hyperv6

Could be that they made the offer to expand the plant to make more than one kind of car. A higher volume car made at that plant would offest the expenses of this plant. That was why there was a Cadillac for a while. I heard sales are up this year but they had fallen to just over 12,000 units last year. Selling 2 seater cars at lower prices year after year is a tough thing to do. Not everyone can live with two seats and when they ones that can buy one how do you get them back. The Vette does well most years but with an aging C6 model and economy it made for a tough year for one of the best Vettes ever made. I could see this plant someday moving to a plant where other lower volume cars are made and KY getting revamped to make other models. Or they could move something else along with the Vette in KY that will sell in larger numbers. The sad part is if they ever did move the plant it would really hurt the Corvette Museum. Another thing too is GM could just be thinking out loud to see what KY may offer them to keep it there. Companies need to look for any advantages they can anymore. Goodyear did the same here. They got some breaks and are now building a new world headquarters here when the only tires they still build here in town are the race tires, operate a test track/tech center and keep a blimp here. The jobs we would have lost here would have killed Akron. Firestone Bridgestone also did the same and are now building a new tech center here even though all they make here are the Indy race tires.

We have seen the nose already, me thinks. We have in the Whitaker spot on the money back deal as he walks through the tech center. They hid it in plain sight. The Turbo must meet the performace of the present V6 with better MPG. I think they can do that but I worry they will yield to the MPG factor that is looming in 2015.

I think we can all learn from the mistakes of Porsche. They several times Porsche tried to lower the price and age with cars like the 912, 914, 924 and 944. These cars damaged Porsches image more than they helped. Today they were as popular as a AMF built Harley. Here are the factors of the Vette going cheap. 1 Insurance is too high for most in the below 30 age group anyway. When I was in my 20's I could afford the Vette but the insurance was more than I could bear. Making it cheaper is not going to help the Insurance much. It would take a great cut in the claims for theft, crashes and performance to lower the insurance. That would leave you with a car no one would want enough to steal and too slow to crash. 2 The Vette should not be a common car. The key for desire is the inability of most others to have such a car. If everyone had one where would the image go. Ask a Fiero owner who back in the day had a Fiero on every corner The Miata is pretty much the same today. 3 The Vette is already a car that for the performance it gives it is at the lower price rung of the GT sports car market. You really get a lot for the money even with the ZR1. 4 The Vette just needs to remain profitable but it will never be a profit center. 2 seat cars have a limited market even cheap ones. 5 Few would really want to be seen in a Econo Vette. It is like the Boxster that screams that you can't afford a Carrera 911. Nuvo rich is not cool. 6 You can offer a stripped down one but be really honest we all know few people will ever buy one. Today people want as many options as they can afford and few people in cars over $40K want to cheap out. Besides low content would not lower the price that much. The issues here is just one of the paradox of life. The cool cars cost money and often you can not afford to buy or insure one till you get older. For the most this may have kept many people alive too. To change this would change the Vette in ways that I feel would hurt it in the long run. If you want to play cheap lower powered sports car then do another Solstice like car. Even then it will die in 5-8 years at best even if it is a good car. It is difficult to make low priced low volume car like a two seater. To be honest few sports cars last other than the Vette and Miata. The RX7, MR2 and many other lived short popular lives. The Vette has image, heritage and a solid fan base. You mess with any of these and you really could kill the car. It is like Harley Davidson. They could have dumped the Twin V a long time ago for a better engine but that is their heritage and people buy them for that. The look and sound are Harley Davidson. The imports have built V twins to copy and many are very good bikes but they are still not a Harly. Honda had a hard time learning that no matter how good the NSX was it was still not a Ferrari. Never underestimate image and heritage. The Vette was never a car for everyone and never should be. The Image GM has with this car took years to build and can take little time to squander.

This. We already see GM knows how to get NA products correct in their latest installments. I think this next Malibu will be a leap in quality just as each Malibu took a step over its predecessor since 1997's release. I anticipate the soft-touch materials and features we've been craving... after all, just from the interior spy photos we've seen push-button start, dual zone climate control, navigation, etc. Now that I saw that little animation, I have less qualms about the overhangs--I think that little thing looks sporty and muscular. I know it's too early to really give a sure opinion, but I have higher hopes than I did. My major concern still lies in the weight. That affects a lot. I am affraid the weight is going to be an issue till they update this platform. Unless they move to use more Boron steel or other higher cost materials it is difficult to remove much weight with out comprimising the platform. They can make small gains but it is very difficult to make large gains.

