Chevy Volt approved for production!
I'm somewhat an oddity. I am a hard-core automotive enthusiast - but also incredibly conscious of the ecological impact of my hobby.As that, I am seriously stoked about the Chevy Volt concept.
If you've been under a rock for the last few months, the Volt was the first implementation of GM's E-Flex concept.
In essence, picture the E-Flex (and the Volt) as an electric car. Using cutting edge Li-Ion battery technology (similar to what you'd find in consumer electronics like laptops), the vehicle allows for range of around 40 miles on a charge and the ability to charge in a few hours from standard household current.
While 40 miles would not be enough to entice most folks, GM gets around this by putting a highly efficient secondary power source on board to help charge the batteries and produce electricity for times when the batteries are not sufficient. This provides flexible choices for the secondary power source, from gasoline engines, E85 powered engines, or even fuel cells.
With the secondary source, you get the ability to drive 40 miles on pure electricity while not having to worry that, if something unforeseen comes up, you might not be able to complete your trip and make it home (a major limitation of previous electric vehicles).
Given the optimized size of the secondary power source, you should see fuel economy numbers of at least 50-60mpg while seeing many owners never having to fuel the vehicle for months at a time and effective mileage in the hundreds of miles per gallon. And, unlike most previous electric vehicles, a Volt would have the utility and range of a conventional car (and the ability to refuel to extend your trip) - while giving you extreme fuel savings in your average day-to-day driving.
While this system has created quite a buzz, most (myself included) have been somewhat cautious about warnings from GM that battery technology might not allow the concept to come to market for some time.
Now, Automotive News (via Leftlane News) has reported that GM has officially green-lighted Volt for production. It will be an off-shoot of the Delta II chassis that will also serve as the basis for the next Chevy Cobalt as well as the next Saturn Astra (not the model that comes to market this fall).
Also of interest is that GM expects to make the production Volt available in 2010 and will offer a choice of either a gasoline or fuel cell secondary power source.
I'll be keeping a very close eye on this one and might consider it as one of my choices for my daily driver (while keeping a nice sports car on the side for my enthusiast 'needs').
Read about it at:
Leftlane News: Shocking! Volt Production by 2010?
Chevy sponsors online Transformers game
Anyone following the upcoming Transformers movie has seen how ingrained GM is in the new movie (taking the place of just about every Autobot we knew and loved in their previous form...come on, Bumblebee is a Camaro?!).
Now, Chevy has put a Transformers game online at www.chevy.com/autobot where you can you can register, pick your Chevrolet (and give it a suitably Transformer-ish name) and challenge others to 5-round battles.
It's fun so far - just tell them Bladeicus sent you. :-)
Now, Chevy has put a Transformers game online at www.chevy.com/autobot where you can you can register, pick your Chevrolet (and give it a suitably Transformer-ish name) and challenge others to 5-round battles.It's fun so far - just tell them Bladeicus sent you. :-)
GM Brands - Live or Die?
I'm sure you've heard by now about the piece in Fortune (my least favorite source for automotive content) about what GM should do to get back in the game...
It's strange to me how a company that is as large and successful as GM, is the only one of the 'big 3' that isn't either in serious trouble or for sale...is considered by so many journalists as a failure.
So, Toyota sold more cars world-wide than GM in the first quarter of 2007...okay. The margin is still tight and with GM's turn-around plan fully in motion, there is no reason to believe that their market share slide will not slow, stop, or even turn around soon.
But, let's accept for a moment the concept that they have not changed enough structurally and need to do more drastic things to match the Toyota machine...do they need to slice off brands and shrink down to a more manageable size?
Fortune suggests killing off Saab, Hummer, Buick, and Pontiac. Moving GMC to a commercial-only vehicle brand, repositioning Saturn as a Scion killer, and leaving Cadillac and Chevrolet as full-line brands to compete against Lexus and Toyota.
Well - I doubt I'd go nearly that far. But, the idea of bringing some coherency to the GM lineup has some appeal.
Here's my plan for GM's brands:
Saab - this brand has no place in GM's future. As a global luxury brand - it competes with Cadillac. As a competitor to Volvo - it ends up in the no-mans land between Buick and Cadillac. As a beloved quirky brand of hatchbacks and a favorite of college profs everywhere...you're killing me with a lack of attention/attempts to mold the brand into something it isn't and shouldn't be. Find a company that could understand what Saab is about and sell it to them ASAP.
