LexFather

Chevrolet to get a new compact car for sale early next year

Jamie LaReau
Automotive News
June 2, 2008 - 1:52 pm ET


DETROIT -- General Motors will unveil a Chevrolet compact car at an auto show this fall, with production slated to begin early next year, say sources familiar with GM's product program.

The vehicle will be built on the Delta compact car architecture at GM's plant in Lordstown, Ohio.

The car will use a new 1.4-liter global engine that GM developed and recently announced in Europe. The turbocharged four-cylinder engine will be used in several GM vehicles worldwide.

The Chevrolet compact will not be called the Cobalt, says one source familiar with the plans. GM will produce the current-generation Cobalt through June 2010 as a 2009 model. It was unclear from sources whether GM will continue to build the Cobalt after that.

Shared among five nameplates

The car's engine will be capable of developing between 120 and 140 hp. Sources say mileage could easily exceed 40 mpg.

"It's a pretty incredible engine; it's direct-injected with great power," the source says. "The small-displacement turbos make it possible to get great power so that GM might put it in the mid-sized products, too. It's an extremely important engine and a very capable powertrain."

The new engine will be shared among five nameplates: Chevrolet, Pontiac, Saturn, Opel and Daewoo, sources say. That means the Lordstown plant could build cars for export.

The engine continues the trend that GM started with such cars as the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Red Line. Those cars use smaller engines and high-technology devices such as direct fuel injection and turbochargers to boost fuel economy and performance.

Lordstown plant retooling

GM is retooling its plant in Lordstown for a new vehicle, sources say. Lordstown union officials have heard that GM plans to add a shift.

GM now is building between 1,400 and 1,500 cars a day at Lordstown; adding a shift would increase that output to 2,100 cars a day. GM builds the Chevrolet Cobalt as well as the Pontiac G5 and its Canadian counterpart, the Pontiac Pursuit, at the Lordstown plant.

Meanwhile, GM is reconsidering bringing the Chevrolet minicar, the Beat, to the United States.

"The Beat for the U.S. is getting a pretty thorough examination now that you see what's going on with fuel prices," says a source close to GM's product development. "It isn't definitively on there as a go product, but there is a lot of inside chatter and it's on the consideration list."

TRDFantasy

With regards to the mileage and power, I'll believe it when I see it. I think it's a bad idea though giving the compact a new name. In the past 20 years, how many times has GM changed names of it's mainstream compact? GM had the Cavalier for a while, then it changed to the Cobalt, and now it will be something else? This is a great way to erode brand loyalty .

TRDRAV4

Are they going to kill the Cobalt SS then?

Koma

iTrader: (3)

They just killed the Cavalier and now the Cobalt already?

bagwell

I always got great MPG when renting Cobalts....even in the Colorado mountains.

Raph TT

as far as i know(and i know) opel recently introduced their new 1.6l turbo and redesigned the 2.0t (again) , fiat however added a new 1.4l turbo.. gm fiat alliance on this one?

here GM /Es new 21000 euro sub compact ..192 hp turbo (driven it..endosed!)


why doesnt gm just rebadge some of those hot hatchbacks and sell em under the saturn or chevy badge?

whoster

because hatchbacks don't sell in America.

Nextourer

They did. It's called the Satura Astra both in 3 and 5-door hatchbacks.



hmm.. they're killing the Cobalt? Seriously, they have to stop changing names every 5 years. Nobody's gonna keep track if you change the name.

Btw, I hope Toyota brings over a direct-injected engine for the Corolla soon. That'll bump the hp and the mpg over the Civic.

Raph TT

thats a corsa..the Astra is bigger..is saturn getting the classy interior(recaros!) ond the panorama roof option..the panorama roof is sick!

i wonder if theyll bring over the astra OPC and call it red line?


ive driven one at work and its a totally different feel.
engines 1.8,1.8t,1.6t ,2.0t and 2.0 ho t ,1.9 ho t diesel

the opc:


iRecaro interior (standard on opc,optional on gtc .. blue accent is free on opc..can be switched for alumi,carbon,wood etc)




now one of those cars do run between 18000 euro and 25000 euro (hyunda genesis price)

i see saturn swaping interiors,downgrading suspension,removing esp and the 8 airbags in favour of 4 .. no tmps,no auto headlights,no AFL,no 6 speed,no easy tronic 5 speed paddle shift,smaller brakes no convertible version.. etc etc to reach a "value" price of 14000 us$ sad really

Raph TT

honda civic hatch vs si.. be the judge

civic hatch starts at 14000 to 24000 for the R





type s and r share same styling..exept for thr red badges on the R


now the Si...


tail Si

tail Type S/R hatch ..check out the exhaust..

bagwell

hard to believe....Cobalt is Chevy's #3 seller behind the Silverado and Impala...almost 95,000 Cobalts sold thru May 2008.

gengar

I doubt that "easily exceed 40mpg" figure, given Opel's 1.6t is rated at ~32mpg combined (although the Astra does make 180hp).

GFerg

Thats a cool little hatchback. Would make for a nice sporty looking Saturn. I can see a lot of very attractive small cars coming out in the next few years obviously because of gas prices and higher epa standards.

Iceman

Does that include fleet sales? The Cobalt is one of those POS rental cars that makes me do two things:

1) March right back to the rental counter when I find one in my spot so that I can demand a halfway decent vehicle.
2) Wonder when I see one that's obviously owned by an individual and not a rental car (personalized plates or bumper stickers or something) what the hell they were thinking actually spending their hard-earned money on such a piece of crap.

Chevy should be embarassed to put out that car. Every Japanese and even Korean competitor puts it to shame in absolutely every single category.

@lpher

The same way small four door sedans dont sell very well in europe i guess