The Chevrolet Spark

[A Horse With No Name]

The Euro Focus really does it for me. Really thinking that I want three cars, 1 Asian (we ALL know what THAT will be) 1 American (Sport version of the Focus or Cobalt, methinks) and one European (MINI Cooper S or VW TDI/GTI).

I am really starting to get excited about the idea of an SVT version of the new Focus. Or they could do the Focus RS and I'd be really happy.

Cobalt SS really does it for me as well. 300 HP with the reflash....hmmm...methinks the local Toyota boys will be going home with their pee-pee between their legs when I show up with one at a local Autocross.

But all of this begs the question...and I haven't made myself clear. I JUST want GM to build a small car that's as good as the Ford Fiesta and Honda FIT.

They can do it...just went out with my son to go to the drug store and the music store. We passed the local Cadillac dealer on the way back. New CTS wagons out front. How can a company that builds a world class sexy gotta have it OMG car like the CTS wagon NOT build a world class small car?

Chris

[regfootball]

more and more i see and read about it, the car that can do the most for GM's rep is how well the Buick Regal is accepted here in north america. that, and the cruze.

the cruze will define chevy's future and credibility in a critical segment.

the regal will prove whether GM can compete in mid level markets with the plethora of big boys with respect, and then the issue if the consumers notice.

i usually poo poo marketing as drain of expense from the technical resources of a company, but those two cars must launch perfectly.

the cruze must get good mileage, feel well made, drive decently, and gain mainstream approval or chevy will never have cred in this segment. buicks whole future rides its ability to duplicate opels now and be able to pass them off in the US. the regal is critical to giving the example of buick's new approach.

the spark and aveo will be important but they will not be volume segments in the US.....although they will be a media scrutiny magnet.

i am not sure why both the aveo and spark are needed.

by the way, GM is a Detroit based company, but quietly we have noticed that the majority of their mainstream car lineup has now been developed elsewhere besides USA......

Zeta, AU cruze, spark, aveo- Korea...... regal/lacrosse are epsilons.....more done in europe.......astra......

........

Edited November 29, 2009 by regfootball

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Cars like this are a hedge that future gas prices WILL hit $5+ a gallon in the not too distant future. The Aveo/G3, Smart, etc have all done well in urban areas of Canada BECAUSE we are used to $4 a gallon gas.

When the world economy rebounds in late '10 or '11, you can bet the price of oil will start climbing and all those V8 Camaros, the new CTS coupe, etc. won't be the vehicles people are lining up for, WHETHER 'ENTHUSIASTS' LIKE IT OR NOT.

Depends...

If the price of gas rises gradually, then all will be well.

If the price of gas is SKYROCKETED by bull$h! media paranoia and greedy assholes on Wall Street, then yes, I agree.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

The trouble is, the 'enthusiasts' are killing this business. They have pulled the auto companies in 10 different directions. Hell, we'd have cars that get 100 mpg by now if the horsepower wars of the the past 10 years hadn't hijacked the agenda - again!

LMAO... Yeah, because all of that competition didn't create better cars with better engines and technology.

Whether posters around here like it or not (and I know this is an unpopular opinion), the days of drag racing and weekend warrior are coming to an end. Sandwiched between skyrocketing insurance rates, overzealous officers ticketing everything in sight, and CAFE ratings, we are destined to drive golf carts in the near future - probably electric ones at that.

LOL... Ok. Talk about paranoid.

I get along just fine on the "weekends" and 4 of my family's 7 vehicles are "drag racin', fuel suckin', insurance eatin'" V8s...

What a defeatist attitude... What happened to you, man?

I just can't believe Americans time and time again vote for V8s when they are sending buckets of cash to Venezuela, the Middle East and other places that are using that money to incite hatred and violence against the U.S. It makes no sense to me at all!

I can't WAIT to buy my 5th V8! (And my 6th and 7th and 8th...)

I mean, it doesn't matter that much when all the REST of our money goes to a war to rebuild countries that hate us, fund the LARGEST communist regime in the universe and pad the pockets of a "technological" society that is slowly, yet BLATANTLY assassinating our industries.

And FWIW, those of us that own those ghastly V8s often drive more efficient cars most of the time as well (Like me, and my 35 MPG PZEV Focus)

Edited December 3, 2009 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

No less than Wards Auto did an article on Apr 26, 2006, entitled "Tyranny of the Enthusiasts." John McElroy penned the article. It's the downright derogatory tone of self-appointed flabby, middle-class writers who turn their noses up at an Aveo or Taurus because of its 'mundane' steering or ride, while lavishing heaps of praise on a 300+ horsepower sedan. WTF? Why? Unless you live in Montana, where the hell can you drive these vehicles to their full potential anyway? Are men's penises getting smaller these days?

So, you're saying The Media killed the automakers?

Careful friend, we all know how people take to that little dose of reality around here...

So, yes, enthusiasts have killed the auto industry. Maybe not all by themselves, but they surely have led the way. When they bitch and moan about 'soft plastics' and 'overhangs' to justify their existence (and big paychecks), it gets silly and plain boring to read their rants.

I don't really consider pasty-faced pencil pushers that have their degrees in english and bitch and moan about interior plastics "Car Enthusiasts"