View Poll Results: vote 4 chevrolet
Beat
26
29.89%
Groove
42
48.28%
Trax
19
21.84%
Voters: 87. You may not vote on this poll
vote 4 chevrolet
03-29-2007, 10:46 AM
#11
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 08-20-2006
Location: Hillsdale, Michigan
Posts: 21,640
Europeans have enjoyed these types of cars for ages. Of course if you ever saw some of those narrow European roads you'd understand why 
. I think if they could bring these types of cars (runabouts) here at a reasonable price they would do well as second vehicles such as driving around town etc. Definately would be easier to park in a big city.
. I think if they could bring these types of cars (runabouts) here at a reasonable price they would do well as second vehicles such as driving around town etc. Definately would be easier to park in a big city.
03-29-2007, 05:11 PM
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: 04-05-2006
Location: Greenville, MS
Posts: 342
[IMG]image[/IMG]
This thing is definately unique, weird and reallly different. What were the engineers smoking when they designed it, gotta get me some of that
Just kidding, but dont think I would buy one, it seems to mis-combine the round with the square.
This thing is definately unique, weird and reallly different. What were the engineers smoking when they designed it, gotta get me some of that
Just kidding, but dont think I would buy one, it seems to mis-combine the round with the square.
Last edited by SindyDix; 03-29-2007 at 07:54 PM. Reason: removed image from quote
03-29-2007, 05:28 PM
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: 07-21-2006
Location: Ft Walton Bch FL
Posts: 1,708
MizzouHHR, I fully agree! I used to own a Chevette and thought the back seat in it was too close to the rear. My question is why did they even bother to put a back seat or back doors on it. Make it a true 2-seater for commuting. They sell electric cars on golf cart frames around here that might be bigger than this car. I'm sure they're a whole lot cheaper!
03-30-2007, 04:37 AM
#18
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Thread Starter
Join Date: 08-20-2006
Location: Hillsdale, Michigan
Posts: 21,640
GM hopes fuel-efficient mini-compact will be in demand
BY TOM INCANTALUPO
tom.incantalupo@newsday.com
Posted March 28 2007, 7:56 PM EDT
General Motors is releasing a sketch and a few details Thursday of an experimental mini-compact car to be unveiled at next week's New York International Automobile Show to gauge interest among U.S. urban buyers in vehicles of a size common abroad but rare in America.
At 137.5 inches bumper to bumper, the four-door Chevrolet Trax is about 14 inches shorter than GM's smallest U.S. production model -- the 151.7-inch-long Chevrolet Aveo four-door hatchback -- and has a tiny 1.0-liter engine.
Experts say $3 a gallon gasoline has spurred renewed interest in small cars in this country. What market research firm J.D. Power and Associates calls the "compact basic" segment rose by 57 percent last year from 2005, to more than 288,000 cars, and more than doubled in January and February from a year earlier -- to 47,000 vehicles.
"There's been quite a bit of growth," said one of Power's analysts, Tom Libby.
That was still only 2 percent of the light vehicle market, but Libby said it is expected to keep growing and that carmakers want to be in it to lure young, first-time buyers to their brands, in hopes of trading them up later to more-expensive vehicles.
"There's hard data that says the owners of these models trade up to that next segment and they also are very brand loyal," Libby said.
At last year's Geneva auto show, DaimlerChrysler showed an experimental small car, the 151-inch-long Dodge Hornet that it is considering for U.S. sale, ideally to be produced with an offshore partner.
Daimler also plans early next year to begin importing a model from its European Smart subsidiary, a 106.1-inch U.S. version of the ForTwo, with a starting price of less than $15,000. It will have a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine and estimated fuel economy of more than 40 miles per gallon, the company has said. Smart has sold 770,000 cars in Europe since 1998.
The Trax would be larger than that but smaller than the other vehicles in the segment now sold here -- led in volume by the Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa. The Yaris replaced the Echo. The Versa is a step smaller than the Sentra. Honda last year began importing the Fit, another four-cylinder, five-door model that is smaller than the Civic.
GM said the Trax and the two variants of it to be shown next week were designed in Inchon, South Korea, and that they share basics with a small car sold abroad now as the Chevrolet Spark.
GM didn't indicate when it might build the Trax or what it would cost or even the engine's horsepower or fuel economy. The Aveo begins at about $11,000 and is estimated by the federal government to get as much as 37 mpg in highway driving.
At least one local dealer said he believes he can sell a car such as the Trax.
"The demand is absolutely there for a low price-point, fuel-efficient car," said Mark Calisi, president of Eagle Chevrolet in Riverhead, who said the Aveo has been a good seller for him as fuel prices have increased, as have the Gem electric vehicles he handles. "Whatever the demand is today, multiply it by a large denominator for the future."
BY TOM INCANTALUPO
tom.incantalupo@newsday.com
Posted March 28 2007, 7:56 PM EDT
General Motors is releasing a sketch and a few details Thursday of an experimental mini-compact car to be unveiled at next week's New York International Automobile Show to gauge interest among U.S. urban buyers in vehicles of a size common abroad but rare in America.
