Falling in LUV Again at $4.00+ a Gallon? Chevy's Brazilian Beauty

[Tornado346]

Originally Posted by kyvrwc

Find a way to shoehorn the 2.2L Ecotec out of the Cobalt XFE into it with the 2.0 L Turbo from the Cobalt SS as an option and I imagine they would sell a ton of them.

Exactly. I'm not a big fan of the styling of this thing...but that black one looks pretty decent. I'm still patching S10s and Sonomas up to drive as I want a bit of a pickup but don't need the size (and lack of fuel mileage) of a Colorado let alone a fullsize.

Bring it here, gimme the turbo Ecotec, and I'll start writing the check. All black, please. And hurry.

[blkwrxsti]

Originally Posted by Wolfman01

I for one, would have no problem using one of these little trucks. My Hijet has a 660cc engine, and all of 45 hp to work with. Top speed is about 60 mph - enough to run on the highways, so long as I keep to the right lane. I have hauled 1047 pounds of travertine tile in the bed, stacked it to the top of the cab with garbage to take to the dump, and hauled 6 foot by 10 foot kennel panels home from the hardware store with the bed sides removed. My little minitruck has never left me wanting for more power to get the job done. That is not to say that the truck is fast - it is not.

I think the U.S. has been thoroughly duped into thinking that they absolutely MUST have that 6.0 V8 and 400 hp to haul that load of fertilizer or occasional appliance home from the hardware store.

No offense Wolfman - but I think GM would need S10 type sales numbers to go through with this, not Hijet type sales numbers...

Your post kind of illustrates my point - this minitruck would work as a third vehicle or a business only vehicle, but if the explosion of extended cab and crew cab models has taught us anything, it's that people prefer to have two vehicles, not 3. Nobody is "smart" enough to buy an extra $15,000 vehicle to save $1000 in gas per year.

Your comment that people have been duped does not give the consumer enough credit - people buy what they think they need. The reason pickups have been growing larger heavier and more powerful is that people are willing to pay for comfort, refinement, and power when they carry their families around in their work trucks.

The other reason for more capability is that nobody wants to hire the contractor that says "I don't know how I'm going to do that" or "It can't be done".

BTW, if the extra vehicle is going to be business only, it sort of reduces the need for great fuel economy. There are a lot of VERY capable standard cab pickup trucks, even more if you count the collapsed USED truck market.

Mikeputc mentioned the Mahindra - which already has a design that is suited to US-Market use (140+ hp and 300 lb/ft of torque). While it's easier to get more HP out of a diesel, reducing emissions is a little harder. They've spent $80 Million to federalize it already and they won't be done till 2010. They figure those will start at $22K - Are you guys planning for GM to amortize the cost of federalizing this pickup, and modifying the major components that will not meet the needs of the US market? Simply stuffing a US spec Ecotec into the LUV would be a good approach - if it fits, and if it doesn't exceed the torque capabilities of the trans, axle shafts, etc. It would be a real shame if they put in a bigger engine, but then they had to reduce the Payload to preserve fragile Corsa components. Before I forget, a front drive pickup is not really a good way to tow very much.

Another thing that pickup truck buyers are buying is durability - how long could I expect a unibody truck based on the Corsa to last? One of the nice things about a BOF truck is that if you manage to overload it, there are good ways to straighten the frame. If you overload a unibody, you may just open a weld in the passenger compartment, or make it so that the sunroof or door openings are not aligned with their closures...

[iloveelcaminos]

This would make a perfect second vehicle for someone like me. My youngest just got her drivers license so I have no need to cart extra kids along, my wife drives a Malibu so when we need the extra space I/we can just take this. My commute is 30 km a day so something that get good gas mileage. Right now I drive an Alero, I purchaced this to replace my Mazda B2200 cab Plus which was the perfect vehicle at the time because my kids were small. But they got bigger and there wasn't enough room for them in the back of the Mazda and I have no use for the mileage of a full size pickup. Now that I am no longer having to be MR mom this would be Great

[SierraGS]

GM needs this truck in the U.S. market ASAP.

