Lutz: No Beat for US, Small CUVs Coming
Posted Jul 15, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
After Rick Wagoner's media address, "Maximum" Bob Lutz dished out some info regarding GM's future product plans.
One big piece of news is that the Chevy Beat won't be coming to North America anytime soon. Lutz sites safety standards as the reason we won't be seeing this mini-car on our shores. Development of the Beat started long before we had $4 gas in the US, so it wasn't intended to be brought to the US. As such, it wasn't designed to pass US safety standards. According to Lutz, it would take 2 years and cost too much money to re-engineer the car to meet US standards. Because of this, the Beat won't be making it the US until the next generation.
More after the jump...
One other car we won't be seeing in the US soon is the Chevy Cruze. Maximum Bob stated that the Cobalt is not anywhere near the end of its life, so don't expect the Cruze to debut in the US for a while.
For the 2008/2009 auto show season, expect to see some new crossovers, much smaller than the Lambda CUVs already available. These crossovers will be sold by several brands, but the specific brands weren't specified.
Lutz also assured the media present that Pontiac is not getting the axe. Maximum Bob said that the brand would be "nurtured" with new products in the coming years.
It's sad to not see the Beat and Cruz coming as quickly as we had hoped, but it's understandable that vehicles can't be rushed to market given GM's current cash situation.
Category: Chevy, Green/Alternative Fuels
Comments (2)
After Rick Wagoner's media address, "Maximum" Bob Lutz dished out some info regarding GM's future product plans.
One big piece of news is that the Chevy Beat won't be coming to North America anytime soon. Lutz sites safety standards as the reason we won't be seeing this mini-car on our shores. Development of the Beat started long before we had $4 gas in the US, so it wasn't intended to be brought to the US. As such, it wasn't designed to pass US safety standards. According to Lutz, it would take 2 years and cost too much money to re-engineer the car to meet US standards. Because of this, the Beat won't be making it the US until the next generation.
More after the jump...
One other car we won't be seeing in the US soon is the Chevy Cruze. Maximum Bob stated that the Cobalt is not anywhere near the end of its life, so don't expect the Cruze to debut in the US for a while.
For the 2008/2009 auto show season, expect to see some new crossovers, much smaller than the Lambda CUVs already available. These crossovers will be sold by several brands, but the specific brands weren't specified.
Lutz also assured the media present that Pontiac is not getting the axe. Maximum Bob said that the brand would be "nurtured" with new products in the coming years.
It's sad to not see the Beat and Cruz coming as quickly as we had hoped, but it's understandable that vehicles can't be rushed to market given GM's current cash situation.
Category: Chevy, Green/Alternative Fuels
Comments (2)
Comments
There are 2 comments
| Posted By dan @ Jul 16, 2008 |
| come on! no beat? that's a no brainer in this market! |
| Posted By Greg Chassin @ Jul 25, 2008 |
| Hello Mr. Lutz.
I am a stockholder of GM. I admit, not being together pleased with GMs performance. GM needs to cut its bureaucracy, and start bringing the right products to the market, at the right time! Clearly, this is not being accomplished in an efficient manor. GM needs to embrace world cars as a design standard. One world! GM has a very strong pipeline of products, in production and under development. The Beat, Camero and new Opel mid size models look very promising. The Beat is needed in the US market now, not 2 - 3 years from now. This is a big mistake. One-world designs could prevent this same mistake from happening in the future. Gm would also be able to build the same cars in different plants around the world; hence preventing unions from Hijacking GM. Products could be shipped to different regions based on local product demand. The potential savings to GM would be huge. As for Opel, I suggest taking advantage of its good name and reputation. Clearly, the Saturn name should be changed to Opel. The benefits to GM are numerous. 1. Opel has a far better reputation, hence more US sales at higher margins! 2. Savings: design, production and marketing. 3. There are many Europeans, especially from Eastern Europe living in the USA. As a group they do not buy US made cars, the Opel brand could catch that segment of buyers. I would also suggest combining Buick and Opel into one dealer network. Eventually, Buick should be completely integrated with Opel worldwide as one brand. Bob, Please do not take my suggestions in the wrong way. I have great respect for you! You are a legend in the car industry. Nobody can take that from you! |
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