While You Were Sleeping: Chevrolet Sub-Camaro, Toyota/Honda Best Supplier Customers and Aston Martin's Crossover

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

As I fly down to Nashville to drive Nissan’s latest iteration of their 4DSC (“four-door sports car”) – the Maxima – we will have all the articles you expect on a Monday.

Here’s what happened over the weekend.

Mark Stevenson
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  • Sportyaccordy Sportyaccordy on May 18, 2015

    Re: sub Camaro Next Cruze needs to have a hatch form, and get the chops to compete with the likes of the FoST/FoRS/Golf R etc. Cruze sells well but nobody talks about it. It's not a car that elicits any passion from anybody, but GM has the tools to make it so. Coupe form can only succeed with a mega legacy (Miata, Cmro, Rustang, Vette, 911, M4 etc), mega performance/$$$ (2 series, Genesis 3.8, Cmero, Rustang, Z- just barely) or some combo of both. Hot hatches are a different kind of fun but they are very close to the same amount of fun with way more practicality. Truthfully cars like the BRZ, 2 series etc should have been sedans.

    • Quentin Quentin on May 18, 2015

      Does a car need to have passion, though? The sales numbers on the WRX and GTI were abysmal up until their very recent redesigns. The Fiesta ST numbers are under 500/mo as far as I've been able to piece together. Focus STs have tons of cash on the hood and have since they were first released. Is it worth the effort and investment for something sporty when by and large people aren't buying it? That extra R&D cash could be used for making the mainline cars better so they can better compete with the Corolla, Civic, Focus, etc and still have a very broad appeal. From a business perspective, Chevy already has 2 performance cars that cover the $24k to $100k range. Do they really need to fill that under $24k performance niche (especially since a loaded up Cruze is already pushing the mid $20k range.)

  • Speedlaw Speedlaw on May 18, 2015

    First GM builds an e46 in a zoot suit. (Ok, that was the e90, but still) The small one looks like a cross between the 1 series and 2 series coupe. You almost want to sneak one in to Dorkfest. (the car club meet for lovers of the Z3 hardtop coupes)..... OK, if you ARE going to copy..... Dedicated sports car at a low price point....no. We will get hopped up versions of pedestrian cars. Cheap to do, great markup on a cheap frame. We will get higher powered versions of lux and near lux. Also cheap to do, be sure to lard up the option packages with one "must have" per package, so they have to buy them all. Thanks Cable TV ! for that advice. A Sportscar in today's day and age is a higher price pointed toy for someone who has at least one other car and space to put it. This cuts the possible buyers way, way down. You can still make money if you can charge a stoopid price, like Porsche or BMW on the Z series. Cheap fast cars are non existent....Camaro and Mustang, years back, were. Today, you are at the same price point as a near lux car. It would be nice to see a non FWD hotted up coupe tossed in there. For others, you can pick up a nice 6 powered 1 series coupe used for 20- 25k.

  • Lightspeed Lightspeed on May 18, 2015

    The company GM needs to copy is Subaru. GM needs to make everything (except Corvette) AWD and bland in styling. Look how Subaru sales have taken off as the cars get more boring to look at. And, as a North American brand - where it snows - shouldnt they be leading in AWD?

    • JohnTaurus JohnTaurus on May 19, 2015

      This may come as a surprise, but it doesnt snow everywhere in the US. Some of the largest population areas rarely if ever get snow (southern California, Texas, etc). In my area, seeing a Subaru is quite uncommon. I see many more newer Camaros than Subarus. Copying Subaru would be an excellent way to lower sales. As much hoopla has been made about Subaru's increasing sales, brands that dont make MPG-sucking AWD standard on their sedan line ups still out sell it by a wide margin. Subaru sold a bit over 40k units in April. Chevrolet division sold over 118k units in the same time period. Why should GM copy a brand that its mainstream brand outsells already by quite a bit? Its not as if you cant find an AWD vehicle in Chevy showrooms, its just going to be in the form of a crossover: Trax, Equinox, Traverse, as well as 4wd mid and fullsize trucks and fullsize SUVs. The Trax and Equinox are relatively fuel efficient and affordable. And bland styling? I think theyve got the bases covered on that as well (especially Trax and the now-dated Equinox, although the Terrain twin still looks good IMO).

  • JohnTaurus JohnTaurus on May 19, 2015

    New Maxima: Best looking Maxi since 1999. Has become the only car (non-truck) on a Nissan lot Id give two $#!Г§ about, now that the Cube is gone. Id still likely buy something else, but at least they tried and it shows. I see some early 810 styling in the front of the new Maxi, and that's a good thing. Too bad Nissan (evidently) isnt going to produce the IdX. It couldve actually caused me to consider spending money there. I feel the same way about the Kia GT-4 Stinger, although Id like a non-turbo base model. It would be the first time since the truck-based Sportage was replaced that Id seriously consider a Kia. Actually, the Borrego wasnt bad, or at least I liked the idea of it, and, though a little bland, it wasnt bad looking. But, it looks like it (GT-4 Stinger) isnt going to happen, either.

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