Comments on: Chevy Beat not coming to U.S.; Lutz confirms future vehicle timeline

By: monte

monte — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:10:35 +0000

Actually the cruze photos on this site are horrible. Check out the concept on
http://www.fastlanedaily.com/

By: olds307

olds307 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:50:18 +0000

The Cavalier name (which replaced Monza) was in use for more or less 25 years. They probably shouldn’t have changed it to Cobalt, but Cobalt is an OK name. Cruze…. just awful.

By: TomF

TomF — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:41:45 +0000

“Cobalt bloodline” … LOL. For God’s sake. One of GM’s 200 problems is that there is no “bloodline” on the small-vehicle end of the spectrum. No equivalent to Corolla or Civic. Every ten years they throw everything away and start fresh with a new vehicle that is benchmarked against a Sentra from ten model years ago.

It’s absurd that Honda and Toyota can rush the Fit and Yaris to these shores in response to market conditions, while GM counters with excuses.

By: ktulu

ktulu — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:55:19 +0000

The beat shoiuld com hear. The timeline is iurrelevant, bcuz gas is bot going down soomn.
all automakers take on the 3 series their main competitor b cuz the 3 is gr8.

40mpg is impressive.

Saturns R good, nbut thgey R not working as import fighters.

By: bradleygt

bradleygt — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:38:16 +0000

^the new Aveo 5 is in some dealerships now. Just seen it up against the Fit and Yaris and it comes with just about as good fuel economy if not better(cant remember if it was city or hwy) and much more standard equipment, including Onstar. And it looks MUCH better. Funny how people talk about Chevy’s ‘plastic’ interiors, but never mention the ugliness of the Yaris or Fit interiors, which make you KNOW your in a POS small car.

and still lol at all the GM bashing around here, starts my day off great with a good laugh

By: livelyjay

livelyjay — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:11:32 +0000

It doesn’t surprise me since the new Aveo is due out soon (or am I wrong?) and the Beat would steal sales. It is pretty stupid to have the US market vote on the small car, then not bring it to the US. That’s some definite short sightedness on GMs part. They could have easily put the crash safety pieces in place when they designed it in the first place, then bring it here under Saturn or Pontiac so it wouldn’t compete under the same brand as the Aveo.

By: steve333

steve333 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:17:14 +0000

Pontiac should just take on all of Opels cars and dump Saturn. Even keep the Opel names-Pontiac Astra, Pontiac, Corsa, Pontiac Insignia. Then add a Holden or two-Pontiac Commodore. And of course the Solstice.
GMC gets all the crossovers plus the trucks of course (there are GMC diehards who wont switch to Chevy).
Buick can have a new Regal, the Invicta, the Park Avenue, the Enclave and I would add the Riviera coupe or use a new name, Buick Bengal for instance.

Saturn does not have enough dealers to justify its existence and marketing budget.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:57:57 +0000

I said this the other day, all we’re going to end up with is vehicles that fool CAFE. You want numbers? They’ll give you numbers, but like zoomzoomer says they’ll be perfectly useless unless you’re a crash test dummy in a hermetically sealed environment. You know, right after I wrote that, Carbob Lutz came to mind…

By: A4

A4 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:55:20 +0000

40mpg is good for a small turbocharged gas engine you foreign **** knuckle

By: Need4SSpeed

Need4SSpeed — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:30:13 +0000

yeah, anyone here remember the 2000 Chevy Nomad concept? The one that was built off of the Kappa platform (same as Solstice/Sky). Something similar has been reported driving around metro Detroit… Wondering if it will come out and replace the HHR or something…

By: The Stig

The Stig — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:20:00 +0000

Cruze on, Beat off.

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:10:39 +0000

Why this news Beats all.

By: zoomzoomer

zoomzoomer — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:38:59 +0000

When kLutz was the product czar at Chrysler he could do no wrong.. but that was 20 years ago.. and he was already an AARP member then! Nagin is right.. why would they show US buyers the three models, ask them to vote on one, and then offer them NONE? You’d think they would have at least thought to try certifying them for US sale since they were showing them here! Not to mention naming Chevy’s bread-and-butter small car, the one that will most likely be considered by young style-conscious buyers, the G A Y est name ever invented! By the way, maybe that tiny 1.4-liter turbo makes 40mpg in a 2500-lb Aveo-sized car.. but once it’s running near redline all day, trying to lug 3100lbs of Cruze (plus 4 overweight passengers) on America’s stop-and-go freeways, I’m guessing there will be quite a dropoff. It is time for Lutz to go.

By: 441Zuke

441Zuke — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:26:46 +0000

what a ****ing stupid name they mights a well call it the nova or the corsair … cruze is an abomination of the English language. i mean who is going to go wanna ride in my new car it’s a cruze. wow sounds gay or a chick car like the old cavalier.

By: 400horseSS

400horseSS — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:17:04 +0000

Maybe they really are trying to go bankrupt, the US needs the Beat, management is just too stupid to realize it.

