Northstar

From GMEurope: Frankfurt, September 12, 2005 European premiere at the IAA: New Chevrolet Aveo sedan • Dynamic four-door model: All new design • Plenty of room for passengers and their baggage • Efficient: Economical engines with Euro 4 standard Frankfurt. With the new Aveo, Chevrolet has added another attractive model to its product range. The four-door notchback sedan, available with either a 1.2 or 1.4-litre engine, will be presented for the first time in Europe at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt (September 15-25, 2005). Apart from the proven engineering, the main characteristics of the new front-wheel drive model are the new modern design and the unusually large amount of space for a compact class vehicle. The newcomer (length/width/height: 4,310/1,710/1,495 mm) is set to reach the European market in spring 2006. In total, it will be sold in more than 120 countries throughout the world. "The new Aveo fits in perfectly with our product philosophy", says Erhard L. Spranger, CEO of Chevrolet Europe. "With its no-frills design and its generous amount of room, it offers particularly young families more car for their money." This is underscored by the grown-up look of the four-door sedan. Technically, it has very little in common with its predecessor. The only elements to have been carried over are large parts of the body platform, the windshield and the front side windows. As a result, it now differs optically even more clearly from the three and five-door Kalos fastback versions. Contours: Clear design language dominates the new look of the notchback The Chevrolet Aveo was designed at the GM Daewoo styling centre in Korea. The most obvious expression of the new design line in this sedan is the front section, where the most striking features are the three-dimensional headlamps, which extend deeply into the engine hood and the front fenders, and the grille, which is set in chunky chrome strips. The cross-buckle with the Chevrolet emblem is a real eye-catcher in the middle. These optical elements of the Aveo front section impart a certain dynamism, as do the striking V-shaped edges of the engine hood. The hood character lines extend to the powerful-looking front bumper and, in conjunction with the black-bordered circular fog lamps, reinforce the sporty look of the four-door notchback. The new Chevrolet Aveo therefore not only looks more dynamic than its predecessor, it is also more grown-up. This is evidenced by the stretched-looking silhouette with its rising sideline, pronounced shoulders and body-coloured door sills. It is further emphasized by the long outside door handles and the newly designed 15" wheels. The rear end of the Aveo has a clarity of structure about it. With a chrome strip traversing the entire width and boldly shaped rear lamps, it picks up some of the design cues of the front section. Big benefits: Generous interior dimensions and a wealth of amenities With its exterior dimensions and its wheelbase of 2,480 mm, the new Chevrolet sedan demonstrably underlines the fact that it is not among the smallest of its class. On the contrary: Its generous outside measurements are also reflected in a very generous interior. With shoulder room of 1,362 mm at the front and 1,340 mm at the back, for example, the Aveo is best-of-class. Equally impressive are the front leg room of 1,048 mm (rear: 898 mm) and the head room of 998 mm (950 mm). And when there's baggage to be transported, the Aveo trunk comes up with a volume of 400 l (VDA standard). Convenient split-folding rear seats increase the amount of space for carrying cargo considerably. The interior of the four-door Aveo is very passenger friendly. Apart from a newly designed instrument panel and center console, a new line of fabrics for the seats and door liners govern the overall picture. Together with many features generally found in higher-end vehicles, it all adds up to a pleasant "feel-good" ambience for the passengers. The generous range of standard equipment includes automatic air-conditioning, power windows, electrically operated exterior mirrors and remote controlled central door-locking. Safety standard features include the stable passenger cell with precisely defined load paths, three-point belts on all seats, front and side airbags and belt tensioners. Thanks to the outstanding Isofix fastening system, installing child seats in the rear is nothing short of child's play. Precision: Modern chassis design ensures safe handling Precision: Modern chassis design ensures safe handling The modern chassis design of the Chevrolet sedan with McPherson struts at the front and a torsion-beam suspension at the rear is a guarantee of high travel comfort and active safety. This is added to by the wide stance of the Aveo with a front track of 1,450 mm and rear track of 1,430 mm, both among the best of class. The steering gear is mounted on the front suspension cross-member, which eliminates harshness and provides more precise and stable handling. The standard variable rack-and-pinion power steering gives the front-wheel drive sedan outstanding maneuverability. Apart from that, this technical solution provides the driver with accurate steering control in all situations and also, like the standard four-channel ABS, contributes to active safety. Power: Top-class unit with 4-valve technology and variable air intake system Buyers have a choice of two four-cylinder gasoline engines to power the new Chevrolet Aveo. The first has Multipoint injection and a capacity of 1,150 cm3. It generates 53 kw/72 hp and develops its maximum torque of 104 Nm at 4,400 rpm. Like its bigger 1.4-liter sister, it comes as standard with a five-speed manual transmission and complies with the Euro 4 emissions standard due to come into force in 2006. The four-valve 69 kW/94 hp engine with a maximum torque of 130 Nm at 3,400 rpm has two overhead camshafts and a variable switch intake system that ensures particularly high air throughput at low engine speeds, therefore also ensuring a high torque level. In contrast, the MVED consumption data are very low: The 1.2-litre version needs only 6.8 litres of fuel for 100 kilometers, while the bigger unit consumes just 7.0 litres over the same distance. If combined with the optional four-speed automatic transmission, energy consumption goes up by just 0.6 l. Pics (now tell me this isn't better than the Yaris):