I have seen these on the roads out here and they are a nice size and look better on the road than in pictures. The original LUV was popular in SoCal and the bed size and payload will make a great second vehicle with cargo capacity for weekend chores or beach/desert runs although the bed needs to be longer for Quads/Bikes but you can always trailer them.

Since the Corsa Pickup/Montana/Tornado is based on the previous gen Corsa I doubt it can pass safety regs but GM should be designing a replacement on a newer Gamma/Delta/Other? platform and should "fast track" it for the U.S. market. It can be built in Brazil or Mexico, since these will be the largest volume markets for it and with a base 1.8L and optional Diesel and 2.2L engines can deliver over 30 MPG (over 40 MPG Diesel) with decent performance and should sell at least 50,000 a year - plenty of U.S. sales volume to justify it here. It will improve GM's public perception and be a great starting point for a broad GM truck line.

The Corsa/Montana could be sold by Saturn dealers with Chevy getting the new Colorado, GMC would get the Alpha Uni-Frame Canyon which would share space with the Zeta G8 ST and Denali XT and of course top out with the next gen GMT900 Chevy and GMC truck line.

The Corsa/Montana small size make it a good candidate for a Volt Pickup or at least a BAS hybrid for a low cost high city MPG delivery/service truck and could be a fun little performance truck with the 1.4L,1.6L or 2.0L Turbos depending on whether GM wants to go with full performance or a mix of MPG and performance - lots of great possiblities and an opportunity for GM to LEAD the way and not follow.

[Bravada]

The Montana/Tornado is absed on the Corsa C platform, which is fairly recent and far better than the Aveo, so it should pass American crash tests with flying colours. It could perhaps need different bumpers and all, but I believe certification requirements are already similar in Mexico.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Wolfman01

I think the U.S. has been thoroughly duped into thinking that they absolutely MUST have that 6.0 V8 and 400 hp to haul that load of fertilizer or occasional appliance home from the hardware store.

Exactly.

I haven't yet used my diesel Chevy to the max capacity of the bed, but I can tell you that the limiting factor on my F150's payload is the rear suspension, by far. Which quite directly means that the 5.0 EFI under the hood is total overkill. (BTW, I'm pretty sure it's the same with the Z71 Chevy.)

[Robert Ryan]

I think the U.S. has been thoroughly duped into thinking that they absolutely MUST have that 6.0 V8 and 400 hp to haul that load of fertilizer or occasional appliance home from the hardware store.

When you see a 3 Litre diesel European Van truck pulling a 34ft 5th wheel successfuly, there there is some truth to that statement.

[Tornado346]

Originally Posted by Wolfman01

..........
I think the U.S. has been thoroughly duped into thinking that they absolutely MUST have that 6.0 V8 and 400 hp to haul that load of fertilizer or occasional appliance home from the hardware store.

Actually, I MUST have a 6.0 V8 and 400 hp because it is a good start to a wicked cool 1/2 ton 2wd reg cab shortbed pickup

Severely overpowered smaller vehicles can indeed get quite good mileage if done right. But GM doesn't offer that for sale to me either. Soo, much like me having to rebuild S10s to drive, I gotta make what I want out of what they offer.

On a more serious note, American buyers have been offered what they want...torque. Surprise surprise, they bought lots of them. They didn't get the best fuel mileage true enough, but when gas was 1/3 to 1/4 the cost it is today it wasn't as much of an issue. Some people now are realizing they can't afford to drive the large high-torque beasts they have...and vehicles like the Tornado/Luv/Montana/whatever would be a great option. Personally I'll deal with a little less mileage to have a vehicle/vehicles that are fun to drive. As I mentioned earlier though, if done right a high-powered vehicle can indeed get great fuel mileage. My 2002 Trans Am will throw down 500 rwhp...but with that 6 speed manual trans I can get 29 mpg on road trips...and 20 in the city.

[CHASLS2]

Originally Posted by Tornado346

Actually, I MUST have a 6.0 V8 and 400 hp because it is a good start to a wicked cool 1/2 ton 2wd reg cab shortbed pickup

Severely overpowered smaller vehicles can indeed get quite good mileage if done right. But GM doesn't offer that for sale to me either. Soo, much like me having to rebuild S10s to drive, I gotta make what I want out of what they offer.

