Chevrolet Considering Nissan Juke Competitor

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Chevrolet Considering Nissan Juke Competitor
Will Chevrolet end up with three Gamma crossovers?
www.GMInsideNews.com
August 16, 2011
By: Nick Saporito

If any aspect of General Motors' future products plans are becoming very obvious, it's the fact that The General has a barrage of new crossovers headed to market over the next few years. According to sources, that list of new crossovers may be getting larger, as Chevrolet ponders a competitor to the Nissan Juke.

As plans stand today, Chevrolet is slated to get two crossovers based on GM's global Gamma sub-compact architecture. One being more of an MPV-type vehicle that seats seven and the other being a more traditional five-seat crossover. The MPV will likely be sold globally, while the crossover may end up being an exclusive to the North American market.

Sources familiar with GM product planning have informed GMI that Chevrolet is now considering a third Gamma based crossover. This crossover would be similar in size to the Nissan Juke and would feature heritage Chevrolet design cues with overall edgy styling. To us, both the design and configuration sound a lot like the now deceased Chevrolet HHR.

The Juke is Nissan's new small crossover aimed at what Nissan calls "young, urban males" with its very masculine styling and turbo four-cylinder engine.

Just to clarify, the third Chevrolet crossover has not yet been approved and is a mere idea being tossed around. We hear the alternative to this vehicle may be a traditional wagon variant of the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze. The problem, according to our source, is that certain factions within GM are hesitant about the public's reception to a traditional wagon design.

Expect the first Chevrolet Gamma crossover to launch in 2013 model year, that being the five-seat crossover model.

What do you think, good idea or not?

[walkerna]

The Juke is hideous. I say just bring over the Orlando and call it a day.

[jbartley]

how does the 7 seat MPV size up to the Orlando?

[mrDenali]

Give me a moment to digest this..........



No.

[PontiacBixler]

I've been saying it for years and will keep saying it.... TRACKER!!!

[Slideways]

I've long thought that the next-gen HHR should continue the retro Suburban theme. Right now, the HHR is a modern, compact version of a '48-'54 Suburban, so the second generation should be modeled after the '55-'59 Suburban and so on.

[dslay04]

7 people in a Gamma MPV ,
just do the 5 seater, bring the Cruze hatch over and call it a day.

[JuMPy]

Not sure how this vehicle will fit in. Would it not be easier and more effective to provide some youth inspired options for the Granite?

[Quickening]

Stupid.

[matt.w]

Cruze hatch.

I've been saying it for years and will keep saying it.... TRACKER!!!

Or this. Hopefully the other 5 seat crossover mentioned above is more in this vein already.

[Perian]

O-r-l-a-n-d-o-s-p-r-i-n-g-h-i-l-l

[crm2019]

Cruze wagon would be better I believe. Lets not flood the market with overlapping crossover vehicles.
On another note, how about a revival of the TrailBlazer to compete with the new Explorer and Durango. My trailblazer isn't gonna last forever and I dont want to replace it with an equinox, or the family sized traverse.
You listening Mr.Ruess?

[Orbit Orange]

Give me a moment to digest this..........



No.

What? You're tired of GM planning or launching 11tybillion CUV's and micro CUV's and small cars and still snubbing Zeta? I know how you feel.

[t-rex]

There are several problems with the writing of this article.

First is the use of the word "Gamma" as though it it interchangeable with "subcompact", leading the reader to assume that all three of these vehicles, not to mention their stablemate GMC Granite, are all within millemetres of one another in physical parameters. The writer failed to note that the Gamma platform is highly flexible, and can underpin cars as small as the Spark and as big as a Cruze. Even if the same width, there's an enormous difference in ride, drive, and appreance of a ute with a 98" wheelbase, and one with a 107" wheelbase.

Secondly, there's gross failure, and Mr Saporito is not alone in this respect, on the part of the automotive writers to clearly define the rapidly-growing classes of vehicles out there. Use of extremely vague words like "crossover" exacerbate this. There are some, such as our beloved, respected, and hairy-knuckled BigAls87Z28 who INSIST that an SUV built on a monococque chassis automatically becomes a "Crossover", yet Mr Als wants to lump cars like the Kia Soul and Pontiac Vibe in with ordinary hatchbacks, despite the fact that these two examples clearly deviate from ordinary hatchbacks in shape, bulk, proportion, and market position.

Thirdly, there's no reference whatsoever to whether or not all of these proposed vehicles are intended for North America. Hell you can sell FIVE similarly-sized and shaped products in Brazil and STILL have no overlap.

It is incumbent upon the writer, and his colleagues, to establish some sort of standard within the profession, and the industry itself, one that can be applied across the board in order to bring some sort of order and understanding to the readership.

[eaton53]