malibu is the most important vehicle at Chevy out side the Silverado. This car needs to meet Toyota and Honda and come away on equal or better ground.

[toesuf94]

I for one am tired of hearing the complaints tied to the slowness of GM in releasing new product. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard about DCX beating the Camaro to market by a full year with the Challenger! Both were introduced to the public within hours of the other - how is DCX able to get their car to market so quickly? Well, that is pretty easy to do when you are basically slapping a body kit on the 300 floor pan - which four years ago was an OLD Mercedes E-class...wow - exciting basis for a 'new' Muscle car don't you think? Plus, the Challenger is going to be a BIG car

Ford did the same thing by recycling old Volvo platforms for it's 500 and Freestyle. Bad cars? No. Exciting? You be the judge.

GM is bringing us a completely new platform which takes time to develop, federalize, test, build a plant to manufacture the cars...there is a lot to be done in a short amount of time. I bet if GM had it's way, the Camaro and the Impala would both be tearing up Woodward tonight.

We have seen the results of our patience with the fine product that the GMT-900's are. The Kappas are hot sellers and problems are being adressed quickly. I think we can all say that GM wants the Zeta cars to be perfect and hot products - give them time to do it right and silence the critics from the Far East!

Edited January 11, 2007 by toesuf94

[prototype66]

I for one am tired of hearing the complaints tied to the slowness of GM in releasing new product. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard about DCX beating the Camaro to market by a full year with the Challenger! Both were introduced to the public withon hours of the other - how is DCX able to get their car to market so quickly? Well, that is pretty easy to do when you are basically slapping a body kit on the 300 floor pan - which four years ago was an OLD Mercedes E-class...wow - exciting basis for a 'new' Muscle car don't you think? Plus, the Challenger is going to be a BIG car

Ford did the same thing by recycling old Volvo platforms for it's 500 and Freestyle. Bad cars? No. Exciting? You be the judge.

GM is bringing us a completely new platform which takes time to develop, federalize, test, build a plant to manufacture the cars...there is a lot to be done in a short amount of time. I bet if GM had it's way, the Camaro and the Impala would both be tearing up Woodward tonight.

We have seen the results of our patience with the fine product that the GMT-900's are. The Kappas are hot sellers and problems are being adressed quickly. I think we can all say that GM wants the Zeta cars to be perfect and hot products - give them time to do it right and silence the critics from the Far East!

HEAR HEAR BROTHER !!! Nailed it, I said it befoer and i say it again..........Patience. A better product takes time and needs time to perfect.

Edited January 10, 2007 by prototype66

[C.H.U.D.]

I for one am tired of hearing the complaints tied to the slowness of GM in releasing new product. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard about DCX beating the Camaro to market by a full year with the Challenger! Both were introduced to the public withon hours of the other - how is DCX able to get their car to market so quickly? Well, that is pretty easy to do when you are basically slapping a body kit on the 300 floor pan - which four years ago was an OLD Mercedes E-class...wow - exciting basis for a 'new' Muscle car don't you think? Plus, the Challenger is going to be a BIG car

Ford did the same thing by recycling old Volvo platforms for it's 500 and Freestyle. Bad cars? No. Exciting? You be the judge.

GM is bringing us a completely new platform which takes time to develop, federalize, test, build a plant to manufacture the cars...there is a lot to be done in a short amount of time. I bet if GM had it's way, the Camaro and the Impala would both be tearing up Woodward tonight.

We have seen the results of our patience with the fine product that the GMT-900's are. The Kappas are hot sellers and problems are being adressed quickly. I think we can all say that GM wants the Zeta cars to be perfect and hot products - give them time to do it right and silence the critics from the Far East!

Yeah, it's not like GM wants to take forever. Look at the '08 Malibu. Comes out four years after the last redesign. Industry standard.

Why? The hardware exists.

[RangerVT]

I for one am tired of hearing the complaints tied to the slowness of GM in releasing new product. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard about DCX beating the Camaro to market by a full year with the Challenger! Both were introduced to the public within hours of the other - how is DCX able to get their car to market so quickly? Well, that is pretty easy to do when you are basically slapping a body kit on the 300 floor pan - which four years ago was an OLD Mercedes E-class...wow - exciting basis for a 'new' Muscle car don't you think? Plus, the Challenger is going to be a BIG car

Ford did the same thing by recycling old Volvo platforms for it's 500 and Freestyle. Bad cars? No. Exciting? You be the judge.

GM is bringing us a completely new platform which takes time to develop, federalize, test, build a plant to manufacture the cars...there is a lot to be done in a short amount of time. I bet if GM had it's way, the Camaro and the Impala would both be tearing up Woodward tonight.

We have seen the results of our patience with the fine product that the GMT-900's are. The Kappas are hot sellers and problems are being adressed quickly. I think we can all say that GM wants the Zeta cars to be perfect and hot products - give them time to do it right and silence the critics from the Far East!