On a more serious note, American buyers have been offered what they want...torque. Surprise surprise, they bought lots of them. They didn't get the best fuel mileage true enough, but when gas was 1/3 to 1/4 the cost it is today it wasn't as much of an issue. Some people now are realizing they can't afford to drive the large high-torque beasts they have...and vehicles like the Tornado/Luv/Montana/whatever would be a great option. Personally I'll deal with a little less mileage to have a vehicle/vehicles that are fun to drive. As I mentioned earlier though, if done right a high-powered vehicle can indeed get great fuel mileage. My 2002 Trans Am will throw down 500 rwhp...but with that 6 speed manual trans I can get 29 mpg on road trips...and 20 in the city.

I agree!

My modded 06 C6 Vette gets 28mpg highway with over 430hp.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Smaart Aas Saabr

How would it cost about $15 000?

All imported pickup trucks and utility vehicles going to the USA are hit with a 25% tariff!

You would have to send CKD kits to US and build them there.

Just send the disassembled kits to Oshawa Truck... "We promised you that you'd keep having a pickup to build? Well, here you go!"

[bigtime]

This thing is vaporware. GM can't make there big profits pushing these at 15 grand a piece. They will sell, but convince the stockholders to take a big profit hit and then we'll talk. Compare the pricing of this to a colorado. This thing must be cheap as heck like an aveo with a bed.

We're slowly becoming a third world country and now we're suppose to drive the same thing? Great. How lucky we are to be living in the era where radical liberals are completely screwing this country up. What next, fur hats with a red star?

[Wolfman01]

Originally Posted by blkwrxsti

No offense Wolfman - but I think GM would need S10 type sales numbers to go through with this, not Hijet type sales numbers...

Your post kind of illustrates my point - this minitruck would work as a third vehicle or a business only vehicle, but if the explosion of extended cab and crew cab models has taught us anything, it's that people prefer to have two vehicles, not 3. Nobody is "smart" enough to buy an extra $15,000 vehicle to save $1000 in gas per year.

Your comment that people have been duped does not give the consumer enough credit - people buy what they think they need. The reason pickups have been growing larger heavier and more powerful is that people are willing to pay for comfort, refinement, and power when they carry their families around in their work trucks.

The other reason for more capability is that nobody wants to hire the contractor that says "I don't know how I'm going to do that" or "It can't be done".

BTW, if the extra vehicle is going to be business only, it sort of reduces the need for great fuel economy. There are a lot of VERY capable standard cab pickup trucks, even more if you count the collapsed USED truck market.

Mikeputc mentioned the Mahindra - which already has a design that is suited to US-Market use (140+ hp and 300 lb/ft of torque). While it's easier to get more HP out of a diesel, reducing emissions is a little harder. They've spent $80 Million to federalize it already and they won't be done till 2010. They figure those will start at $22K - Are you guys planning for GM to amortize the cost of federalizing this pickup, and modifying the major components that will not meet the needs of the US market? Simply stuffing a US spec Ecotec into the LUV would be a good approach - if it fits, and if it doesn't exceed the torque capabilities of the trans, axle shafts, etc. It would be a real shame if they put in a bigger engine, but then they had to reduce the Payload to preserve fragile Corsa components. Before I forget, a front drive pickup is not really a good way to tow very much.

Another thing that pickup truck buyers are buying is durability - how long could I expect a unibody truck based on the Corsa to last? One of the nice things about a BOF truck is that if you manage to overload it, there are good ways to straighten the frame. If you overload a unibody, you may just open a weld in the passenger compartment, or make it so that the sunroof or door openings are not aligned with their closures...

The thing is, I bought and registered the Hijet BECAUSE there is no longer any suitable SMALL pickup truck availabble on the market. I would love to have a truck like that little LUV pickup, as I would have the small truck, without having to deal with the B.S. that I had to go through to get it registered here in the first place, and what I'm going through now, that the sate has suddenly decided that they weren't supposed to "allow" me to use a truck like this in the first place.

$4 gas makes these little trucks immediately interesting to those of us who DO need a truck, but don't need to haul large loads. Since the Colorado, Canyon, B-series, Ranger, Dakota, etc. don't get any better mileage than the full size trucks, they fail to provide a reasonable alternative.