Autoextremist to GM Design: Don't screw up the RWD Impala!!

GM Design. There are also grave rumblings within GM Design that the design direction for an all-new, rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet Impala is in deep trouble. Rumors persist that the car is being taken down the wrong path into a place that has nothing to do with the Impala in any way, shape or form. GM has a golden opportunity to do a milestone, mainstream Chevrolet, and if they blow this one, well, let's just say that they can't blow it - it's too damn crucial. We are in a market that is very clearcut right now: There are no second chances for Detroit's automakers. They have to get it right the first time, because the American consumer public doesn't care about Detroit and given the chance, will keep right on walking without even considering. That's why if there is a new rear-wheel-drive Impala, it can't be anything but a drop-dead gorgeous hit. If there's one thing that the Camaro Concept should have taught GM by now is that heritage done right, without wallowing in the dreaded Retro, can succeed like gang busters. Perhaps the real problem for GM right now is in their design leadership. The "followers" at GM Design need to step aside if all they can come up with is patterning their designs off of competitors' existing hits. GM (and all of Detroit) needs bold strokes, and if GM Design's current leadership doesn't have the backbone to get it done, then it's time to make a change.

GM Design. There are also grave rumblings within GM Design that the design direction for an all-new, rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet Impala is in deep trouble. Rumors persist that the car is being taken down the wrong path into a place that has nothing to do with the Impala in any way, shape or form. GM has a golden opportunity to do a milestone, mainstream Chevrolet, and if they blow this one, well, let's just say that they can't blow it - it's too damn crucial. We are in a market that is very clearcut right now: There are no second chances for Detroit's automakers. They have to get it right the first time, because the American consumer public doesn't care about Detroit and given the chance, will keep right on walking without even considering. That's why if there is a new rear-wheel-drive Impala, it can't be anything but a drop-dead gorgeous hit. If there's one thing that the Camaro Concept should have taught GM by now is that heritage done right, without wallowing in the dreaded Retro, can succeed like gang busters. Perhaps the real problem for GM right now is in their design leadership. The "followers" at GM Design need to step aside if all they can come up with is patterning their designs off of competitors' existing hits. GM (and all of Detroit) needs bold strokes, and if GM Design's current leadership doesn't have the backbone to get it done, then it's time to make a change.


If i'm right (please tell me otherwise ;) ) the Impala is the stock bread and butter 4 door sedan yes? This is the car that competes with the Avalon and Camry etc? Why would you want to make it heritage or retro? I would go for a modern attractive looking car and pass on the retro theme. Then again what do I know about American tastes. :)

Hmm, Chevy needs the Impala to be something special. The new one is the most boring Impala ever. I cant imagine what they would do to it to mess it up any more. The build quality of the new one is awesome, but thats all.

If This is the car that competes with the Avalon and Camry etc? :)

No, thats the job of the midsize fwd Malibu. The Impala competes with cars like the 300C, Charger and to a lesser degree the Crown Vic.

More than anything else, GM HAS to get back to "American Design"...enough with the Euro crud....the DCX cars prove that style, American style is as important as anything when selling lots of cars.

Exactly!

No, thats the job of the midsize fwd Malibu. The Impala competes with cars like the 300C, Charger and to a lesser degree the Crown Vic.

Oh ok thanks for the update I understand now.

More than anything else, GM HAS to get back to "American Design"...enough with the Euro crud....the DCX cars prove that style, American style is as important as anything when selling lots of cars.

Its funny that...I see the DCX cars as ugly square boxes. I've seen one 300C on the road here on the gold coast and :barf:.

I like the heritage of the Camaro and Corvette but on anything else (esp your run of the mill fleet cars) it just looks crap to me. I guess thats where Australians differ we like our performace RWD in a more conservative shell.

I don't get it. GM is on with Cadillac as a whole, the Camaro, the C6, the new Malibu (if we can believe what we read), Solsitce/Sky, Aura, Enclave, GMT900 SUV's, and Lucerne. How can they be taking such a large step back when the last handful of cars they've put out are honestly good looking?

Hmm, Chevy needs the Impala to be something special. The new one is the most boring Impala ever. I cant imagine what they would do to it to mess it up any more. The build quality of the new one is awesome, but thats all.

I agree, the next Impala needs to make a splash. Anyone know the sales figures of the new Impala? I think that I read somewhere that it was doing no better than the old Impala.

I think that I read somewhere that it was doing no better than the old Impala.
I though that the old one sold pretty well. How do the sales numbers for the current impala and chrysler 300 match up? I'm in the camp that thinks a dramatic, polarizing design, might actually hurt sales. A somewhat boring, aka honda/toyota design, might have a broader appeal and sell better.

I though that the old one sold pretty well. How do the sales numbers for the current impala and chrysler 300 match up? I'm in the camp that thinks a dramatic, polarizing design, might actually hurt sales. A somewhat boring, aka honda/toyota design, might have a broader appeal and sell better.

Good points. The Impala far outsells the 300. But I wonder which one is making more money for it's parent company?

And I don't necessarilly think a good looking design needs to be polarizing. The point I was trying to make when comparing '05 and '06 Impala sales is that you would think the new one would be selling substantially better. After all, it has a VASTLY better interior, it has more features, it has a better engine line up. So why isn't it selling better than the old one?

IMO it lacks one thing, one very important thing for a Chevy. Expressive styling. The old car had some breakthrough Chevy styling elements, that the non-discript Lumina it replaced, didn't have. And those small Chevy styling gestures - I think - paid off handsomely.

I wonder how well a slightly hotter looking Impala would be selling right now?

CUrrent Impala is right behind the Camry and Accord in sales.... Something like 380k sold a year? The current Impala is definantly a seller.

The ford 500 comes in an AWD version now. Maybe Chevy should make it FWD with an AWD option. That would make the RWD people happy, and the Impala still has a lower HP rating that an AWD powertrain probably would survive.
The impala hasn't been anything cool since 96 so I don't see how they can really screw up the name anymore then it already is.

Well thats the thing.. Although alot of us aren't thrilled with the the current Impala.. They are selling quite well.. Which isn't too surprising since people in the US eat up Accords and Camry's in mass quantities too. Unfortunantly, whats cool, isn't necessarily in line to what people buy...

The accord/camry market is the Malibus job. Impala seems to be brought down a notch when it falls into that market. It just lacks something, seems out of place. If Chevy has one RWD sedan, Impala has to be it.

I got mine!:D

I think the 'Bel-Air' name should be used for a RWD Chevy sedan.

I really liked the 1996 Impala's but the recent FWD ones haven't done the legendary 'Impala' name justice. The FWD 'Impala' should be kept (or merged with the next-gen Malibu) as a v6 volume sedan while a new RWD Bel-Air would be larger, more expensive and have a v8 option.

The accord/camry market is the Malibus job. Impala seems to be brought down a notch when it falls into that market. It just lacks something, seems out of place. If Chevy has one RWD sedan, Impala has to be it.

IMO , you cant really say Malibu totally handles that market alone . I think the Impala is 1/2 going at the large car market , and the Malibu is 1/2 going at the mid size market and Both are competing for a piece of the Camary/Accord pack . Both the Camary and Accord fall about dead in between the Malibu and Impala size wise . I think if Chevy had a desireable RWD Impala and a 1 right sized desireably Malibu , I think Malibu's sales would skyrocket and the Impala's sales would fall more inline with a 300c or charger .

Camary is projected to sell 500,000 Camarys this year , the Impala wont even come close . But the Impala and Mailbu together might .