RUMOR: G8 may be revived as a Chevy Caprice?(Lutz retracts statement. G8=dead)

[ZR2BlaZeR2]

Glad to read that they recognize the current ME Lumina design would need to be restyled for the American market. It looks good for model year 1992. Hopefully if the stars align and this makes it through, it'll be a mash up of the Camaro and Malibu.


Fingers Crossed

[Chris322]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't call it a Caprice!!!! Anything but Caprice! I could not see myself saying "I just bought a new Chevy Caprice!" Just bring it over as the Lumina. It sounds better than Caprice! Actually, Chevelle would make a good name for it!

[FenwickHockey65]

Good to hear!! Caprice, Impala, as long as the G8 lives.

[bigdaddy]

Sell it as a Caprice. That way, you can command a higher price point and limited availability. Keep the current Impala and market it as the mainstream family car with a lower price point. No product overlap. Caprice is a premium RWD and Impala mainstream FWD. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

[sigma]

Originally Posted by ChevyRules

A) Why not under the Impala nameplate? Makes more sense. Easier to market it as a redesign then trying to hype up the Caprice name plate again....

B) Why would it need to be redesigned for crash safety? It wouldn't be a bad idea to have two Chevy theme designs to easily distinguish between Chevy's RWD lineup and their mainstream FWD models. Just bring over the Lumina as is and call it Impala and be built in Oshawa.

One. I actually posted this last night or two nights ago. So thanks Bob to listening to the GM staff.

A) The Caprice is just as legendary a Chevy brand as the Impala is. It's a classic name. Two it allows GM to continue to produce the Impala as a fleet model to prevent the Malibu from getting dumped into fleets.

B) It's going to be of limited supply each year. It wouldn't make sense to say know to 200k units a year and replace it with a car that brings in between 30-40k a year. Also, having the same nameplates for both a RWD and FWD car would be a repeat of the Lumina insanity of 15 years ago.

C) Since the G8 is already approved for the States, re-certification shouldn't be needed just to swap a grill.

[Kchoz]

Originally Posted by ChevyRules

A) Why not under the Impala nameplate? Makes more sense. Easier to market it as a redesign then trying to hype up the Caprice name plate again....

So they're just going to take their best-selling FWD car and switch it to a RWD design for more sporty handling, lowering fuel economy and turning off maintream buyers who are used to FWD? Think about it. As well as some may look down on the Impala, it's a great success for GM, it's cheap to make, it doesn't cost much in R&D and it sells a lot. Switching to a RWD car would probably require a lot of money to re-tool plants and the continued success of the car wouldn't be guaranteed. GM is not in a position to take the risk of killing one of its more popular cars (even if it is mainly for fleets) for a return to RWD, which, despite acclaim from enthusiasts, is now not so popular for a public now used to FWD or AWD.

Adding the Holden Commodore to the Chevy lineup as a sporty large sedan makes more sense, they'll sell fewer of them, but they will be able to charge more for it, and they'll keep their success of the Impala.

[CUtiger08]

This needs to happen. As for the "FWD is needed for sales" issue:

1) Let the Malibu take its rightful role as the volume seller. I bet it's sales would jump up 30-40% simply by not having another FWD family car in the same showroom for similar money.

2) Other than the Impala, which is really positioned primarily as a upper-midsized model given it's low starting price and barely fullsized size, RWD actually outsells FWD in the mainstream fullsized market as a whole, with the Charger (29,461 YTD) as the bestselling model and the 300 in second place. So if the next Impala gets at all bigger or more expensive, it might as well go RWD anyway.

3) It would be easy, and smart, to keep the current/slightly updated FWD model as the "Chevy Classic" and sell it to fleets and maybe as a "secret" (ie not actively advertised) cheap retail model for current customers who just don't want the Malibu or Zeta-Impala. Similar to the Crown Vic for Ford, only FWD.