At 137.5 inches bumper to bumper, the four-door Chevrolet Trax is about 14 inches shorter than GM's smallest U.S. production model -- the 151.7-inch-long Chevrolet Aveo four-door hatchback -- and has a tiny 1.0-liter engine.
Experts say $3 a gallon gasoline has spurred renewed interest in small cars in this country. What market research firm J.D. Power and Associates calls the "compact basic" segment rose by 57 percent last year from 2005, to more than 288,000 cars, and more than doubled in January and February from a year earlier -- to 47,000 vehicles.
"There's been quite a bit of growth," said one of Power's analysts, Tom Libby.
That was still only 2 percent of the light vehicle market, but Libby said it is expected to keep growing and that carmakers want to be in it to lure young, first-time buyers to their brands, in hopes of trading them up later to more-expensive vehicles.
"There's hard data that says the owners of these models trade up to that next segment and they also are very brand loyal," Libby said.
At last year's Geneva auto show, DaimlerChrysler showed an experimental small car, the 151-inch-long Dodge Hornet that it is considering for U.S. sale, ideally to be produced with an offshore partner.
Daimler also plans early next year to begin importing a model from its European Smart subsidiary, a 106.1-inch U.S. version of the ForTwo, with a starting price of less than $15,000. It will have a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine and estimated fuel economy of more than 40 miles per gallon, the company has said. Smart has sold 770,000 cars in Europe since 1998.
The Trax would be larger than that but smaller than the other vehicles in the segment now sold here -- led in volume by the Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa. The Yaris replaced the Echo. The Versa is a step smaller than the Sentra. Honda last year began importing the Fit, another four-cylinder, five-door model that is smaller than the Civic.
GM said the Trax and the two variants of it to be shown next week were designed in Inchon, South Korea, and that they share basics with a small car sold abroad now as the Chevrolet Spark.
GM didn't indicate when it might build the Trax or what it would cost or even the engine's horsepower or fuel economy. The Aveo begins at about $11,000 and is estimated by the federal government to get as much as 37 mpg in highway driving.
At least one local dealer said he believes he can sell a car such as the Trax.
"The demand is absolutely there for a low price-point, fuel-efficient car," said Mark Calisi, president of Eagle Chevrolet in Riverhead, who said the Aveo has been a good seller for him as fuel prices have increased, as have the Gem electric vehicles he handles. "Whatever the demand is today, multiply it by a large denominator for the future."
03-30-2007, 01:26 PM
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: 09-12-2005
Location: Parkland (Tacoma), WA
Posts: 317
The Trax looks pretty cool to me.
03-31-2007, 09:07 PM
#20
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 08-20-2006
Location: Hillsdale, Michigan
Posts: 21,640
GM considers bringing mini cars to U.S.
Automaker tries to gauge interest for tiny vehicles that get up to 50 mpg
General Motors will be showing off vehicles based on the Chevrolet Matiz, which is sold in Europe and Asia.
Updated: 8:55 p.m. ET March 30, 2007
DETROIT - General Motors Corp. GM’s top global product planner said Friday the company is taking a serious look at bringing low-cost mini cars to the U.S. market capable of achieving as high as 50 miles per gallon of gasoline and breaking ground in a virtually nonexistent segment in the world’s biggest auto market.
GM Group Vice President John Smith said the auto maker is still in very early stages of investigating the U.S. market’s appetite for mini cars. Such vehicles are significantly smaller than sub-compact cars currently sold in the region by several players. GM sells a Chevrolet Aveo sub-compact car in the U.S., but nothing smaller.
“The honest answer is, I don’t know yet how serious we are,” Smith said, referring to the mini car segment.
The auto maker plans to show three different models of mini cars Wednesday at the New York auto show. In coming months GM will collect research data to gauge consumer interest through an online voting campaign at www.vote4chevrolet.com.
The vehicles to be shown in New York are based on the tiny Chevrolet Matiz and Spark that are sold in several markets, including Europe and Asia, and in hot demand internationally due to space constraints and high gasoline prices. Smith admits that in past customer studies in the U.S “there hasn’t been a whole lot of hand-raising for things as small of the Matiz,” partially because Americans, who pay relatively little for gasoline compared with drivers in other countries, prefer bigger vehicles.
While the auto maker is seeing an uptick in demand for small cars in the U.S. due to increasing energy concerns, there is no hard evidence that buyers will flock to mini cars unless gas prices take a serious upward hike.
“Our internal forecast shows gas at $2.50 a gallon for quite some time to come,” Smith said, noting that stability in that price range won’t seriously change consumer demand or inspire “a seismic shift in consumption habits.”
There currently is not a mini car sold in the U.S., but DaimlerChrysler AG will launch its Smart micro-car brand here next year in an effort to create a niche market. BMW AG does sell a model called the Mini Cooper, but that vehicle is actually much larger than actual mini cars. Several auto makers sell mini cars around the globe, but there is little indication a flood of tiny vehicles aimed at U.S. buyers will be launched in coming years.
