2008 Chevrolet Classic (Brazil)

[Flybrian]

2008 Chevrolet Classic
Chevrolet Classic leads 1st half of year with 57.7% share of economy sedan market

Since its initial launch in 1995, the Chevrolet Classic has been making enormous strides in the Brazilian market. In the first half of 2007 (Jan-Jun) alone, GM of Brazil reports 43,673 regestrations of the Classic, a growth of 37.0% compared to the first half of last year when only 31,877 units were sold.

The 2008 line of Classic is already available at Chevrolet retailers nationwide. The Classic has led with record sales in the month of June with 7,996 units sold, representing a 57.7% share of the Brazilian economy sedan market.

“The success of the Classic is evident and is representative of a car that has earned the approval of consumers as a financially-responsible choice. Among the reasons why customers choose the Classic are the distinguished versatility of the 1.0l Flexpower engine that guarantees the value in the segment”, said José Carlos Pinheiro Neto, Vice-President of the GM of Brazil.

The Chevrolet Classic is a champion of economy in the GM Brazil line of products, a portfolio that consists of superior products of the Brazilian automobile industry, each model fulfilling the needs of each consumer.

Classic - best value in the market

The Classic plays an important role in the marketing strategy of the General Motors, one that offers in the Brazilian enthusiast the most complete and modern line of vehicles in all segments. The Classic resides between the Celta - the entry-level model of Chevrolet - and the Corsa.

The Corsa sedan, launched in 1995 was remarketed in 2002 as the Classic and began to use the “VHC” (Very High Compression) engine, a concept also used in the Chevrolet Celta and Corsa.

The 2008 Classic includes a new solid color, Gray Meridio, as well as Mahler white and black color Liszt (solid) and metallic Bluet, Hazel beige, and Polaris silver.

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Though it looks very, very spartan (and it is), the Classic and other Brazilian Chevies powered by the 1.0l Flexpower engine are reknowned for being able to run very efficiently on both gasoline or ethanol. In fact, these 1.0ls are among the world's most powerful 1.0l displacement engines. If it looks somewhat familiar, its because its based on the second-generation Corsa B first introduced in 1993. Its sold elsewhere wearing the Chevy badge under a variety of names, including Sail (China), C2 (Mexico), and Corsa Lite (South Africa).

[thegriffon]

The C2 is an updated version of the Corsa Classic similar to the Brazilian Celta.

[Sixty8panther]

Thank God I live in the USA.

[Intrepidation]

What a piece of crap. I'd love to see crash test results on one of these things.

Edited July 14, 2007 by Dodgefan

[thegriffon]

Done:

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/opel_vauxhal...sa_1997/12.aspx

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/opel_vauxhal...sa_2000/23.aspx (final year of European production)

Edited July 14, 2007 by thegriffon

[Intrepidation]

I feel safe in one of those!

[CARBIZ]

What a piece of crap. I'd love to see crash test results on one of these things.

Tell me: what would YOU be driving if gas was 2.36 a litre? That's about $9.44 an American gallon. Nont an Intrepid, I would imagine.

I've been to Brazil twice in the past 4 years. First time for a month, second time for 2 1/2 weeks. I travelled to about a dozen different cities. The Fiats, Chevies and small Fords are everywhere. Like 90% of the vehicles are stick shift. Most cars have a/c, but no power steering. I saw newspaper ads for Celtas at $R19,000 new. How about a 2 year old USED Omega (Catera) for $R59,000.

Our rich friends down their have an Astra: the one guy is a doctor and his boyfriend is a dentist. Even the buses are manual shift! There are actually a lot of cute, fun to drive vehicles in Brazil. The Chevy Montana ( a small pick up ) is one of them, but like most "emerging markets" the bus/subway system is simply amazing and most people don't have a car. Ethanol is everywhere.

Brazil is on the right track, IMO. They now are self-sufficient in oil. They are one of the fastest growing auto markets in the world right now.

And they've done all of that without CAFE.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Poor sap driving this doesn't even get an airbag, let alone his passenger! I thank God I don't live in a 3rd world nation.

[cavalier36]

I wonder how much this car would sell for if it was sold here? like $8,000?? of course airbags would have to be added. I bet Alamo and Enterprise would buy a few thousand anyways.. although i dont think most of the public would go for it. it would be ok to sell it to fleets only though.

[Z-06]

Is it not the Opel Corsa from 1996-2001? or somewhere around that time.

God it is plain ugly.

[gm4life]

GM is selling them and making money off of them so I really don't care.

[CARBIZ]

Poor sap driving this doesn't even get an airbag, let alone his passenger! I thank God I don't live in a 3rd world nation.

Not a 'third world nation;' but 'emerging market'.

Let's see what we can afford at $2.36 a LITRE (about $9.50 a gallon.) There is a lot of money in Brazil, but their standard of living is much different than ours. Electronics and high end purchases are about double the price of here. How about paying $500 for a basic digital camera? All furniture, appliance and electronics stores advertise payment, not price. Interest rates are still up in the double digits. Food, housing and clothing are quite a bit cheaper than what we are used to, but since most finished goods are imported, they are pricier.

When a car costs about double what we could buy the same thing for here, people tend to buy a lot more modestly than we do. But there are a lot of cool, small cars from Citreon, Renault, Fiat and others down there that we can't get.

[daves87rs]

I kinda like it-then agin I liked the Metro too....

If it had a/c, auto, an airbag, and a good price (well under 10k), it would make a good city commuter car.

Add a good aftermarker CD player-and bam-you're set.

[ocnblu]

How do I put this in a polite way? It looks like it has plenty of "enhanced suspension travel" to deal with less-than-perfect Brazilian country roads.

[SuperSport623]

that has to be one of the goofiest looking cars ive ever seen

[CARBIZ]

How do I put this in a polite way? It looks like it has plenty of "enhanced suspension travel" to deal with less-than-perfect Brazilian country roads.

Country roads? The main highway connecting Jaoa Passoa (a city of about a half million people on the north coast) with Recife ( a city of about 3 million), to the south, is one of the worst highways I've ever been on! Two lanes. The truck traffic was awful. Potholes. An unpaved shoulder. And they don't have to deal with frost! But then Recife is the only Brazilian city I have been in so far (and I've been to several) that I would call a disappointment. It's downtown was dirty, run down and kinda scary at sunset. (Not unlike Buffalo )

In the Sao Paulo area, the roads are amazing. The way they stack their highways, tunnel them and have two or three subway lines criss-cross each other is astounding. Makes me just laugh when Toronto calls itself 'World Class."