If the current Impala sales were to be divided equally among the Malibu, Zeta-Impala, and Classic, then IMO GM would be at least as well off as they are now... but with the Malibu would be in the top-10 in sales and would match/beat the Altima, while the Zeta-Impala would match the Charger (and beat the current Taurus and Avalon) in sales, and the Classic selling about half again as well as the Crown Vic.

And if any of these cars does better than that, then they get a net win in sales.

[jAustin]

Originally Posted by bigdaddy

Keep the current Impala and market it as the mainstream family car with a lower price point. No product overlap.

No product overlap, except with Chevy's other lower-price-point mainstream FWD car... the Malibu. If there were both the current Epsilon Malibu and the proposed G8-based Lumina/Impala/Caprice on the lineup, is there really any need to still have an old W-body toolin' around?

[johnnyl321]

Why does GM constantly feel the need to use old names over and over? Why not just call it the Chevy Holden, or Commodore. ...maybe GM should just move the Holden line up here as well as Australia. They seem to have a similar car culture as America. And their website really has some nice vehicles. www.holden.com.au

After selling the Pontiac G8 for the last year or so, this is a great car!! From the base model up to the GXP.

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by ChevyRules

A) Why not under the Impala nameplate? Makes more sense. Easier to market it as a redesign then trying to hype up the Caprice name plate again....

B) Why would it need to be redesigned for crash safety? It wouldn't be a bad idea to have two Chevy theme designs to easily distinguish between Chevy's RWD lineup and their mainstream FWD models. Just bring over the Lumina as is and call it Impala and be built in Oshawa.

Well there's already an Impala. GM didn't do much to promote the G8 and sales started slow but picked up after some time. It doesn't matter much what they call it, but why start confusing people now with another Impala, or Impala SS as some have suggested?

And you can't just say "hey, let's build it in Oshawa next month" it'll take quite a while to re-tool it even though it builds a platform mate. I would think the next gen could and should be done in Oshawa, but why would they re-tool for a car that's nearing the end of it's run. If there's a next generation, since Zeta is supposed to be dead.

Originally Posted by Hitman1970

Duh. Is Lutz the only person with a brain at GM?

Sometimes I think he is. Of course, I and others here (probably yourself included) have been screaming for this since before it was announced that Pontiac would be put to pasture. Then they said "absolutely not" now they're saying "well maybe we will." But, then does this open the door to an ElCamino? It was a poor fit for Pontiac, but a good fit for Chevy!

[ChevyRules]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

Well there's already an Impala. GM didn't do much to promote the G8 and sales started slow but picked up after some time. It doesn't matter much what they call it, but why start confusing people now with another Impala, or Impala SS as some have suggested?

And you can't just say "hey, let's build it in Oshawa next month" it'll take quite a while to re-tool it even though it builds a platform mate. I would think the next gen could and should be done in Oshawa, but why would they re-tool for a car that's nearing the end of it's run. If there's a next generation, since Zeta is supposed to be dead.

A) Easy. It would be the new Impala and the old W-Body can be the Impala Classic to be the fleet queen( and be fleet only).

B) VF(which is going to be on the Camaro's variant of Zeta) based which will bring us into the Alpha based Impala if plans are still the same......

[Rocket 88]

Buick has few products and reputation as an old man weenie mobile. The G8 would make a great Wildcat in a lineup that could really use it. Chevy needs another sedan like a sucide bomber needs more virgins waiting in heaven.

That said, the G8 is too good a car to let go, so sell it wherever. Just give it a better name then Caprice or hand out some barf bags.

[jbernie]

My take on this... if the Commodore becomes a Chevy in the US market then there is a very high probability that Pontiac is done and gone if not for good, but a very very long time.

[cyclone]

I'd love to see the Caprice nameplate again.

[Buick61]

Maybe call it the Chevelle? Caprice is an eh name.

Fritz said today on twitter that the Impala is remaining FWD. The volumes the Impala does is way, way above what this vehicle would achieve, so there's no way it could replace the Impala.