What I worry about is will the new car really leap forward a lot or just a little. I am sure the new Malibu will be improved over the old one in most way. The real question is will it leap ahead on the other makes enough to stay at the front of the class more then a couple months. Lets face it the Cruze was a leap ahead for 4-6 months and now it is still a good car but just not the leader anymore. GM got the Cruze caught up to the others but it really needed to move ahead. I know the BK had a lot to do with this but I really hope GM's new cars from here forward really move ahead and remain the ones others have to chase.

It can't be that being the fastest growing automotive market in the world would would have nothing to do with?

I saw this last week. A little hard to like or hate based on so little shown on the car. Most comments there were like this one were "INFINITI" related.

It should gain in the same areas as the Regal. The Regal gives more elbow and hip room and feel more good size wise. While the Bu is not bad the interior feels long and narrower compared to most cars.

Yes the trunk is fine for size as it goes way in on the car. The real issue is the opening size and shape. You just can not put anything of great volume in unless it is low height. I think on the new car they moved the trunk back to give a better opening and keep the volume similar By moving the trunk back too. This it also would let them move the rear seat back a little. Also the lid may be a little higher to give more opening height.

I was just thinking how about that nose sized for a new Impala? Make this the future face of Chevy. It hints at the new C7 and still carries the Chevy theme.

To me this looks like one of those Fiero Lambo kit cars on a stock length Fiero space frame. One part of good styling is size matters. If this were a little larger car it could pull this off. As it is it reminds me of a Mako Shark on a Opel GT platform. Example Lambo kit on stock Fiero chassis. Lambo kit on a properly sized chassis. I think this styling world work better on a larger car like a Vette.

At least they did not taunt you with a April fools joke of it coming this year. As long as Holden builds them there is always the slight chance. You know I would love to see you finally get one someday. Though I did see a BMW M series pick up used as one.

that rumble = And I am still truly happy they named the car after me Hey, you should know by now your rep precedes you. I hear that GM may name more cars after C&C members. The rumble you hear here is nothing, just wait till you hear it under WOT. If you have heard a ZR1 with bypass muffler you have a clue on what to expect. This will blow the sound of the Boss quad exhaust away. This baby will wail like an angle of death.

No I am with you. While parts of it look fine others just don't work well with each other. I like the nose from the front. The rest of the car has some neat things but just too many neat things on one small car. Like I have said before often less is more. I suspect we will see parts of this car used on other cars in the future. Right now I really do not see a cheap roadster coming from Chevy in the near future.

Yes, it's time to laugh a little and move on.

I still do not miss Pontiac for what it was at the end but I do miss it for what it could have been if GM was much stronger. All I want is a good quality world class performance cars and I could care less what the brand name is on it as long as it is a GM car. I see Holden and Opel as the keys to help make GM in North America the company it should be. With the merging of all the best of GM world wide they can now make the cars they should have made years ago. Just look at how often we got short changed because GM never would work as one in the past. My only hope is Buick get to share the best of Opel here with their own twist on things as well as Chevy using Holden work here as it should. Too many good cars GM is making else where that we should have had years ago. But this is also a two way street. Opel and Holden will share the best we have to offer too. Where would Holden be with out the LS engine? GM will be stronger in the future as one company vs many.

I would bet removing the top off a Volt would cost ir 7-10 electric miles. I bet the Volt aero guys got a good laugh at this one with the time they spent to electically close a grill off only to have someone even think about removing the greenhouse.

It's a global Chevrolet thing. GM Daewoo and NA Chevy are converging into one brand. This car may be called a Malibu, but it's really a successor to the Epica. I don't know if I can really cosign this. Obviously the two product lines are converging to eliminate unnecessary overlap, but given the platform heritage, the design heritage, I think this is more Chevrolet than Daewoo. IMO, the design language is GM Korea ("Chevrolet") but with aggressive "Chevy" fascias front and rear. I doubt the NA version will get Chevrolet decklid badging. Global Cruze: NA Cruze: But I'm talking about the Malibu, not the Cruze. From what we've seen, the upcoming Malibu has a lot of distinctively "American" design elements. Cruze absolutely looks GMDAT, but I can't go there with the Malibu...at least yet with the current photos available. If I recall the Cruze styling was led by a Korean stylist Tae-Wan Kim and the Malibu exterior was led by a American stylist Dan Gifford. I still hear some say the Malibu looks Korean even though it is not while others still think the Camaro was designed by an American but was done by Sang Yup Lee a Korean. The truth is auto design has truly gone global as designers from around the world are crossing lines regularly to auto mfg of different countries. Lee is now doing VW, Audi's work. Heck we had an American [Morocco born] Frank Stephenson for a while doing Ferrai's and the Mini. One can no longer ID the home country of a designer based on the looks of his work anymore.