Posted it already: http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...t=0&#entry13336

I think it's the four door version. The roofline looks a little different and not like a coupe as the concept does. Lutz said we're getting this in production, so I'm at least holding him to his word that it will look exactly like this, whether it has 2 doors or quad doors.

It's getting the 3.5L w/268HP. From Toyota:

Chevy labels it a truck for CAFE reasons. They list the SSR as a car for the same reason. I agree though, it's really a car.

Someone paid $50k for the first C5 spy pic? That's insane.

I thought they were going to be too expensive to compare with the 300 and Charger in price. I guess I phrased it wrong; Zeta wasn't too expensive to design/develop/build, it was too expensive to use as the chassis of the cars it was going to go under. The business case just wasn't there. That's why Mark Reuss has been talking about decontenting Sigma for the Camaro. It's not that Sigma is too expensive to build, it's that Sigma is too expensive at the price point of a Camaro. Then again, maybe GM was just blowing smoke, but why would they have said "it's cancelled?" That made everyone mad and confused. They could have said "we are delaying Zeta to roll out the GMT900s faster and are going to resume Zeta later."

There are still Oldsmobile cars for sale, so that's probably why they still have it.

I really doubt that GMC is a Hummer; the taillights aren't Hummer, and nothing about it says Hummer to me. It's a good sign that it has a 6-speed auto; I hope that diesel comes here; not because I'd buy it, but because it'd get even better mileage than the Escape Hybrid, and that's selling like hotcakes.

Thanks, I hadn't seen that. I'm hoping it gets the 2-door version as well, I just don't think it'd be a good idea to have JUST the 2-door version.

Today we reached two new milestones: 1,000 members and 13,000 posts on the new site. Cheers! :cheers:

Could be; the grill is similar in concept to the tC, and it'd be another box to replace the xB.

You do know you can put two pics in one post, right? I came back thinking there was another post but it's just two posts with pics. Anyways, do any insiders know if this will have a four door version or at least a version with quad doors? I'm not sure families with babies are going to want to put them in the seats having to reach over the front seat.

We've got another thread about this, but it's cool if we have two. I absolutely love this vehicle, and if the new ION is as good, it will take the compact market by storm. The interior looks sweet, very futuristic yet not totally out there like the Quest. The exterior is stunning as well.

This is good news for GM. If Honda makes the next CR-V bigger as well, the compact (as in current RAV4 size) X-Over market will be gobbled up by the sub-Thetas.

You can get a CTS-V for $50k... $47k for with EPP which is the same price as the S60R they tested. Who cares if it starts at $38k if you have to pay $47k to get everything you want? Sorry if I was wrong about the STS comparo, I probably got it mixed up with the MT. Either way, one of them bitched about the STS having no NAV, bluetooth, etc., like the RL, but an STS for the same price as the RL would have had that.

Reuters / September 12, 2005 SEOUL -- GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology Co., South Korea's third-largest automaker, will acquire the main plant of the former Daewoo Motor firm on Sept. 30 in a move to boost its capacity, GM Daewoo said on Monday. The Pupyung plant, located in Inchon, west of Seoul, had been left out of the 2002 deal in which General Motors and partners took a majority stake in some of the assets of bankrupt Daewoo Motor. GM Daewoo had previously agreed to buy the plant, which is now operating separately as Daewoo Incheon Motor Co. Ltd., this year when a number of conditions -- including reducing labor strife -- were met. "Our shareholders' meeting decided to acquire key assets and some debt at Daewoo Incheon Motor," GM Daewoo said in a disclosure filing to the Korea Exchange. Full financial terms were not revealed, but GM Daewoo said it would assume debt worth up to $15 million. The acquisition is seen as part of GM Daewoo's efforts to broaden its product line into sedans and SUVs to compete with its bigger rivals Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. "The acquisition will help boost the production size and enhance our competitiveness," GM Daewoo said. GM Daewoo, which mostly produces sub-compact models, including Matiz, Kalos and Lacetti, has farmed out nearly half its production to the Pupyung facility since it was created in 2002. In August, GM Daewoo reported a 37 percent jump in auto sales from a year ago, helped by continuing robust growth in exports.

