Category: Chevrolet

Last week, GM loudly trumpeted the pending arrival of the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, to be officially unveiled at next month’s Mondial de l’Automobile (that’s Paris Motor Show to us ‘Murricans). First, they unveiled photos of the car and then revealed the real thing at the Lordstown, OH plant where the car will be built for American consumers.

This is a US-market Chevrolet compact? Yes, and you’ll see it in Paris next month. Sacre bleu!
As earlier spy photos had suggested, the Cruze, which in the US will effectively be the next generation Cobalt, is a very handsome compact sedan. It’s as appealing as the Cobalt is appliance-like. There’s some real design going on here with a sleek profile and great surface tension and great interaction between the exterior’s various design elements. GM also promises a very intriguing efficient powertrain choice in the form [...]

AutoPacific: Premium sports car owners rated the Audi TT as the category’s winner of the 2008 Motorist Choice Award®. The win was derived from top scores for safety features, feeling safe while driving, ride and ease of getting in and out. The interior of the Audi TT really pushed it to the head of the class, with high scores for instrument layout, controls having a quality feel, quietness inside, interior styling, feel of interior fabrics and materials and driver’s seat comfort. The TT’s traction in all weather conditions was also the best in the category.
IntelliChoice: The Audi TT tied with the Chevrolet Corvette within a very small class. The Audi TT has a strong retained value and was a 2008 Vehicle Satisfaction Award winner.

AutoPacific: The Chevrolet [...]

AutoPacific: Owners rated the Chevrolet Impala’s driver’s seat visibility as tops along the way to the vehicle’s 2008 Motorist Choice Award®. Audio system performance and controls that are easy to understand and use also impressed. Owners gave the Impala top marks for power, acceleration and ease of getting in and out.
IntelliChoice: The Impala combined an above-average performance in overall ownership costs with a second-place finish in the AutoPacific survey to take the 2008 Motorist Choice Award®.

AutoPacific: Typically, large heavy-duty pickups work a lot harder than they play, and the Chevrolet Silverado 2500/3500 is no exception – it put in some overtime for its owners and won the 2008 Motorist Choice Award® for its class. With a reputation second to none, Silverado was ranked by owners as having superior reliability, dependability, durability and driver’s seat visibility.
IntelliChoice: The Silverado 2500/3500 was a 2008 BOVY winner. The Silverado has an above-average retained value and is among the best in maintenance and insurance costs.

AutoPacific: With the highest overall satisfaction rating in the large light-duty pickup segment, the Chevrolet Avalanche wins that segment’s 2008 Motorist Choice Award®. Contributing to the win were owners’ ratings for the changeable interior and cargo space — a finding that lends credence to Avalanche’s functionality-enhancing ‘midgate’ design. The Avalanche also scored higher than any other full-size truck in terms of vehicle ride and driver’s seat visibility.
IntelliChoice: The Avalanche was second best in fuel costs and best in insurance costs. Combine this with the Avalanche’s strong performance in the AutoPacific survey, and you can see why the Avalanche is the 2008 Motorist Choice Award® winner.

A terrific way to spend an August in Sunday: Meadow Brook Concours d' Elegance in Rochester, Michigan.

A terrific way to spend an August in Sunday: Meadow Brook Concours d' Elegance in Rochester, Michigan.

What a disappointing day today turned out to be. I was supposed to represent VehicleVoice at Chevrolet’s unveiling of the long-awaited new Camaro up in North Hollywood this afternoon. Unfortunately, a three-car pileup on the I-5 North brought my northward progress to a halt, effectively making it impossible for me to get to the press conference. Beaten, I turned around and drove back to the office.

I tried to go to Hollywood to see this…
But instead all I got was this. Bummer.

The Chevrolet Trailblazer wins a 2008 Ideal Vehicle Award in the Premium Mid-Size Sport Utility segment. Owners reported the vehicle performs particularly well in cargo space, visibility and ingress/egress.

GMC’s Envoy wins in the Premium Mid-Size Sport Utility segment with owners’ strong ratings for seat firmness, level of technology and ride. Handling, power and acceleration also were all listed as strong points for the Envoy.

Even in its sixth model year, the Toyota 4Runner is an Ideal Vehicle Award winner. Few buyers would change interior storage space, exterior size or passenger room. Owners also noted the 4Runner’s level of safety.

After a lovely 4th of July weekend, doing my best to focus energies on anything not related to work (something I hear is easy for most people to do, but I’ve never quite got the knack of), I started my usual workday morning routine at my local Bally Total Fitness. And, sure enough, as soon as I get near the gym TV, there’s the news, dragging me right back to 5:15 am Monday morning reality.
The 5 am scoop in Detroit was the rumor GM is considering dumping more brands, one way or another, and firing more mid-management white-collar employees. (No, UAW, you do not have the corner on losing jobs. I swear.) Of course, by time I was in the office and caught up with e-mail, GM has flatly denied that any brand, other than Hummer, is up for review. We’ll only know the truth of that if GM manages to hold onto [...]