New rwd Chevys

GM reverses course, says revised version of Zeta rear-drive architecture is back on track

Automotive News

9/12/05

DETROIT - Six months after General Motors halted plans to use its Zeta rear-wheel-drive car architecture in North America, the company has revived the program.

In an interview with Automotive News last week, Jim Queen, GM's vice president of global engineering, said a revised version of Zeta is back on track.

Engineered at GM's Holden subsidiary in Australia, Zeta was expected to be the basis of the next-generation Pontiac Grand Prix and GTO; the Chevrolet Impala, Monte Carlo and a new version of the Camaro; and other vehicles. Vehicles in the program were expected to debut as early as 2006.

Queen did not discuss vehicles on the new version of Zeta or timing. Some vehicles that could be in the Zeta program include the next-generation Pontiac GTO as well as a Chevrolet coupe and sedans. They could debut by the 2009 or 2010 model year, say one company source and one industry analyst.

Queen said initial plans for Zeta stretched the architecture beyond its limits for some North American vehicles. "We needed to reassess and reconfigure the program," he said.

"As we started counting who was in and who was out of Zeta, we realized too late" that Zeta would not work in North America, Queen said.

Part of GM's reasoning in slowing Zeta's development was to focus on pulling forward its full-sized SUVs and pickups. GM's next-generation SUVs will debut early next year.

At the time, GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz wrote on GM's FastLane blog that GM had "canceled … plans to build rear-wheel-drive vehicles off the Zeta architecture."

"But that does not mean we've canceled plans to build rear-drive vehicles altogether," Lutz wrote. "We are simply reallocating resources (human and financial) to pull some other programs ahead and get other vehicles to market sooner."

The revised Zeta program is being developed in GM's Australian engineering center. The vehicle line executive on the program is Gene Stefanyshyn, the former vehicle line executive for GM's Epsilon, or mid-sized cars, in North America.

A GM spokesman said no product plans have been approved and that GM still is studying design themes, performance characteristics and variants for Zeta vehicles.

GM uses the term "architecture" to signify a common set of components, performance characteristics, a common manufacturing process, a range of dimensions and connecting points for key component systems.

Just to give you an idea of the Zeta chassis, here is a video of a Holden HSV sedan from a year or two ago. GM owns Holden and they make cars in Australia. HSV is Holden's performance division.

http://www.hsv.com.au/cars/vy2/video/premiere.wmv

The Holden in the video is the same one being sold as the GTO right now. It has tons of power, but zero styling and its not selling too well.

I don't think GM has any clue what they're doing these days. And the so called "small block V8" in that Impala is ridiculous. I suppose they need something to react to the "Hemi" and the new Mustang to generate some interest, but that is not close to the old smallblock V8 and it's in a front wheel drive four door sedan to boot. That company needs a wake up call soon. Big push on new full size SUVs and trucks? Oh my.

The Holden Monaro is the same thing as the new Pontiac GTO and GTO sales have improved over last year. Pontiac has 13,000 orders for the new 2006 Solstice.

New Pontiac Solstice (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=377526)

Cadillac had their best sales last year since in over a decade.

The new aluminum Corvette Z06 is the fastest, most powerful, and best engineered Corvette ever built.

Jag, its a darn shame that some of the imagination and hard work that goes on at Caddie and Pontiac does not trickle down to the rest of GM. Hopefully the reskinned GTO will do better when it comes and the Solstace looks killer, but neither is going to be GM's savior. Only a healthy Chevy keeps them going.
The Vette is great but its a clear case of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. As Chevy goes, so does GM and Chevy is laden with dull, uninspired designs. The HHR is the flagship of the death of the original thought over there.
All in all is GM does not do something soon, more divisions could dissappear. Buick first, then Pontiac or Hummer.

Saturn will have a new roadster by next year. The new Saturn Sky will use the same "Kappa" chassis as the new Pontiac Solstice.

2007 Saturn Sky (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=379645)

The 2005 Saturn Aura concept shows what the production 2007 will be like.

2005 Saturn Aura concept (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=419645)

The new HHR is actually selling well.

Chevy HHR is hot, so GM raises target again, looks at boosting production

JAMIE LAREAU | Automotive News

Posted Date: 10/10/05

DETROIT -- General Motors believes it has a hit with the new Chevrolet HHR wagon but must figure out how to build more of them.

"What we're trying to do is ramp up the capacity of the components and the plant so that we can build without having to go build another plant for it," says Lori Queen, GM's vehicle line executive for small cars.

Robert Lutz, GM's vice chairman for product development, says GM plans to produce 120,000 HHRs annually. Production will "probably go up from there," Lutz adds.

Initially, Chevrolet expected to sell 80,000 to 100,000 units annually. In June, GM revised that goal to about 60,000 a year, said Jim Campbell, director of Chevrolet car marketing. Last month, Queen insisted the plan always was to build 100,000 HHRs annually.

Queen says GM is running maximum overtime to build the vehicles at its Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, plant.

She shies away from Lutz's 120,000 annual production target. "I'm hoping we can, but I don't know," Queen says. "I'm trying to understand if I can get to that level." Queen says she must determine whether components and plant capacity are available.

