Chevy Trax concept joins Beat on TF2 set

[Intrepidation]

We knew the Chevy Beat was making an appearance in the overly-named Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The new news is that one of its "triplet" siblings, the Chevy Trax concept, is joining it, as you can see above. The two are chasing/following Bumblebee down Philadelphia's Front Street. Proof of GM's new commitment to building more smaller, fuel-efficient cars, you ask? Eh, well, as you may remember, Trax and the third triplet, Groove, were not slated for production like the Beat, so this is (unfortunately) probably just a movie special. At least one Autoblogger is happy, though (raises hand), because Trax is the one he voted for last year. Transformers Live Action Movie Blog wonders if the Beat and Trax might be portraying the Autobot "Twins" in the sequel. Sacrilege? Well, if the movie Bumblebee can be a Camaro instead of a VW beetle, there's no reason Sideswipe and Sunstreaker can't be Chevy-branded "world cars" instead of twin Countaches. If that turns out to be the case, though, it does kinda make one wish Lambo paid to be part of Michael Bay's party instead of Batman.

Source: Autoblog

[ZL-1]

Hehe, cool! I voted for the Beat: it seemed to be the closest to production of the 3 and I think it looks more premium than the Chevy badge could imply.

[Intrepidation]

I liked the Trax myself, although seeing both in production would be sweet (and a smart move since that's where the market is heading).

[ZL-1]

I've been wondering what kind of 5-door version of this platform GM will put into production. I don't think the Beat's styling lends itself to being translated into a 5-door design.

[Blake Noble]

I've been wondering what kind of 5-door version of this platform GM will put into production. I don't think the Beat's styling lends itself to being translated into a 5-door design.

Personally, I hope that is where the Groove concept comes in, as I liked that concept the best out of the three shown.

Does anyone know what the Groove ranked at in the polls? Just wondering.

[ZL-1]

Does anyone know what the Groove ranked at in the polls? Just wondering.

Try and check gm.com or the gm blogs: I think I saw some internet poll results in there somewhere, just don't remember where exactly.

[thegriffon]

At the moment it says Beat 46.4%, Groove 39%, TRax, ehhh, what's left (a meager 14.6%) out of nearly 2 million responses.

[thegriffon]

The European vote varies, but the Groove does better in some markets.

http://www.vote4chevrolet.eu/

http://www.vote4chevrolet.com/

(you need to select a market, but not a concept and then clock vote to see the results.)

Edited June 21, 2008 by thegriffon

[Blake Noble]

The Beat and Groove are very close. That's good. There were a lot of design elements I liked on the Groove more so than the others. I wouldn't mind seeing them run around, it looks better than most subcompact cars on the market right now.

[PurdueGuy]

Depending on the details, I might be tempted by the Beat when it comes out.

[thegriffon]

Ok here are the European results:

The biggest response was from the Turks and Germans, who overwhelmingly favored the Groove, along with most other markets. The french favored the Beat, with a much closer outcome among all three. The final tally:

321,898 votes

Beat: 20.1%

Groove: 48%

Trax: 31.9%

The North American vote (which includes responses from markets such as the UK and Australia) was 1,906,610 votes, enough to overwhelm the more critical European response for a final tally of:

2,228,508 votes

Beat: 42.6%

Groove: 40.3%

Trax: 17.1%

[thegriffon]

The Beat and Groove are very close. That's good. There were a lot of design elements I liked on the Groove more so than the others. I wouldn't mind seeing them run around, it looks better than most subcompact cars on the market right now.

And these aren't even subcompacts, but minicompacts even smaller than the Mini.

[Blake Noble]

And these aren't even subcompacts, but minicompacts even smaller than the Mini.

I can't keep the size class of the Chevy minis straight for some reason.

[thegriffon]

Because you've never seen anything like them. Think 138" long and 61–64" wide—a Mini is closer to 144" and 66" wide, a modern compact supermini like the Corsa and Mito 159" long and 68" wide. You might recall the Chevy Metro, but that was longer and narrower than the Mini. The dimensions of the Chevy triplets are dictated by regulatory requirements in the Korean market (which Daewoo dominates). Unrestricted European rivals such as the Fiat Panda, Fiat 500 and Renault Twingo are a little bigger. The equivalent Japanese segment is restricted even further in size and engine capacity, dominated by Suzuki, followed by Daihatsu, a semi-independent company supplying Honda, and a few Mitsubishis and Subarus (Nissan and Mazda sell rebadged Suzukis and Mitsubishis).