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Here comes the Opel Allegra, the forthcoming European market city car, and (CARB willing) maybe even Buick’s next CAFE-buster. A Buick on a shortened Opel Corsa platform is madness, you say? Let’s see your old Roadmaster get 35.5 MPG combined…
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Dear GM,
Here’s an thought, if the Sonic is going to be so damn good, what’s the point of a small Buick? Offer leather in the Sonic if it’s so premium. You’ve got no problem with a Malibu LTZ or an Impala LTZ sell the Sonic LTZ. Or is this another sad attempt to compete with yourself, and nobody else?
Former Customer,
Dan
The Chevy Sonic is 4.4 meters long.
The Opel Allegra is supposed to come in at around 3 meters long – about a half meter longer than a Smart.
Very different car class.
The Sonic will be offered with leather (see big pretty pics on the new Chevy site). But otherwise it’s an economy car, albeit a fairly refined one.
It should be good, but Chevy will never go too premium like Ford, because that’s Buick and GMC territory. Unlike Ford with Lincoln, GM has opted not to sap its premium brands of all relevance.
If Buick offers the Corsa, it will be significantly plusher, like the Verano. IMHO I’ve never thought a little choice was that bad. Then again, I think the Cadillac ULC is a good idea too, so I’m a weirdo.
Some size comparos:
Verano: 4671mm
Sonic sedan: 4397mm
Sonic hatch: 4039mm
Corsa hatch: 3999mm
Cadillac ULC concept: 3835mm
Spark hatch: 3640mm
Whew…that’s a lot of little hatchbacks!
(sorry if re-post, commenting issues on my side)
The Sonic will be offered with leather (see big pretty pics on the new Chevy site). But otherwise it’s an economy car, albeit a fairly refined one.
It should be good, but Chevy will never go too premium like Ford, because that’s Buick and GMC territory. Unlike Ford with Lincoln, GM has opted not to sap its premium brands of all relevance.
If Buick offers the Corsa, it will be significantly plusher, like the Verano. IMHO I’ve never thought a little choice was that bad. Then again, I think the Cadillac ULC is a good idea too, so I’m a weirdo.
Some size comparos:
Verano: 4671mm
Sonic sedan: 4397mm
Sonic hatch: 4039mm
Corsa hatch: 3999mm
Cadillac ULC concept: 3835mm
Spark hatch: 3640mm
Whew…that’s a lot of little hatchbacks!
A Buick Smart?
Hmm…
If Caddy can make a Mini, I guess Buick can make a Smart.
At least it’s not an abomination like the Cygnet.
I had an Opel Kadett in the early 1970’s. A great car along with my Datsun 510. Bring back an affordable, four-cylinder, manual transmission, RWD car and I’m in.
Twotone
This abomination looks like it would fit in the back of a Roadmaster Estate Wagon and lengthwise probably would with the second seat folded down. Yeech!! Sure makes the Fiesta look good.
Ugly, too small, and no one willingly wants to own it.
In short, the fantasy world of the environmental wackos in the current administration in Washington.
As evidenced by Smart, et al. a handful of people want microcars for in-city use.
needs portholes on the side. no hard plastics!
35.5 MPG combined? That’s it? What’s the point in buying an A-segment car when you get the same mileage with a B- or even C-segment car?
Precisely my point.
The gas mileage has little to do with it. It’s all about the size. In some cities, you’re limited to on-street parking. Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood is a good example, The smaller the car, the better the odds of finding a parking space. A smaller car has advantages in parking garages. Some garages have little nooks and crannies that only a B or A segment will fit. Garages in Boston fill up, but if you have an A or B seg car, sometimes they’ll wave you in past the “full” sign and put you in one of the spots the normal sized cars won’t fit in.
front end looks seriously out of proportion with the rest of the car.
In fact, the front clip, the mid-section behind the doors and the rear hatch look like they are from 3 different cars. What were they thinking on the rear quarter panel windows? It ain’t in anyway as elegant as the FIAT 500. It looks more like a penalty box than anything else I’ve seen.
That’s not a car. It’s a shoebox.
I like small cars, but this thing is too small for U.S. roads. Wouldn’t the Corsa be enough?
First, even from 50 feet away, you can tell that ain’t no FIAT 500.
GM is going to have their lunch handed to them. The side windows behind the driver and passenger are a screaming abomination. The car’s back hatch area, mid section and the front clip look they were assembled from 3 different cars.
My guess is that Rüsselsheim kludged this together is because Suzuki said sayonara to GM.
FIAT has a hit in the European A-segment and Ford has the Ka, which sells well enough. http://www.carsession.com/car-news/2010-ford-ka.html
I highly doubt that this Third World A-segment attempt is destined for Buick in North America.
Wasn’t Allegra that fat-substitute that gave people violent diarrhea?
No, actually, that’s about right.
No, that would be Alli. Which is (almost) the new name for GMAC
Wise guy, eh?
bok
I got it! It was Olestra.
Allegra is an allergy medicine. Although one of the side effects are may cause nausea…
Ugly P-O-S, this is. This car, like the Smart, is bumping up against the limits of achievable fuel economy by reducing the physical size of the car. At speed, the most signfiicant factor is drag, which is a product of frontal area and coefficient of drag. Regardless of its size, the frontal area of a car can only be reduced so much, because of the need to accommodate two human passengers sitting side-by-side. And, the c/d can only be reduced to the high 20s (i.e. 20+% of the drag of a barn door of same area). Driving around town, the limiting factor is the mass of the car, which much be accelerated from rest and then stopped (hybrids work by recapturing some of the energy that is used to accelerate the car from rest, when it is brought to a stop). The limiting factor on mass — at least using non-exotic materials — is providing sufficient crash protection for the occupants. No one is building 1500-1800 lb. cars that carry two or even 4 people, unlike in the 1960s when small cars of such weight were common.
As for the argument that microcars can fit in smaller parking spaces — that’s true (at least, shorter spaces), but only a few parking garages have a group of shorter parking spaces; and, on the street, metered spaces are all the same size — to accommodate a standard car.
And I would argue that, if you live in a place where a Smart-type car makes sense (i.e. a high-density, urban area) just take the bus; there are probably plenty of them in your neighborhood. And, for the once a week trip to the grocery store, your dinky car is hardly going to be better than the bus. So, have a real car and use it . . . or one of these car sharing services.
Would GM really put a Buick grill on this and sell it in Ameica? Talk about arrogance…
Examples of GM arrogance… Cimmaron by Cadillac, Catera, FWD Caddys in the 80s that were smaller outside than many Chevys… killing the B-body… FWD Delta 88s and 98s… Saturns and Oldsmobiles that looked like mirror immages of each other… killing Oldsmobile… killing Pontiac… pretending that China isn’t their #1 priority right now… announcing that they will no longer give specific details of transaction prices in monthly reports… having an accounting system that made the government throw up their hands and go looking for a stiff drink when auditors tried to find out the real monetary situation of the company… come on B&B I’m sure we’ve got more examples…
Anyone? Bueller?
I can see putting a Chevy badge on this, although I don’t see the point, I think Smart proved there’s no market for these in the US yet. Putting a Buick badge on it would just kill what they’re trying to do with the brand. I hope they’re not that dumb, but as Dan points out….
if they do this I will begin to pray that GM goes out of business so someone else can take control of Buick.
My Roadmaster wagon may not get 35.5 MPG, but it will hold probably three of those in the cargo area.