ballplr

not HHR replacement at all you cant beat the look of our HHR's

Li'l Hearse

In 2011, HHR will stand for "Hideous High Roof"
It should be redesigned to resemble, perhaps,a '55 Suburban.

ZTony8

It would be nice if they kept the HHR as a stand alone model.Alas,it won't happen because of platform sharing with the dying Cobalt.(sigh)Once again,Chevy walks away from a market segment.

Norsican

...in the grand scheme of things, A small segment. I love the style of the HHR, but we all know in 2011 it's going away. It should be of no surprise that they are going to totally revamp the bad boy into something we all hate. We're a niche,and the HHR will eventually become a dog for GM.

Will this be the HHR replacement? Not sure, I'll believe it when the press release comes out. For all we know they have something totally different planned.

OCMerrill

If they do indeed plan on calling it an HHR that will be a big mistake. There is nothing Heritage about this design.

100% Sport Crossover in look. Does not look bad just NOT an HHR.

mizzouHHR

This may not be a good comparison, but it seems like the HHR is going the way of the Fiero, which may not be a bad thing. They are still in demand with certain people and very popular. Granted the Fiero was very unique with its mid engine and style, but in a way, our HHR is very unique also. Time will tell what will happen to the HHR, and it's very sad I won't be able to buy another when I'm ready for a new car, but mabye that's the way it was meant to be.

playgames1970

I don't get why both Chevy and Chrysler both seem to think that the HHR and the PT can't evolve a bit like every other model car in the world without being totally replaced. Other than very minor changes, the PT has been the same car since day one, aside from the convertible model. Other than the SS, which really isn't that different either, the HHR is the same. Why can't the styling of these retro looking cars be gradually, subtly tinkered with every couple/few years, so they are still their own distinctive type of car, where you say, "It looks a bit different now, but yeah, that's an HHR," just like you can do with, say, a Mustang, or Corvette, or even a Civic? I don't understand why it's an all or nothing deal with these two cars. The old cars they're based on didn't overnight turn into something totally different; surely there are lots of classic design elements that can serve as inspiration to gently evolve the HHR and keep it as a model. Heck, the HHR itself is a perfect example of what the PT could have evolved into if Chrysler had seen the car as changable, and if the designer of both cars' bodies had kept his services with Chrysler.

Or am I just nuts? (Also a completely possible thing...)

calgaryhhr

I think a reason behind short life cycles and new model introductions is because these are vehicles that are designed and built for a very specific purpose and are done so in a very mediocre manner.

The vehicles fill a need for a short time and are built with off the shelf parts with little to no innovation. They are not class leading or provide anything that really draws attention to it. The styling was one thing that the HHR had that drew in a niche market.

Because of the way the vehicle is it is easier to dump the model after a few years and introduce a new, vastly different replacement that has some updated equipment which fit in with the times better but are still off the shelf and recycled from other vehicles.

This way they can advertise that it is all new and has this and that and is much better than the previous so and so model and they can try to create interest in it.

It's hard to bring in new customers with an older, middle of the road product even if it has undergone an evolution every couple of years.

There are little to no R&D costs that go into these vehicles and the only real cost comes from retooling your body panel presses. The investment in these vehicles is small and hence the models can be dropped and replaced every few years.

I think the reason that Japanese companies keep name plates and vehicles for so much longer than do American companies is because of the corporate philosophy. They keep the name around even though the vehicle has changed a lot because the name is recognizable.

Alzonie

I have to agree on this. I kinda like the front end, but from there back it looks too much like the Caliber, which I don't really care for at all!

Lone Ranger

Looks like a 2009 Vibe with more angles and block-like styling.