Well stated! I do think GM wants there cars out there as quickly as possible. They know they have winners in those vehicles, but you don't want to shortcut on quality just to get it out there quicker. All that brings about is more recalls and dissatisfied customers, which then compounds to the reputation they're trying so hard to overcome. Those cars will come out when they're good and ready; then knock the pants off their competition!

[checkmate]

The Impala will not be as far out as the Camaro was from Concept to dealer. I would expect it as a 09 model.

Also the MT image did not contain the elements I was told to expect.

Look for elements form the 60's in the car 1967 was mentioned. Also look for the traditional 6 round tail lights.

At this point stop complaining how long it will take as it will not make it come any faster. GM wants this car out even sooner than we do but it take time and money to get these thing done. Both have been in short supply if you have not noticed. Even GM has to live on a budget like we do.

The public doesn't know that the platform is all new, they just see the competition coming out with their product sooner and will assume GM just can't work any faster.

[AL-B]

Many of us presumed that we'd get to see the car sometime during this auto show season. That's not the case. The enormity of GM's new product onslaught was such that we simply assumed that we'd be seeing an Impala this year, an assumption that Ed corrected us on. He couldn't give us any specifics about timing, but if the Impala turns out to be one of the stars of '08 Detroit show, let's just say we wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

Come on. Can't we at least get a little peek?

You know, something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knJ21oQ9_gI

Edited January 17, 2007 by AL-B

[AM6_Cutlass]

The public doesn't know that the platform is all new, they just see the competition coming out with their product sooner and will assume GM just can't work any faster.

As far as the public knows, the Impala was all new for '06. If they come out with another one for '09, that is only three model years for the current design... unheard of in the industry these days! I don't see Toyota or Honda moving that fast. A little sad, because I actually like the current Impala, and don't see anything wrong with it.

[BlkHhr104]

I don't see Honda moving fast at all, doesn't their cars have like a 7 year model run

Edited January 20, 2007 by BlkHhr104

[Tim Wiltse]

Do you think they will just use this...?

LAter,

Tim

[Chris_Doane]

Do you think they will just use this...?

LAter,

Tim

No.

[97regalGS]

what happened to last year's concept with 1960's design cues?

[Robert Hall]

what happened to last year's concept with 1960's design cues?

Well, that's what's been rumored a lot...but they haven't shown anything official yet. I'm assuming it won't be a rebadged Caprice or Commodore but something new and different.

[Northstar]

what happened to last year's concept with 1960's design cues?

They probably decided it was too early to show a 2010 model. It doesn't start production for 2 1/2 years.

[regfootball]

if you want to see a REAL SEXY new Impala rendering get the new Motor Trend March 07. Just got mine today. Hot vision of what the new Imp will look like. VERY aggressive front end.

even more aggressive than the G8.

Edited February 4, 2007 by regfootball

[KillFort]

Can someone please confirm that the new Motortrend rendering (the black one, not the silver one) is NOT what it is going to look like? No offense regfootball, while I think the G8 nicer than what we currently have, it is still boring to me IMHO.

When I see the next Impala, I want my jaw to hit the floor. When I saw that rendering, the only thing that popped up was a number in my head. That number was "1995" because that is what year that car looked like it came from. It looked like it was trying to be futuristic, but what 1995 futuristic would be.. you know, back in the day of animated gifs, Geocities accounts and when Netscape ruled the world...

Edited February 8, 2007 by KillFort

[97regalGS]

They probably decided it was too early to show a 2010 model. It doesn't start production for 2 1/2 years.

i think that design direction was nuked. (pure speculation)

i belive the volt contains a lot of the look, especialy the front end, of the new impala. (pure speculation)

[hyperv6]

Per Fbodfather [and he should know] the car will have cues from the 60's [67 was mentioned] but will be a modern design like the Camaro. It will have 6 tail lights and is a new sheet metal car and not a modified Holden.

We do know for a fact they even have altered the wheel base to help with turning radius with large wheels up to 24 inch though only 20 inch is expected. I would guess they are planning for the future?

Don't know and can't say about the motor trend picture but I like it. It is much better and closer to what I expect than their last lost cause silver picture.

I too expect a little new impala may have been in the volt but just a little that car was a little extreme for a next gen Impala. I expect some of the same cues from the Malibu and Camaro to find their way into a original design for the Impala as a Chevy family id as GM did in the late 60's. Also take note some small cues from the present car may be carried over and expanded upon as this is a general GM practice.

I would expect no less impact with this car thant we had with the concept Camaro. I get this vibe from those who have seen the car but could not give details.

This will be an impact car and more American like as Chevy is GM American leading car company. Chevy will get a more modified car as it also will sell in greater volumes than the other Zeta's as well sharing may of the same parts with the Camaro. Both will be on the smae line so I am sure there will be many of the same parts shared.