What's Wrong With This Picture: Getting To Orlando Edition

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Having recently invested in an all-new global compact car, the Cruze, it was inevitable that Chevrolet would eventually come out with an MPV based on the Cruze’s underpinnings. When the unavoidable people-mover debuted at the 2008 Paris Auto Show as the severely handsome Orlando Concept, its clean yet distinctive look certainly got our attention. And with initial plans calling for US production (Hamtramck), it seemed that The General really was ready to put up to seven Americans in a compact-car-based vehicle. But after we called the Orlando “The Cruze To Wait For,” GM entered bailout hell and the Orlando was canceled and uncanceled for the US market with every new executive that passed through the RenCen.Now, with the first images of the production Orlando hitting the web, the post-concept reality of Chevy’s “Delta MPV7” reflects its troubled development.

The very European-looking concept has been softened into what looks more like a US-market crossover (i.e. something you might spot in Orlando)… but it’s going to be made by Daewoo in South Korea, and is focused on the European market. And based on the current plans, Americans looking for this kind of car from GM will have to spring for a GMC Granite “Urban Utility Vehicle.” Because apparently GM’s product planners think Europeans are into generic, American-named people movers, while Americans are looking for over-the-top designs and an upmarket brand from their fuel-efficient kiddy haulers. On the other hand, as little sense as that premise makes, the production look of the Chevy Orlando won’t exactly inspire anyone to contradict it.




Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • DenverMike DenverMike on Aug 25, 2010

    That grille treatment is tired and dated. It's just like the grille on the Malibu, Equinox, Silverado, Cruze, Aveo, Impala, Colorado, Escalade, TrailBlazer, Tahoe, Uplander, Volt, Kodiak.. I think it's been on or is currently on almost all Chevys. And could they make the 'bowtie' emblems a little.. no alot.. OK, if they could just remove it all together, it would be a marked improvement and I could see myself driving one. No, seriously. That huge gold bowtie has probably killed off more sales.. It shouts "Hey everybody, I'm a Chevy" as if you couldn't you tell.

  • PeriSoft PeriSoft on Aug 26, 2010

    It's worth noting that the photography has an effect on the way the cars look, too. The prototype was shot from a very low angle, making it look significantly more aggressive; the production version was shot from closer to 'normal point of view', which makes it look both less aggressive and more 'normal', since we generally don't see cars from a crawling perspective. There's also probably a difference in lens angle. There are differences, yeah, but if you shot the prototype the way the production car was shot, and vice versa, I'm guessing that the differences would be much less apparent.

  • Slavuta Inflation creation act... 2 thoughts1, Are you saying Biden admin goes on the Trump's MAGA program?2, Protectionism rephrased: "Act incentivizes automakers to source materials from free-trade-compliant countries and build EVs in North America"Question: can non-free-trade country be a member of WTO?
  • EBFlex China can F right off.
  • MrIcky And tbh, this is why I don't mind a little subsidization of our battery industry. If the American or at least free trade companies don't get some sort of good start, they'll never be able to float long enough to become competitive.
  • SCE to AUX Does the WTO have any teeth? Seems like countries just flail it at each other like a soft rubber stick for internal political purposes.
  • Peter You know we’ve entered the age of self driving vehicles When KIAs go from being stolen to rolling away by themselves.
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