Hummer - the brand everyone loves to hate, but a success story if ever there was one. Who would have ever thought that GM could have a viable competitor to Jeep so soon after launch. Sure, there are other GM brands with trucks, but Hummer has such focus and such credibility as a producer of off-road vehicles that this brand will go down as one of the success stories of the early 21st century.
Will it sell in huge numbers? No. Should GM keep it anyway? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. This brand shows exactly what laser-like focus on a brand's mission gives you. Everyone knows a Hummer on sight, everyone knows what it can do, and it is true to these brand traits from top to bottom.
Not to mention, that it doesn't cost a lot to keep them around and they don't compete at bit with anything else GM sells (incremental profit - thy name is Hummer).
GMC - in the dictionary under 'redundant'... GMC sells rebadged Chevrolet trucks and, in the case of the Acadia, a rebadged Saturn. I understand this brand is cheap to maintain and successful in certain markets...but unless GM is serious about 'Professional Grade' enough to drop the crossovers and light-duty trucks from GMC and drop all heavy-duty trucks from Chevy - leaving GMC as a heavy-duty and commercial truck division, then just kill them and let Sierra buyers get Silverados. I can't imagine that the extra dealer body and marketing efforts are made up for by the incremental GMC buyer who would not ever buy a Chevrolet.
Chevrolet - full line, all the time. Assuming that Chevrolet keeps their truck line (it will), then Chevy can easily become the full-line brand that Toyota is. Chevrolet should be your source for everything from micro-cars through leather-lined Impalas. It is a hodge-podge brand that can be just about anything to anyone with a smattering of high-performance products, mainstream front and rear-drive product, trucks, etc.
Cadillac - 'Standard of the World' in the making. Cadillac will be a major beneficiary of a lean, mean GM. The money saved by not supporting Saab product development and GMC can be funneled into an expansion of Cadillac into a true Mercedes/BMW killer. A smaller-than-CTS sedan and coupe, a CTS coupe and wagon, a smaller-than-XLR sports car, a small SUV, as well as an ultra sedan and coupe on the upper end would book-end GM's offerings on the upper end.
Pontiac - focused like Hummer only for the on-road enthusiast. Word is that Pontiac is going all rear-drive. This is going to tick off the Pontiac dealers that are used to being a sporty Chevy...but the success of Pontiac needs to be by offering something focused. A rear-drive line, from a sub-compact through a Grand Prix sized rear driver (the new G8) in sedans/coupes/convertibles...allowing for a resurrected GTO, the Solstice, and possibly a Firebird (as more of a 2-seat, smaller, V-8 equivalent to the GTO) - then Pontiac will mean something. Think of Pontiac as a rear-drive Mazda without the SUVs and minivans and you will see the idea.
Buick or Saturn - pick one. As you have likely heard, Buick is going after Lexus (but given Lexus is totally in Cadillac price territory...why?). Saturn is expanding with sophisticated and stylish product to compete against imports (how antiquated a niche is that in this day and age?). Both are aiming at front-drive for the majority of the lineup. However, Saturn is going for everything from mid-teens hatchbacks (the Astra) through mid-30's crossovers (Outlook).
Buick is at the early stages of a resurgence with the Enclave SUV (based on the same platform as the Saturn Outlook) and will have mid and large sedans (and coupes?) as its basis.
GM needs to make a decision here. Buick or Saturn, but not both.
Saturn is becoming a full-line manufacturer (which seems to get in the way of Chevrolet). However, on the plus side, they have a young buyer and a great reputation through their dealer body and no-hassle philosophy.
Buick, on the plus side has decades of history, loyal buyers, and would carry a stately, elegant, American Jaguar aesthetic quite well. As a softer, less sporty, front-drive alternative to Cadillac's rear-drive lineup - it could work. However, with its aging buyers and less focused niche, I'm not sure how it will fit in with smaller Cadillacs and larger Chevrolets.
I can make a case for either, but better if Chevrolet is limited to softer, middle-of-the-road, tuning for their larger stuff and by merging Buick and Saturn into a single entity that sells sophisticated, stylish, near-luxury product.
So, for me, the ultimate GM would be one that sells Saab, kills GMC, merges Buick and Saturn, moves Pontiac into a hard-core sports brand, and gives the savings to Chevrolet and Cadillac to compete with Toyota and BMW, all the while spending a little bit of money giving Hummer 3 or 4 models that are various sizes of the hard-core off-roader concept.