Last month, Chevrolet sold 8,602 HHRs. Sales of the wagon outpaced those of the Scion xB (4,459) and Honda Element (4,988). Chrysler sold 11,742 PT Cruisers last month.

The HHR starts at $15,990, including shipping.

According to the J.D. Power Information Network, the largest bloc of buyers -- 42.7 percent -- were Chevrolet owners. But Lutz says nearly half of the HHR sales comes from owners of competitors' vehicles.

"Any time we get that, we know a vehicle is working for us," Lutz says. "The top markets for it are Southern California, Houston and Dallas, which are areas where it's always hard to achieve breakthrough with a domestic passenger vehicle."

The HHR is selling well because Chevy intentionally priced it low because it got luke warm reception from initial focus groups in its target market because the target market thinks its a PT cruiser ripoff. In short, that ain't making much on it. Ken Thompson the "pope of Chevrolet" and worlds largest annual Chevy salesman said on a local Dallas radio station that if Chevy raises prices like that are discussing (a starting price of over 18k as opposed to the current 15k), he doubts that the sales will continue at their strong pace and reported that his dealership has received units for the first time that were not pre sold. I trust this guy more that any GM talking head, he sells more cars a month personally than most dealerships combined. He knows his stuff.

The vehicle has received praise for ride and drive, but according to local dealers it is missing the target customer (the 20 something PT cruiser or Scion buyer) with most units being bought by a much older customer, typically Chevy loyalists who wanted a PT Crusier but would never buy a Chrysler.

GM's problems go deeper than the HHR. They are right back to producing the same cookie cutter sedans that they were criticized for in the 80's and early 90's that you can't tell apart without looking at the label. A few thousand convertible coupes a year and all the HHR's they can build can't make up for the Malibu's, G6's, Impala's, Ion's and all the rest of the parade of crap they run out there. That was their bread and butter and thats where thay are loosing it. Ford and Chrysler have at least been producing affordable and exciting products like the 300 , Charger, the new Mustang, and 500. They have new stuff coming too that people are actually interested in. I'm not trying to bash GM, but are they even in the same decade as the rest of the industry?

As I already pointed out, Pontiac has 13,000 orders for the new 2006 Solstice.

http://photos.velocityjournal.com/images/full/2005/131/pn2006solstice1315914.jpg

GM should obviously use styling from the new Solstice and Sky with their new rwd cars. Pontiac has over 15,000 orders for the Solstice as of early November.

Looks like the RWD models are on hold for now from what I have been reading. Also GM stock is now trading at its lowest since 1987 thanks to labor woes and continued poor sales. Toyota or someone should buy them out, clean house and start over.

Looks like the RWD models are on hold for now from what I have been reading.

Directly from the source...

https://www.autonews.com/buyArchives.cms?articleId=54443

Need to be subscriber to get the article.

The same article from Automotive News is shown in autoweek.com

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103159

Looks like the RWD models are on hold for now from what I have been reading. Also GM stock is now trading at its lowest since 1987 thanks to labor woes and continued poor sales. Toyota or someone should buy them out, clean house and start over.

I would love to see Toyota attempt to "buy out" the second largest company on the planet.

Chevrolet will have a rwd coupe concept at the 2006 Detroit auto show.

Toyota or someone should buy them out, clean house and start over.

You have smoked yourself stupid

Pontiac now has over 15,000 orders for the Solstice.

Lease guide forecasts high residual value for Pontiac Solstice

ARLENA SAWYERS | Automotive News

Posted Date: 12/16/05

The Pontiac Solstice will keep its value better than any other [all-]new 2006 domestic-brand vehicle, Automotive Lease Guide predicts.

The guide, which sets residual value standards for the industry, predicts the Solstice will hold 54.0 percent of its sticker price after three years. The roadster has a base price of $19,995, including shipping.

Rather than worry about whether or not to install a hand-built (and expensive) LS7 in the new Camaro to compete with the new Shelby GT500, GM should make it handle far better than the new Mustang and give it an LS2 and the 3.6 liter 255 hp DOHC V-6 from the Cadillac CTS.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/assets/image/2006/Q1/162006144750.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/Truckmuddr/Cars/CamaroChopped.jpg

personally im still happy with any GM product (well maybe not the caddys i get burned every time i work on em) since i work at valvoline i do work on quite a few cars a week. 250 or so per week. compared to other cars that come in, GM is god, they are insanely easy to work on. im personally happy with em even though their styles are all pretty much the same and their cars are all unibody (junk)id give em an 8.5. i shit you not weve got a guy that comes in once every 3 months on the dot, he drives all across the country in his 00 chevrolet impala with the 3.8 series 2 hes coming up on 300,000 miles and he says the car runs as good as the day it came off the lot. just goes to show you as long as you maintain your car it can keep going, and going, and going, etc. ok im done wasting everyones time, that was just my two cents worth

Official pictures of the new 400 hp Chevrolet Camaro concept

check this link

New Camaro concept (http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/chevrolet_camaro.asp)

For reference...