The Malibu will be shorter by a couple inches but wider per GM. Yes they have to move things a little with the changes in size of several models. The Impala is the prime reason as it will near LaCross size give or take a few inches. Having Chevrolet on a cars deck lid depends on the size and shape of the rear of the car as to how it looks. As the cars get smaller it is harder to put a long name on a car and keep the styling clean. For example a Chevrolet Spark with the full name on it could be very cluttered. It is hard enought to style a small car as it is with out adding 9+ letters on the back large enough that they are worth while. Maybe GM should reverse itself and just cut it down to Chevy and put it on the cars. Ford does have an advantage with their name being 4 letters and part of their emblem. I for the most like less names on a car for a clean look. If the car is styled properly you can tell what it is just by the look of the car. GM has been doing a better job of this lately. Buick, Cadillac and Chevy are all pretty much to the point that from a distance they can be identified.

Inagine the the mileage killing weight and drag a convertible would do to the electric range if this had been true. It's April first for sure!

I like that also...and it's on the correct side (left). One thing that has long annoyed me are cars that had the model name on the left and the brand name on the right, so they read 'Charger Dodge' for example... I just wish GM would fix the quality of the Bow Ties on all their Chevy's. They all are going to hell on many of the new Chevy trucks and cars. I think things like salt and even the harsh cleaners used in the touchless car washes are getting to them and lifting the gold under the plastic. Either way the Bow Tie is a symbole for Chevy and GM that represent the company and when it looks like hell it reflects poorly. You could get away with that in the past but today that is unforgivable.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/despite-record-sales-hyundai-dealer-profit-trailing-rivals.html GM could make more money too if they kept all the cash.

Slam the rear door on a Optima SX and tell me that is the sound of a $30K car. You have got to hear the ting sound you can hear the cut corners. Check how the deck lid is made too, lots of plastic. Hyundai is the one cutting the price and the dealers this week are crying out they are selling cars but are not making much money. The average price of cars today is approx $30K. What you list above in a LaCrosse would cost more as it would in a Toyota or Nissan unless it was a lower end model.

The keys here are as follows Styling Quality MPG Value = features and price Profits for the MFG I think we can all agree on these. Korean cars have brought styling into this class that has lacked much in the past. All have pretty good quality but it must remain high. Any issues and you can fall quick and not recover. MPG will remain high for buyers saving money and MFG needing CAFE. Koreans have challanged the Japanese on Value and are winning, can GM do the same. Finally Profits, Can GM make money and compete witht he Korean cars? The Korean cars are selling cheap but they are not making the MFG and dealers a lot of money. I think they are more worried about market share and winning buyers and worring about money later. GM needs to make the money now and find a way to win market share and still make money. I think this is a case where GM may not need to sell the most cars to win, just make more money per unit. The key for GM here is not to expect a overall win with just this car,they need to just make gains in the market with each and every new version. The Sonota did not become the market darling in the early gens of the car but they did gain ground with each till they arrived where they are. It is difficult in this market to move buyers from cars they love overnight. To many you must prove youself over a period of time before you gain enough trust for them to lay down their money. These are the cars of the working class that just can't get rid of a car if they find it not to their liking. They are stuck with it for 5+ years and want to make sure they will be happy with it. Most guys with a BMW often can just lose the car after the lease of if they hate the car and move to something else the next year.

We also know that this segment lives and dies on comparisons to the Camry and Accord, which offer V6 engines. I'm just sayin'... Seeing that most of these cars mentioned sell mostly as a 4 now and in the future more than not few if any V6 engines will be offered it should not be a big issue as long as the 4 cylinder offered is world class. This is not a M class or SS so 97% of people in this classs will be ok with it. In the near futue near 80%-85% of all cars sold will be 4 cylinder. CAFE standards have to be met and gas prices are not going to go down much with the issues in the Middle East and our country not permitting much drilling. Just saying.