It isn't as shocking and likely to get me press as Fortune's story...but it might be the one that gives GM an even better shot at long-term success.
It's strange to me how a company that is as large and successful as GM, is the only one of the 'big 3' that isn't either in serious trouble or for sale...is considered by so many journalists as a failure.
So, Toyota sold more cars world-wide than GM in the first quarter of 2007...okay. The margin is still tight and with GM's turn-around plan fully in motion, there is no reason to believe that their market share slide will not slow, stop, or even turn around soon.
But, let's accept for a moment the concept that they have not changed enough structurally and need to do more drastic things to match the Toyota machine...do they need to slice off brands and shrink down to a more manageable size?
Fortune suggests killing off Saab, Hummer, Buick, and Pontiac. Moving GMC to a commercial-only vehicle brand, repositioning Saturn as a Scion killer, and leaving Cadillac and Chevrolet as full-line brands to compete against Lexus and Toyota.
Well - I doubt I'd go nearly that far. But, the idea of bringing some coherency to the GM lineup has some appeal.
Here's my plan for GM's brands:
Saab - this brand has no place in GM's future. As a global luxury brand - it competes with Cadillac. As a competitor to Volvo - it ends up in the no-mans land between Buick and Cadillac. As a beloved quirky brand of hatchbacks and a favorite of college profs everywhere...you're killing me with a lack of attention/attempts to mold the brand into something it isn't and shouldn't be. Find a company that could understand what Saab is about and sell it to them ASAP.
Hummer - the brand everyone loves to hate, but a success story if ever there was one. Who would have ever thought that GM could have a viable competitor to Jeep so soon after launch. Sure, there are other GM brands with trucks, but Hummer has such focus and such credibility as a producer of off-road vehicles that this brand will go down as one of the success stories of the early 21st century.
Will it sell in huge numbers? No. Should GM keep it anyway? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. This brand shows exactly what laser-like focus on a brand's mission gives you. Everyone knows a Hummer on sight, everyone knows what it can do, and it is true to these brand traits from top to bottom.
Not to mention, that it doesn't cost a lot to keep them around and they don't compete at bit with anything else GM sells (incremental profit - thy name is Hummer).
GMC - in the dictionary under 'redundant'... GMC sells rebadged Chevrolet trucks and, in the case of the Acadia, a rebadged Saturn. I understand this brand is cheap to maintain and successful in certain markets...but unless GM is serious about 'Professional Grade' enough to drop the crossovers and light-duty trucks from GMC and drop all heavy-duty trucks from Chevy - leaving GMC as a heavy-duty and commercial truck division, then just kill them and let Sierra buyers get Silverados. I can't imagine that the extra dealer body and marketing efforts are made up for by the incremental GMC buyer who would not ever buy a Chevrolet.
Chevrolet - full line, all the time. Assuming that Chevrolet keeps their truck line (it will), then Chevy can easily become the full-line brand that Toyota is. Chevrolet should be your source for everything from micro-cars through leather-lined Impalas. It is a hodge-podge brand that can be just about anything to anyone with a smattering of high-performance products, mainstream front and rear-drive product, trucks, etc.
Cadillac - 'Standard of the World' in the making. Cadillac will be a major beneficiary of a lean, mean GM. The money saved by not supporting Saab product development and GMC can be funneled into an expansion of Cadillac into a true Mercedes/BMW killer. A smaller-than-CTS sedan and coupe, a CTS coupe and wagon, a smaller-than-XLR sports car, a small SUV, as well as an ultra sedan and coupe on the upper end would book-end GM's offerings on the upper end.
Pontiac - focused like Hummer only for the on-road enthusiast. Word is that Pontiac is going all rear-drive. This is going to tick off the Pontiac dealers that are used to being a sporty Chevy...but the success of Pontiac needs to be by offering something focused. A rear-drive line, from a sub-compact through a Grand Prix sized rear driver (the new G8) in sedans/coupes/convertibles...allowing for a resurrected GTO, the Solstice, and possibly a Firebird (as more of a 2-seat, smaller, V-8 equivalent to the GTO) - then Pontiac will mean something. Think of Pontiac as a rear-drive Mazda without the SUVs and minivans and you will see the idea.
Buick or Saturn - pick one. As you have likely heard, Buick is going after Lexus (but given Lexus is totally in Cadillac price territory...why?). Saturn is expanding with sophisticated and stylish product to compete against imports (how antiquated a niche is that in this day and age?). Both are aiming at front-drive for the majority of the lineup. However, Saturn is going for everything from mid-teens hatchbacks (the Astra) through mid-30's crossovers (Outlook).