“There’s an age-old debate in our business of responding to consumers or presenting them with a case they haven’t thought about,” Smith said. In the past, GM has been penalized by American car buyers for being behind in several emerging segments, such as hybrid vehicles, crossover vehicles and minivans.
If GM were to pull the trigger on mini cars for the U.S., Smith said they likely would be priced at a very affordable range and be capable of achieving as much as 45 miles per gallon to 50 miles per gallon. He declined to give an absolute price range, but said the base price would be low enough to allow a bulk of the buyers to purchase upgraded vehicle features, which is a way for auto makers to boost profitability to an otherwise low-margin product line.
In addition to potential profits, success of such vehicles could give the company needed sales on America’s coasts and major cities where the company has seen some decline in demand for its products.
In the mini car’s case, GM has the advantage of relying on success in other global markets, where mini cars are sold in swarms, to shoulder the company’s potential foray into a U.S. mini-car sector that doesn’t currently exist. Having existing design, production and development centers will lower the cost of a U.S. mini-car program and the amount of time it would take to launch a vehicle.
Smith said GM is one year into a multi-year development program of a new generation of global mini cars that could be sold in the U.S. The vehicles are being created by one of GM’s global product development groups, located in South Korea, and will be built in several low-cost markets, including Korea, before the end of the decade.
Automaker tries to gauge interest for tiny vehicles that get up to 50 mpg
General Motors will be showing off vehicles based on the Chevrolet Matiz, which is sold in Europe and Asia.
Updated: 8:55 p.m. ET March 30, 2007
DETROIT - General Motors Corp. GM’s top global product planner said Friday the company is taking a serious look at bringing low-cost mini cars to the U.S. market capable of achieving as high as 50 miles per gallon of gasoline and breaking ground in a virtually nonexistent segment in the world’s biggest auto market.
GM Group Vice President John Smith said the auto maker is still in very early stages of investigating the U.S. market’s appetite for mini cars. Such vehicles are significantly smaller than sub-compact cars currently sold in the region by several players. GM sells a Chevrolet Aveo sub-compact car in the U.S., but nothing smaller.
“The honest answer is, I don’t know yet how serious we are,” Smith said, referring to the mini car segment.
The auto maker plans to show three different models of mini cars Wednesday at the New York auto show. In coming months GM will collect research data to gauge consumer interest through an online voting campaign at www.vote4chevrolet.com.
The vehicles to be shown in New York are based on the tiny Chevrolet Matiz and Spark that are sold in several markets, including Europe and Asia, and in hot demand internationally due to space constraints and high gasoline prices. Smith admits that in past customer studies in the U.S “there hasn’t been a whole lot of hand-raising for things as small of the Matiz,” partially because Americans, who pay relatively little for gasoline compared with drivers in other countries, prefer bigger vehicles.
While the auto maker is seeing an uptick in demand for small cars in the U.S. due to increasing energy concerns, there is no hard evidence that buyers will flock to mini cars unless gas prices take a serious upward hike.
“Our internal forecast shows gas at $2.50 a gallon for quite some time to come,” Smith said, noting that stability in that price range won’t seriously change consumer demand or inspire “a seismic shift in consumption habits.”
There currently is not a mini car sold in the U.S., but DaimlerChrysler AG will launch its Smart micro-car brand here next year in an effort to create a niche market. BMW AG does sell a model called the Mini Cooper, but that vehicle is actually much larger than actual mini cars. Several auto makers sell mini cars around the globe, but there is little indication a flood of tiny vehicles aimed at U.S. buyers will be launched in coming years.
“There’s an age-old debate in our business of responding to consumers or presenting them with a case they haven’t thought about,” Smith said. In the past, GM has been penalized by American car buyers for being behind in several emerging segments, such as hybrid vehicles, crossover vehicles and minivans.
If GM were to pull the trigger on mini cars for the U.S., Smith said they likely would be priced at a very affordable range and be capable of achieving as much as 45 miles per gallon to 50 miles per gallon. He declined to give an absolute price range, but said the base price would be low enough to allow a bulk of the buyers to purchase upgraded vehicle features, which is a way for auto makers to boost profitability to an otherwise low-margin product line.
In addition to potential profits, success of such vehicles could give the company needed sales on America’s coasts and major cities where the company has seen some decline in demand for its products.
In the mini car’s case, GM has the advantage of relying on success in other global markets, where mini cars are sold in swarms, to shoulder the company’s potential foray into a U.S. mini-car sector that doesn’t currently exist. Having existing design, production and development centers will lower the cost of a U.S. mini-car program and the amount of time it would take to launch a vehicle.
Smith said GM is one year into a multi-year development program of a new generation of global mini cars that could be sold in the U.S. The vehicles are being created by one of GM’s global product development groups, located in South Korea, and will be built in several low-cost markets, including Korea, before the end of the decade.