Category: Chevrolet

The closer we get to the launch date, the more expensive might be the future Chevrolet Volt. After a target price of £15,000/$30,000, then raised to £20,000/$40,000, the Volt will cost £24,000/$48,000.

In an interview with Business Week, Bob Lutz said that GM has to raise the price once again if the carmaker wants to make a profit. Thus, the future Chevrolet Volt might cost £24,000/$48,000. For this price, what are the alternatives on the American market? BMW sells the 535i saloon for $49,400 or a M3 saloon for $53,900. You can get an Infiniti M45 for $49,700 or a G37 for $34,500 and keep the rest in the bank. Suddenly the Volt appears less appealing than initially thought.

Along with the rising price, GM has also reduced its production output from 60,000 to 10,000 for the first year.

Holden has launched a special edition of the Captiva to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

Simply called 60th anniversary, the special Captiva comes with 18in sports alloy wheels, silver premium painted skid plate and fog lamp inserts, silver premium painted roof rails and door handles,  and new tail lights. On the inside, there are 7in screen with navigation and DVD player. The equipment list also adds leather front gear lever and rear view camera.

GM is considering fitting a 4 cylinder engine into the future Chevrolet Camaro as an entry-level model.

The carmaker Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has announced the company was seriously thinking at installing a four-cylinder unit under the bonnet of the future Camaro. The engine under consideration would be the turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol unit of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. Its delivered power, 260bhp, is close to the V6 that will be featured on the Camaro, the 3.6-litre V6 of the Cadillac CTS. A smaller engine would enable the future Camaro to offer a better fuel efficiency which is an appealing offer at a time of rising gas prices. However a four cylinder unit might damage the Camaro’s image in terms of sale that might not also enjoy a competitive selling price.

Lutz did not speak specifically on the topic of pricing, but said that the Camaro was “going to be above Mustang” pricing. He justified the higher price by a better interior and by a better handling provided by better rear-suspension architecture. The more we learn about the Camaro, the more we think the car will struggle on the market.

The Chevrolet Camaro has been caught on video without camouflage.

GM has recently announced that the Camaro will be delayed by several months. The muscle car will be powered by V6 and V8 petrol engines.

Chevrolet has announced it will delay the launch by a few months. When it debuts, the eagerly-awaited Camaro will be a 2010 model.

The carmaker hasn’t given any formal reasons for the delay. The car will be officially unveiled at Detroit next year but won’t hit showrooms before spring and will be sold as 2010 model. Later a convertible will be launched also as a 2010 model.

With the ubiquitous Mustang and the expected Challenger, GM might miss an opportunity to sell its pony-car. Indeed, Ford is expected to launch the next-generation Mustang in 2010.

The Camaro will be be powered by V6 and V8 petrol engines.

The closer we get to the production stage, the less confident is GM about the Volt plug-in hybrid model. The carmaker decided to lower its production from 60,000 in last August to 10,000 units per year.

In an interview with the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, GM product czar Bob Lutz revealed that Volt production will start at just 10,000 units in the first year. "Volt will be about 10,000 units the first year, just to make sure we’re prepared for any issues that might come up, and then ramp up production from there," Lutz told a group of journalists, noting that there were still significant development issues to overcome before the technology could be optimized for mass market use. "So we’re not going to see a wholesale move to electric vehicles right away."

Due to be unveiled in November 2010, the Chevrolet Volt will be the first plug-in hybrid in the world but its development is not without stumbling blocks. Indeed, engineers struggle with aerodynamics and battery technologies.

The Volt will be sold at first with outdated battery technologies as the limited timeframe doesn’t enable the carmaker to use lithium-ion batteries. Toyota also encounters the same problem as the Japanese carmaker delayed the launch of the next-generation Prius due to problems generated by lithium-ion batteries development.

Chevrolet has unveiled the first pictures and details of the new three-door Aveo which will be displayed at the next Geneva Motor Show.

The new three-door version is based on the five-door Aveo revealed last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new Aveo will be available with a choice of two petrol engines, gasoline engines: a 1.2-litre unit with an output of 83bp and a 1.4-litre unit with 100bp. The car will hit the showrooms in June.

With the five-door model due to go on sale next month, the three door Aveo is Chevrolet’s serious attempt to take on established rivals such as the Peugeot 207 and the Vauxhall Corsa. Chevrolet didn’t go wild with the design and the Aveo exterior styling is aggressive at the front and a little tame at the rear end. The interior styling looks a bit outdated. With a competitive price, Chevrolet will likely sell the Aveo quite well in aster Europe. On our shores, the challenge will be higher.

At a time when cars are considered no better than razor blades and car makers want us to believe that a model has a lifespan limited to four years, it is refreshing to learn that an American car owner will soon hit the one million miles mark with his 1991 Chevrolet Silverado pickup.

Franck Orsenic bought his secondhand pickup in 1996 with 41,000 miles on the clock. Since then he drove it more than 950,000 miles which is an average of more than 80,000 miles per year! He’s just now 1,200 miles from the one million mark and will put his pickup into retirement. When asked about his secret, the lucky owner just says he just changed oil every 3,000 miles.

The future Camaro continues revealing its charms with a unofficial pictures of the interior and an official picture of the exterior styling.

The unofficial pictures have been unveiled by Auto Express which scrutinised the future muscle car from every angle. While the exterior design was appealing on the first shots in December, the interior is disappointing by a dull design and a build quality that will likely never match the European standard. If the overall design can be acclaimed for its unique styling, the attempt to mix the ’60s design with contemporary plastic trimmings looks rather unappealing. Actually the gear-knob would fit perfectly in a Fiat Panda, but not in a sports car. Likewise, the ergonomic appears to be forgotten by designers who put gauges at the bottom of the central panel. But GM has recently proved that it could offer cars with an appealing interior. Let’s wait and see.

The other picture has been posted by Ed Pepper, Chevrolet General Manager, on the Fastlane blog owned by GM. This is an undisguised picture of the Chevrolet Camaro already revealed in a previous post. According to Ed Pepper, Bob Lutz asked the engineers to test the car without camo in order to evaluate the aerodynamics and cooling efficiency.

Click here to see all the pictures