Buick is at the early stages of a resurgence with the Enclave SUV (based on the same platform as the Saturn Outlook) and will have mid and large sedans (and coupes?) as its basis.
GM needs to make a decision here. Buick or Saturn, but not both.
Saturn is becoming a full-line manufacturer (which seems to get in the way of Chevrolet). However, on the plus side, they have a young buyer and a great reputation through their dealer body and no-hassle philosophy.
Buick, on the plus side has decades of history, loyal buyers, and would carry a stately, elegant, American Jaguar aesthetic quite well. As a softer, less sporty, front-drive alternative to Cadillac's rear-drive lineup - it could work. However, with its aging buyers and less focused niche, I'm not sure how it will fit in with smaller Cadillacs and larger Chevrolets.
I can make a case for either, but better if Chevrolet is limited to softer, middle-of-the-road, tuning for their larger stuff and by merging Buick and Saturn into a single entity that sells sophisticated, stylish, near-luxury product.
So, for me, the ultimate GM would be one that sells Saab, kills GMC, merges Buick and Saturn, moves Pontiac into a hard-core sports brand, and gives the savings to Chevrolet and Cadillac to compete with Toyota and BMW, all the while spending a little bit of money giving Hummer 3 or 4 models that are various sizes of the hard-core off-roader concept.
It isn't as shocking and likely to get me press as Fortune's story...but it might be the one that gives GM an even better shot at long-term success.
Mitsubishi Evo X unveiled - and Road and Track's renderings of the Subaru WRX STI
The good folks over at Mitsubishi have unveiled this picture of an 'exterior styling study' for the Evolution X (Evo X for us in the USA).Expect this to be identical to the production Evo that we'll see later this year, packing 300-ish horsepower, and more electronic do-dads than you can shake a stick at (including an available dual-clutch automatic similar to the DSG sold by VW).
Also, today Road and Track put an article up on their website showing renderings of the new Evo (so you can compare against the official pic above) as well as their take on what the next WRX STI will look like.
Enjoy.
Road and Track: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X vs. Subaru Impreza WRX STI
More pics of the Buick Riviera concept
Check out these great shots of the new Buick Riviera concept. This was designed in China at GM's design studio there.Buick is GM's most successful brand in China and the designers/engineers there will be working with their US counterparts to develop a cohesive brand image for Buick in both countries (currently, China has cars badged as Buicks that don't exactly resemble what we get here).
Expect this design language (itself showing signs of the swoop-y styling of the Enclave) to heavily influence the future face of Buick for many years to come.
All I can say is, 'it is about time'.
TCC Spies 2009 Mazda6
The Mazda6 has been quite a successful car for both Mazda - making it a legitimate player in the mid-sized sedan game, and Ford - server as the basis for most of their new mid-sized product (Fusion, Milan, Edge).So, the redesign of the Mazda6 is a big deal - and the folks over at the Car Connection have spotted the new car in disguise.
Ford's versions of the platform were stretched and the new 6 takes advantage of the extra room in the 2nd generation car seen here.
Expect stronger family resemblance to the RX-8, MX-5 (Miata), and the CX crossovers with defined front fender bulges and swoopy light clusters front and rear.Expect the new 6 to debut later this year.
Read all about it over at:
The Car Connection: 2009 Mazda6 Spied
Bangled Again - BMW shows CS concept 4-door coupe at Shanghai
Yep, more news from Shanghai. This time from BMW with a preview of their upcoming Mercedes CLS, 4-door coupe, competitor.Larger in length and width than even the grand-daddy 7-series BMW, the CS also previews the future of the Chris Bangle, flame-surfacing, design ethic.
New are much larger kidney grills, large air intakes in the lower corners of the front fascia (echoed in the rear with integrated exhaust tips), and even more of the concave/convex complexity that has become a BMW hallmark (and is influencing design from manufacturers the world over - for good or bad, your choice).
Expect the production version of this concept to appear in approximately a year.
More fun from Shanghai - Audi CrossCoupe Quattro
This Shanghai Auto Show (in China, for the geographically impaired) is turning out to be quite the international-league auto show.Today we have Audi's new CrossCoupe Quattro concept that is almost certainly a strong preview of the upcoming Q5 SUV.
Expect the production Q5 to look almost exactly like this concept (perhaps with something other than the impossible to keep clean cream-colored dash and floor).
