I can't help but wonder that if it's blandness isn't done by design. Take a look at the new Tahoe, the Impala, and the Malibu. They all are designed to be non-offensive as opposed to being something. They aren't risk-taking designs. Nothing close to it. I'm guessing that GM has slotted Chevrolet (except Corvette) into the value & volume niche of their portfolio. To fulfill that role, it's important to have a vanilla design. It's worked wonders for the Accord's & Camry's over the years..

 

I don't think the blandness has worked for Toyota or Honda. I think it is their reputation for being reliable. People are willing to sacrifice that for something flashy. Take a Ferrari for instance. Not as reliable or cost efficient as a Vette but people buy them anyways. Maybe an extreme example but you get my point.

I'm hoping they do that "styling of the 50s where everything was eye-catching" like they had an article about. Right now, everything is bland and boring really.

 

You don't take risks w/ the 3rd best selling car in America. But I will say that styling is subjective of course. I like the new design better in EVERY way over the last one. The front is a little too Lumina for me, but I quickly forgive that when I start it up and can hear what kind of engine it has

I had the last version of the Impala as a rental for a week, and this one just blows it off the table in every category. I probably wouldn't feel the same way if I had the V6 car, but fortunately, I dont !


Edit: whoever asked about transaction price, I got mine for $25,007. That is pretty well equiped but not loaded. Doesn't have a sunroof or XM, but does have leather, Bose stereo, cd changer, and polished wheels. This was w/ GM card, non GMS purchase.

 

I went to a few local Chevy dealerships yesterday to check out the new Chevy's and I noticed something about the Impala. each dealership had a bunch of ImpalaSS models on the lot. They had just as many or more SS's than standard Impala's. It would seem that they expect or have been selling a good number of SS models. With the previous generation, a saw maybe one on the lot before. I don't think the reason there are many on the lot is because they aren't selling any of them.

 

I've seen a few new Impalas lately... my problem is not that the car looks bland (it looks Chevy) but it doesn't look all that different from a Malibu. It feels like it needs to look larger. The updated styling is definitely "minimizing" to the car's stature, and IMO the Malibu should be the size of the current Impala and the Impala should be larger.

But that's just my opinion.

 

Another thing to take into consideration with the month to month or even year to year figures is that you're assuming that the previous year or month can be considered normal and the current period can be considered normal. Its best if you can take at least a two to three period average.

Edit:
The delivery numbers for current and histor periods can be found here:
http://www.gm.com/company/investor_i...on/sales_prod/