Lutz: No Beat for US, Cobalt not near EOL, CUVs on the way, Aura stalled

[windvale]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Don't worry, we've already seen the interior, it looks awesome.

Agree 100% I remember those spy photos from last week and it was the best interior I've ever seen.

But when I read Lutz' comments, I'm kinda scratching my head and thinking something like "well maybe Europe's getting that great interior and we're getting some Cobalt derivative POS interior".

Lutz scares me sometimes...

[prototype66]

So the Cruze WON"T be my next car then????
That sucks, I hope this is just a smokescreen!

[steined]

GM needs SOME BRAND to get the Insignia ASAP. I don't care if it is Pontiac or Buick or Saturn, but someone should get that car. That's just assanine. Perhaps that is what is meant by Pontiac being nourished? The G6, while a pretty darn good car, is long in tooth in the interior.

I would never own a Cobalt. I've driven them as a rental, they are good cars, but my fiance wouldn't be caught dead in that car due to the styling. There is none. Say what you like about the Corolla and Civic, they at least have some flavor. The 2 door is pretty sharp, the 4 door is as unoffensive as they come. They need to get the Cruze in the US ASAP. So unfortunate because the Cobalt really is a good car held back by lackluster styling.

Beat? Nice niche car, GM probably can't make money in that segment so not a terrible move. Disappointing, but understandable.

Small CUV's? Eh... Whatever. I suppose with the Volt, GM will have something to address fuel economy needs for those of us unwilling to drive a Cobalt. But the price is pretty high. They better have a bunch of them ready at launch and cut the balls of dealers who mark them up.

[usa1]

Originally Posted by SRX7697

Let us pray this is misinformation and Lutz is running his mouth.....

Let's hope. He and GM have flipped flopped many times on products.

Mark

[steined]

With regard to the Cruze, GM may also be milking the dollar imbalance by selling cars produced in NA overseas. Nothing wrong with that. I just think they better not end up with a 7 year old Cobalt with $4.50 gas. There are some people who simply will not buy that car. (My fiance is one of them)

[BigThreeForever]

So, GM has cancelled the Ultra V8, the Zetas . . . i.e., the Impala, Chevelle/Monte Carlo, GTO, the Lucerne successor and is likely to do the same to the DTS/DT7.

This was because - firstly, GM couldn't make their mind up for eons . . . then, they cited new CAFE and, shortly thereafter, rising fuel prices.

OK.

NOW, they are delaying or denying us the BEAT microcar, the Cruze compacrt and the Insignia mid-size . . .

WTF?

Oh, I get it . . . the Volt will save the company.

What a crock.

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by 1487

have people already forgotten that GM has already announced that a next gen small car will be built in Lordstown in 2010? What Lutz is saying is that the Cobalt has two more years to go and we will no be getting the Cruze in spring 2009 like other markets. Please consider ALL the information. GM JUST announced the next gen small car and new Aveo by 2010. come on folks.

As for small crossovers, they need them because there are tons of import models in that segment. The Equinox is old. Also, he is confirming that Pontiac will get new products like the G8 GXP, Solstice hardtop and an updated G6 which is sorely needed.

That next gen small car would be the Cruze. And the Cobalt has been around since MY 2005, or 2004. At this point I honestly thing GM should focus on getting the Volt and other high MPG cars out ASAP, instead of sprinkling us with CUVs.

[Hurricane]

Hey at least we get the Volt by 2017!

/seriously, I really hope it comes late next year! We need it asap!

[calgaryhhr]

Originally Posted by megeebee

About the Cruze/ Cobalt thing:

He's right that the Cobalt is relatively new (Here's hoping for a facelift and interior enhancement soon). And it certainly wouldn't make any sense to cancel it for the Cruze. Not before the development costs are at least recouped. And it makes even less sense to sell them both in the US side by side.

Is it at all possible that the Cobalt might get the turbo-4 powerplant and a 6 speed transmission?

Someone clarify this for me. The Cruze is to be built in Lordstown, but exported, right?

Isn't Cobalt built at the same plant?

I'd like to mention that if GM wants to keep the Cobalt in the US to try and recoup development cost or because they have an inventory of current production pieces than they can keep selling the current model/generation along side a new one.

A great example of this is what VW is doing. VW has recently redesigned and reintroduced the Rabbit as their small car. In the US the Rabbit replaces the Golf but in Canada the Rabbit sells along side the previous generation Golf. The Golf has been carried forward because it is still being built and sold in Brazil. The Golf for 2008 has been slightly redesigned. In Canada the Golf sells as the "City Golf" and sells at a considerable discount as compared to the new Rabbit. The City Golf sells remarkable well and is a great design with a nice, small fuel efficient engine. For 2008 it has a new front and rear end and has a new 6 speed auto.

GM could run a similar program in NA. Keep the current Cobalt and refresh it a bit every year but knock the price down to make it very affordable. Bring in the newly designed and upgraded version, Cruze, and sell it at a "regular" price. This sort of plan would likely bring in customers who want the enhanced new model but could also bring in customers who want something efficient and inexpensive.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

GM has a reputation as a maker of trucks and fun to drive RWD cars. GM needs to establish a reputation for small cars. The Beat and Cruze would both help do that.

"Greenies" would support GM if they offered more small cars.

If GM can make the Camaro, they can make a small, well-equipped, well-appointed car that gets near 40 mpg.

"Joe and Jill America" would buy GM's small cars, if they made them.

[fp115]

Originally Posted by paul8488

As FoMoCo fan said, the Beat should have been intended for the US from the get-go. I wonder who will get to market first with this sort of vehicle? Toyota? Honda? Hyundai? I'll be home in a few years and I'll buy the smallest, most fuel efficient new car I can buy (Smart doesn't count). Looks like it won't be a GM.

It was never intended for North America, it was always intended for Asia and maybe Europe. The Beat was never announced to come to North America either, all of it started from speculation. The Beat will take an additional 2 years to engineer to make it legal for North American roads.

[usa1]

In an article on Edmunds, it says the Cruze is still a go in the US.

"Among GM's safeguarded vehicle programs is the Chevrolet Cruze, with a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine, that will achieve 40 miles per gallon, 9 more mpg in fuel economy than the Cobalt it replaces in the U.S. in 2010, Lutz said."

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=129066

Mark

[BumbleBee]

This really is disappointing news. Up to this point I really thought GM had started to get it and was starting to turn things around with products like the Lambdas, the CTS, Malibu, etc... When I read stuff like this however, those seem like flukes rather than concerted efforts to improve the company.

If this is misinformation, which I don't think it is, it really is a stupid approach from a PR perspective as Analysts as well as Greenies, will only reinforce their opinion that if they want efficient motoring they will have to look elsewhere.

If this is factual, which I think it is, Rick and Bob really have lost the plot. If Fiat, along with Magna Styr, produce the Bravo, using advanced simulations, in 18 months, why will it take GM so long to re-do the Beat. The Cruze is a complete mystery to me. Their other decisions are insane.

With information like this it is becoming harder and harder to defend GM and have faith in their future direction. I can tell you GM was near the top of my list for a new car later this year in an effort to support them, but with idiocy like this why bother???

[goatgary]

Originally Posted by crooner214

So, it sounds like the bean-counters are running the General again.

Because they're rapidly running out of beans to count.

[ByTheLake]

After all the excitement with the voting for the Chevy triplets last year, and all the buzz surrounding the Chevy Beat, it lacks US crash compliance? The SMART gets relatively decent crash results.

If it's true that the Chevy Beat lacks US crash compliance, that is irrefutable proof that GM is not acting globally and is lacking strategic vision.