General Motors has big plans for the upcoming Chicago Auto Show. At the exposition opening this week, GM will unveil a pair of new vehicles, although details on what form they'll take remain scarce.
The news comes from reports quoting GM's North American president Mark Reuss. All he's revealed at this point is that one of the two cars will be based on the Chevrolet Camaro's platform. That tells us it will be a front-engine/rear-drive vehicle, but little else. So, commence speculation: Camaro Z28? Chevy Zeta-platform sedan? (Which we think should be called Chevelle, because hey, if Dodge can call its sedan Charger...)
As for the second car slated for the Windy City salon, your guess is as good as ours. So we'll just have to sit tight and see what the General has got in store for us.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Chevy Camaro platform underpins new GM vehicle in Chicago
Paris Motor Show 2008: Chevrolet Cruze meets an eager Europe
The Chevrolet Cruze is three kinds of car: small, American and important. And with the state of General Motors, it isn't even the individual words that mean the most: it's whether The General can combine them into a reliable, fuel efficient and cost effective package. True, we don't get to drive these things while they're parked under the lights, but to have a seat in the Cruze is to imagine a GM that begs the question, "Where was all this before the meltdown?" The studio imagery we've seen so far translates nicely into real life, and the center console looks and feels substantial – in fact, it looks like it could be foreign – even if the silver mesh treatment in the show car was a bit much. The car has a compact yet full-bodied stance, and will probably look even better on the road in a color other than scarlet, and not under klieg lights. Spring of '09 will welcome this first Cruze variant to Europe, after which other regions will get it, as well as a probable hatchback and wagon. It will be powered by a 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder that charts up to 140 hp and is said to return 40 mpg. Have a look at the high-res gallery of live shots below to get a better idea of what to expect when the Cruze goes on sale here in a couple years.
First Look: 2009 Pontiac G5
The Pontiac G5 arrived in the U.S. with little fanfare in 2006 as a 2007 model to serve duty as Pontiac's entry-level vehicle. The compact is identical to the Chevrolet Cobalt save for the front end and badges. Sold in Canada in Mexico as a sedan and a coupe, only the sportier two-door G5 is available here.
The smallest Pontiac rolls into 2009 with several changes, most notably under the hood. An updated 2.2L inline-four that gets a power boost to 155 hp and 155 lb-ft is now the only engine option for the G5 -- the 171-hp 2.4L inline-four that used to power the G5 GT goes away. When combined with the standard five-speed manual transmission -- which receives a new 3.63 final drive ratio -- and newly added 15-in. wheels with low-rolling-resistance tires, the revised engine allows the base G5 to achieve an improvement in fuel economy to a fairly impressive 25 mpg city/37 mpg highway.