1969 Camaros and a 1969 Corvette Stingray (not "Sting Ray" like the 1963-1967 Corvette)

http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/1969-camaro/1024x768/wallpaper_04.jpg

http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/1969-camaro/1024x768/wallpaper_07.jpg

http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/1969-camaro/1024x768/wallpaper_05.jpg

http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/1969-camaro/1024x768/wallpaper_02.jpg

http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/1969-camaro/1024x768/wallpaper_01.jpg

1967 Camaro

http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/1967-camaro/1024x768/wallpaper_04.jpg

http://www.netcarshow.com/chevrolet/1967-camaro/1024x768/wallpaper_01.jpg

New Camaro concept

http://automobilemag.com/auto_shows/naias_2006/0602_camaro_ofsk_02_900.jpg

http://automobilemag.com/auto_shows/naias_2006/0602_camaro_ofsk_01_900.jpg

http://automobilemag.com/auto_shows/naias_2006/0602_camaro_ofsk_05_900.jpg

Camaro tops GM's rwd list; Buick Velite concept, Pontiac GTO and Impala also possibilities

By RICK KRANZ | Automotive News

1/16/2006

DETROIT- For General Motors Vice Chairman Robert Lutz, the Chevrolet Camaro concept car tops the list of possible vehicles in the automaker's lineup of mid-priced to premium-priced, rear-drive cars for North America.

GM will select vehicles for the program within six months. Production will begin in 2008 or 2009.

Speaking of the Camaro he drove onstage last week at the Detroit auto show, Lutz said, "I know where it fits in the overall enthusiasm ranking. If it was a question of what would you like to do, I would obviously do this one first."

But, he added, "We can't always follow our enthusiasm. We have to do what's right for the business."

GM will weigh the Camaro, as well as the next-generation Chevrolet Impala and a Buick sedan in the rwd car program. The Buick, Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn brands are under consideration for rear-drive models.

"We have a big plan for rear-wheel drive," says Gene Stefanyshyn, vehicle line executive for what GM now calls its global rwd architecture. GM previously called the architecture Zeta.

GM needs to fill the rwd gap between its small, sporty rwd cars, such as the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, and rwd luxury vehicles such as the Cadillac CTS, STS and SRX.

The company delayed plans for mid-sized rwd vehicles last year. Meanwhile, competitors have scored strong sales of rwd cars such as the Ford Mustang and Chrysler 300.

GM is confident that the Camaro will appeal to baby boomers who remember the original. But will it appeal to younger buyers?

Lutz enthusiastically supports the Camaro concept that he unveiled Jan. 9 during the Detroit auto show.

If produced, the Camaro would feature a standard V-6 engine and one or two V-8s, Lutz says. It would be priced competitively with the Mustang.

GM revived its rwd plans late last summer after halting efforts to develop North American vehicles on Zeta last winter. Last winter, GM executives said that the initial plan for the Zeta vehicles was not workable but pledged to develop a new strategy.

Possible Zeta vehicles included the Buick Velite concept, Pontiac GTO and Impala.

Stefanyshyn would not reveal the entire lineup under consideration but said the next-generation Impala "is a possibility."

GM's styling studio has prepared both rear- and front-drive versions of the next Impala, according to an industry source who did not want to be identified.

The engineering of the new group of vehicles will be handled by GM's Holden subsidiary in Australia, which built the Holden Monaro that is the basis for the current Pontiac GTO.

The architecture will debut in the second half of this year on a redesigned Holden model. GM also is considering a rwd model for China.

Stefanyshyn was named vehicle line executive for the Zeta architecture a year ago. After the program stalled, he canceled plans to move to Australia. Now that the program has been revived, he will relocate to Australia in February and restart the vehicle development program for North America.

GM vehicles on the global rwd architecture will have long wheel-bases and short overhangs. All-wheel drive will be available. The Camaro and Velite, a convertible concept introduced at the 2004 New York auto show, demonstrate the possibilities for the architecture.

Stefanyshyn says the global rwd architecture can be used for a wide range of vehicles. Vehicles will be assembled in Australia and North America.

But Opel no longer is considering such a car, says Hans Demant, managing director of Adam Opel AG.

Says Demant: "It is just too big" for Europe.

Lutz: "all the way up to 500hp or whatever size V8 we have".

check this link

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424793

it would be cool to see chevy reskin(like they all do now) the solstice, for camaro's little brother in looks (for a time) the vega. but i do agree gm needs to get slapped(ford and dodge too). i dunno what they are doing (and there are times i dont think they do either). i mean the big 3 all killed thier rice defence, dodge's srt 4, chevy caviler, and ford zx2 (escort). and its like they are all going for high end and luxurious. when what does that average american settle for? price, mpg, decent looks and performance. we need something affordable (and noone dare say aveo<its a daewoo powertrain) reliable little cars.

The Cavalier is no longer built. The new Cobalt SS Supercharged has 205 hp.

thats what i ment. dodge killed the neon, chevy killed cavilier, and ford killed escort. the cobalt should in no way be remotely labeled as "entry" especially since its 20 sum grand for the ss.