Greybeard999

^^^ What he said ^^^

hyperv6

It all comes down do economics. The fact is that most models today have to be sold globally, There are no Asian car, American cars and Euro cars anymore. More and more models have to be able to be sold world wide and appeal to all markets.

Few companies are taking large risk because often these involve billions of dollars and one bad ground up program will kille a company.

Even cars like the Camaro are now going global. They are already to sell it in Asia and the new Alpha Camaro will find itself around the world.

They killed the HHR because it was on a old platform that died. THey also would have had trouble selling it outside the NA market. I know we have a few friends here from overseas but the styling over there was not understood by all. Many there looked at it like we did a Citroen 2CV.

Each market may have a few focused products but for the most many of our cars will be shared. THe Cruze is shared as will be the new Malibu and most other Chevys. The new Mid Sized Colorado replacement will show up in Asia first and S America. The new Chevy Sports sedan will come from down under.

Each will get some tuning and some tweeks to make them better for each market but for the most they will share most lines.

But the fact remains cars like the Impala old are still better than many like the Sebring etc. But in this class any car more than 5 years old is way behind many other models. In the Malibu class anymore it will need to see major changes every 4 years just to keep up.

The fact is most companies are just wanting to give the people what they want and it is diffcult to read anymore. With the hundreds of thousands of Camrys and Accord sold it is hard not to try to copy this. THey are plain boring cars but people tend to go to these. No matter how reliable or affordable they are styling is still one of the major players.

The Hyundai Sonnata is trying to break the styling mode. They are still having some quality issues but they are winning on price.

As for the Aztec that is not a real issue as that was a case GM built something and did not listen to the public. For the most they did not even listen to those inside that said not to do it.

GM has already gotten a lot of feed back on the Granite and it has been great enough to give them the idea to mover ahead. While not all will like it they will be replaced by those who would not have bought a HHR. The fact is if only half of the HHR owners would consider a Granite that would be pretty good. After the intro some will even warm to it.

The bottom line is if GMC can price this right it will sell and do fine.

The HHR sold well but we also have to accept that most years 1/3+ of production was to fleet sales. These are not profit centers. THis is why there are so many LT1 HHRs flooding the market. This is why our resale sucks.

Even if GMC sells less Granites they are in a place they can make more money per unit on less units.

You may want to not Chevy is also bringing back the Saturn Vue as a Chevy. It will be fleet sales only. This is because it is old tooling GM has already written off and can sell the new Captiva to fleets at a profit. It also will make it so Chevy will not have to force the Equinox into fleet sales and kill the resale on customer cars.

I know everyone has good ideas and it all seems so easy but building and marketing cars is so difficult anymore. There is a lot of compitition and little margin for error. THe economy is only making it worse.

The fact is the American car as we knew it is dead. But so is the Asian and Euro cars. Hell they are making Maseratis in Mexico, Buicks in China, Hondas in Ohio and Benz in Alabama.

With the things they have to work with in CAFE, Crash, and EPA regs it will dictate a lot of how things are done. The economics will dictate most of the rest. Inbetween all the rest they have to fashion cars people would spend their hard earned money on. Not all cars will appeal to all. But each will find a place and we all will move on to different vehicles we will feel strongly about as we do our HHR's.

All I know is I would really hate to be a product planner in todays market. That has to be one of the toughest jobs in the world today give what they have to work with.

russruth

I think we all know that cars are made globally, from every brand even before NAFTA or globalization became a house hold term.

The thing is a lot of cars still have their home countries dna.

You can build a bmw in the Carolinas, but it still looks, drives and acts German.

Same with a Honda or a Toyota.

The HHR is assembled in Mexico, but it feels, looks and drives like an American car, at least it does to me.

The thing the American car companies seem to forget is Some people, actually a lot of people like American cars.

They might like them to be built with a little better materials, but you don't have to be in retirement to be the only one on your block that likes Chevy's or Fords and a lot of people that like Chevy and Fords don't want it to look or drive like a Kia, Honda, or Toyota.