By: brassmonkey

brassmonkey — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:06:07 +0000

**** that car. who gives a flying ****. Piece of ****. what kind of ****sucker would drive this mother****ing piece of ****ing trash? assholes.
-
How many stars did I get?

By: mayer_ray_nagin

mayer_ray_nagin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:01:02 +0000

The … Cobalt bloodline ????

By: boaisy

boaisy — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:56:28 +0000

tripleonefive,
They won’t get rid of GMC…ever. If you brush up on your history, it was GMC that started the trucking business for GM, and it is the company that holds the brand name of GM (GMC = General Motors Company). I’d doubt they would get rid of it. Saturn has actually not been bad in the past couple of years. Their cars have become more appealing to younger drivers because they have been made with a sleeker better look. Saturn has basically stepped away from being POS cars for geeks.

On topic, I’m not that impressed with the Cruze. It doesn’t look worthy of a Cobalt bloodline. It just looks like a shortened up version of the current Impala, and Cobalt/Cavaliers have been small sporty cars. Just give the Cobalt a face life or something, and it will be fine. The Beat could really be put into production. The Aveo isn’t doing so well, and when the Aveo first started off, it was a little too small. The Beat actually looks decent for those interested in grocery getters. As far as Hummer still being targeted, I am not surprised. They maybe good for off-roading/military vehicles, but with the direction gas prices are going, GM might as well phase it out and stick with the Yukon/Suburban/Tahoe/Escalades. H2’s were nice, but didn’t have much room on the inside. The H3’s lost the Hummer’s natural look, and made it look more like a Jeep. If I want a Hummer, I’m expecting some meat on the bones.

By: fuk-u-asshole

fuk-u-asshole — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:31:24 +0000

mayer_ray_nagin,
i agree.
what about the yaris also

By: fuk-u-asshole

fuk-u-asshole — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:29:03 +0000

**** if i tought that i had to do a journey in a cobalt/cruze ooohh, that was so long i required fresh clothes id think it better get the bus

By: mayer_ray_nagin

mayer_ray_nagin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:22:41 +0000

Are you kidding, GM?

Yaris’s have been compliant for years. Fits are compliant. The next Ford Fiesta is compliant. The Mazda 2 is compliant since they consider selling it here. Smart Cars are compliant. You mean to tell me, GM, that the very same car that you are developing after you asked Americans to vote on which version they liked is now magically not compliant although it is not due out for 2 years at least?

Give me a fookin break, already.

By: Fromes

Fromes — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:12:04 +0000

yea thats right lutz, in a world where 5 dollar gas could be the norm within the next 2 months there is no need for a small, stylish and effienct replacement to the Lackluster Aveo

By: bradleygt

bradleygt — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:04:49 +0000

so what car under 17k american dollars (or Euro/pound equivalent) that is THE SAME SIZE as the Cobalt/Cruze do they have in the rest of the world that gets more then 40 MPG’s?????

You may like riding around in an enclosed 2 cylender atv, but we American like to actually travel more then 50 miles without borders and in a car that can carry deodorant and fresh clothes with room for your family also!

By: xyunya

xyunya — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:36:30 +0000

Since first casualty of attrition war usually is a QA department, I would get my hope high that next crop of cars will not be crap. Lutz is keeping his gig and so does Wagoner and there was no talk about halfing their salaries like it was done when company had a cough, not a full blown bloody diarrhea on top of violent outbreak of herpes.
I am sure power point presentaions were of highest possible quality.

By: fuk-u-asshole

fuk-u-asshole — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:33:06 +0000

its funny how 40mpg really impreses americans

By: csf89

csf89 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:25:57 +0000

wow gm is really taking aim at the 3 series… a wagon and a coupe. why is it that all automakers take on the 3 series their main competitor. honestly, how many 3 series wagons are on the road in the u.s. not as many sedans and coupes, thats forsure. its because wagons are designed for europeans, and what european man is going to buy a cts wagon when he can have a 3 series wagon for the same price?

By: golf4me

golf4me — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:25:03 +0000

Good, I thought the Beat was silly-looking, designed by a 12 yr old Japanese kid. 40mpg for the Cruze, huh? Not bad, and a great marketing tool. Hopefully the car will be halfway decent. The Aura is dying on the vine already, slow selling. If anything they need the new one sooner, not later. New one looks really nice.

By: t-ak-box

t-ak-box — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:04:52 +0000

“However, the next-generation of the Beat will likely be sold in the U.S., although that car is still several years away.”

Great so now we are going to get sneak peeks of 2nd gen. Beat for the next 4yrs or so. Maybe by the time it comes out we’ll be able to get the beat, traxs & groove models as well.

By: tripleonefive

tripleonefive — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:53:20 +0000

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Get rid of GMC & Saturn, Sell Buick to the Chinese, Give Hummers hybrid drivetrains Re vamp Pontiac and your problems are solved
I dont think the Aura needs a full life cycle especially when its on life support

By: fuk-u-asshole

fuk-u-asshole — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:51:53 +0000

this old grumps days must be numbered.
he is so frikin old