It's very unlikely, but Dec. is usually a big month, and there should be HUGE discounts on the GMT800 Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban since the GMT900s will be just around the corner. Also keep in mind quite a few Impala sales were lost with the switchover, and the new one is selling briskly along with the HHR. Those two could make up some sales, plus the Cobalt wasn't selling as well in the Jan-March timeframe.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the GMC a sub-Theta? If so, then it's smaller than this VUE, right?

But then the you can argue that for the same price as a S60R you can get a CTS-V. If they say it's a $35k Sport Sedan comparo, they should make sure none of the vehicles go too far above that. The same thing happened in the $45k sport sedan comparo they did. The BMW was $56k, and then they bitched that the $43-44k STS didn't have the same features as the $50k RL. WELL DUH! If you got a $50k STS it'd have the same features.

I highly doubt the side exhausts will go into production, unless less Lutz was serious that it will be produced exactly as is. I'm thinking he meant more like 95% as is with smaller wheels, different door handles, different roof (without the glass), and probably regular exhuast.

Then why can't they send them a regular S60 (non R)? None of the other manufactures got to send their performance versions. The added performance of the R version could have affected the score.

By John K. Teahen Jr. Automotive News / September 12, 2005 Chevrolet executives aren't talking much about it these days, but they nervously await each month's sales figures, hoping against hope that it still can be done. The "it" is 3 million new-car and light-truck sales in 2005. It's possible, but it will be a far reach for General Motors' top-volume division. GM is eager for Chevy to return to 3 million. So what else is new? GM is eager for every brand to sell every car and truck possible. Chevy hasn't sold 3 million cars and trucks in a year in more than a quarter of a century. The division first made it in 1972 and 1973 under General Manager Jim McDonald, later GM's president. The goal was reached again in 1976-79 under Bob Lund, who ranks right up there with Dick Grant, the wizard of the 1920s, as GM's greatest salesman ever. To attain 3 million sales, a brand must average 250,000 a month. Chevy has done that in only three of the eight months this year, including an astounding 325,021 in June, the first month of employee pricing for all. Putting it another way, after eight months, Chevy should have 2 million sales to be on target. It had 1,902,898, an average of 237,862 per month. To total 3 million, Chevrolet would have to average 274,276 sales in the remaining four months of 2005. It's possible, but it sure isn't likely. More: http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=54424

By Jamie LaReau Automotive News / September 12, 2005 PORTLAND, Ore. - If you're a big-volume Pontiac dealer in a hot, sunny state, consider yourself lucky. If not, you might wait awhile to get the new Solstice roadster on your lot. With 13,000 orders in hand, Pontiac has devised a dealership allocation plan based on a combination of "turn and earn" and geography. Turn and earn means dealerships that have the highest sales volume for the past 12 months will get a Solstice before smaller dealerships, Chris Ayotte, Pontiac marketing manager for small cars, said at an event here last month. Pontiac also will consider where the roadster segment is strongest, which is typically in sunny and warm climates, says Mark-Hans Richer, Pontiac marketing director. "We have a distribution strategy that does have a small skew toward sunnier climates," Richer says. "At the same time we want to make sure we take care of our Pontiac dealers. "Many of our largest dealers happen to be in more North Central and North Eastern markets. So we've taken a balanced approach whereby everyone gets taken care of but maybe at different times." More: http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=54445

Chevy HHR gets strong launch Automaker now sees annual sales nearing 100,000 By Jamie LaReau Automotive News / September 12, 2005 DETROIT - Confident that the Chevrolet HHR is a hit, General Motors plans a robust 2006-model production of 100,000 units. "They've got me on max overtime and running every one I can make," Lori Queen, GM's vehicle line executive for small cars, told Automotive News. The HHR is built at the Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, plant. The wagon starts at $15,990 including shipping with the top model in the $24,000 range, a Chevrolet spokesman says. As GM moves to value pricing - setting stickers closer to transaction prices, often while offering more equipment - the HHR will prove that the strategy will work, Queen says. During an interview at the Los Angeles auto show in January, Gary Cowger, then GM North America president, said Chevrolet expected to sell 80,000 to 100,000 units annually. In June, GM revised that goal to about 60,000 a year, said Jim Campbell, director of Chevrolet car marketing. But Queen insists the plan was always to build 100,000 HHRs annually. "There have been pessimistic buying forecasts, but we're convinced we'll sell every car we can make," she says. GM started shipping the HHR to auto dealers in late June. In August, 5,760 HHRs were sold, outpacing the Scion xB, but trailing the Honda Element and Chrysler PT Cruiser. "The dealers keep telling us, 'I put one out on the showroom floor, and it sold that night,' " Queen says. Dealers say they have orders and are waiting for vehicles. "Give us as many as we can get," says Keith Lang, general manager of Tennyson Chevrolet in Livonia, Mich., told Automotive News. "Everyone that's come in has gone out the door as soon as we got it." Lang said he has sold five HHRs since June. Selling for sticker According to PIN data, the HHR's average transaction price in August was $20,199. More: http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=54441