Not that those brands aren't successful, I just don't believe that everyone on the planet views cars as an appliance.

I'm lucky, I travel the world and can embrace the difference in cultures, including cars, and personally I shouldn't care where the turbo on my SS is built, either in Germany, Ohio, or Mexico, but deep in my heart and my wallet I do, because I know if my neighbor loses his/her job, then I might be next.

But I'm not trying to be political, I just don't buy the notion that everyone is gonna drive the same car with the only difference being the stamped plastic logo on the grill.

I know wall street and the CEO's of the companies are all for this. Just stamp it, brand it and tell people it's a something but I think they're fooling themselves.

hyperv6

I think you missed my point. Cars were not gobal for many American companies till now. For example the Chevy Cruze. It was jointly developed in Europe, Korea and the America. It was sold in Europe and Asia for nearly 2 year before it came here. There are different engine and tranny options and some tuning in the suspension. But for the most the basic car is the same. Most of GMs cars as well as Ford will be this way. The new Camaro and Mustang are as American as you get but they will be sold world wide in the near future when they are updated. For the most the will be no DNA of just one market or country with many of the new cars to come.

People are for the most dumb when it comes to the origin of may cars anymore. I would bet most Americans and even some HHR owners not on this site have no idea it was built in Mexico.

The sad fact is the American love affair with the car is over. People for the most just want to know how much a month and how many MPG's. Give them a long warranty and they are happy.

Kid today could care less about cars and care more about Play Stations 3. The days like when I grew up on Hot Wheels are long over. Just go to Wal Mart and look at how many are there that are over 30 years old and how few are under 15 years old.

When one looks at the top ten selling cars and see what they are it is telling people have no love for the car and it is more of a Appliance.

I wonder if there is any hope for the auto enthusiast anymore.

lakeffect

Personally, I bought both of my HHr's BECAUSE of the fact they didn't look like a clone of everything else out there. It had character, and I understood it. I liked the retro theme.

The Granite seems to be just another forgettable SUV "wanna be a teardrop". I can't tell one from the other even now. Doubtful it will be my future car.

JoeSchmoe

As long as it is tested/developed on the Nurburgring, I don't care where it's made!

JoeSchmoe

Are we looking at the same pics??? I couldn't disagree more.... IF (big if?) they keep the production model the same as in the pictures, this car/van/suv will certainly look quite unique.

Doctuh

With a turbocharged (hopefully direct injected) engine, better rear suspension geometry from the Delta II platform, similar size to HHR but better aerodynamics, and a 6-speed manual, I'm interested. The "mild hybrid" stuff that GM is doing with a Buick with a fan-cooled lithium battery and engine turnoff at stop lights would be better if/when it's added. This could be really good once fully developed.

hyperv6

There will be some changed mostly to the odd seats the show car had.

But overall 85%-90% of the outside will survive.

It will for sure have a Direct Injected Eco with a Turbo. Not how much power?

I really hope they avoid the engine stop at lights. I have driven these and I find the golf cart like nature anoying. But that is just me. I know it works well but I just don't like it. I really don't see that much being saved in the areas I drive vs large cities where log waits in traffic would make a difference.

The real key to this vehicle it to really see it in person. The photo's really do not expess what it really looks like. It is wider and longer than the impressions give. It is not Soul Small and is a little larger than the HHR.

It is not a vehicle for everyone. It will keep some HHR people and lose some. But it will also pick up a lot of people that would not buy a HHR too. So in the end it will do fine if priced well. Price it too high and it will lose out to many other vehicles. Just the same for the HHR. If the HHR was over $30K it would have never done as well.

The key to the Granite too is to lose the fleet sales to Enterprise. That is a non profit deal.

solman98

I personally like it. If the exterior stays without much deviation, odds are one will park in the garage, next to the HHR, in a couple of years. Wifes MPV will be 9 then.