http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=53634

By Rick Kranz
Automotive News / June 27, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stung by the success of the Ford Mustang and Chrysler 300, Chevrolet is studying rear-drive cars. The brand could decide this year whether to build more rwd vehicles.

"I think we probably will have more to talk about in the next several months," says Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager.

The rwd Mustang, 300 and Dodge Magnum are selling well without cash rebates. Ford expects to produce 192,000 Mustangs this year.

And Dodge is expected to resurrect the Challenger name for a rwd Mustang-fighter around 2009.

With the exception of the Corvette, all Chevrolet cars have front-wheel drive.

Asked at a press event here whether a rwd sedan, coupe or Chevrolet Camaro-type vehicle are being considered, Peper said, "We are looking at some of those segments right now."

Peper says he is not sure whether Chevrolet will have a rwd concept car at the Detroit auto show in January.

"The ideas and the concepts are being talked about right now," he said.

General Motors was planning to introduce the first in a family of rwd cars for North America in 2007. The vehicles were planned on a rwd platform code-named Zeta. But the automaker's financial problems forced it to cancel Zeta this year.

Yet GM insiders still expect the company to develop a range of rwd cars, although the platform and timetable are unclear. Already in the pipeline are the Pontiac Solstice, a rwd roadster coming this fall and a sister car, the Saturn Sky, scheduled to arrive next spring. Both were developed on the small rwd Kappa platform.

Chevrolet's last large high-volume rwd car was the Caprice, which was scrapped after the 1996 model year. The sporty rwd Camaro was dropped at the end of the 2002 model year.

Regarding the Mustang, Jim Campbell, Chevrolet car marketing director, says: "I wake up every day knowing that I am spotting Ford 150,000 to 200,000 units.

"Do we want to take that head-on? Absolutely we do. There's an opportunity for a rear-wheel-drive coupe."

 

I hope they can do it right.

 

At least some people seem to be getting upset at this...and the answer is becoming increasingly clear on how to stop this.
Its not with the Monte SS
Its not with the Cobalt SS
It needs to be a Camaro, and it needs the style and performance to match the icon.

 

Please - less talk, more action. There's absolutely no credible information coming from GM that's going to make the average buyer think twice about spending their money on a RWD product from Ford or Chrysler right now. Whatever GM develops, it's gotta be damn good, because they will have to pull their previous customers away from Mustangs and 300Cs.

 

There is nothing to study. RWD coupe (Camaro) and Sedan (Chevelle) need to be built ASAP. Both need to have reasonable prices and should come with the 3.9L, LS4, and LS2.

 

My uncle just bought a Chrysler 300C because of the mercedes suspension and RWD platform. He bought his wife the Magnum because she wanted something sporty but versatile.

My cousin, being a long term Camaro owner, is buying the Shelby Cobra when it comes out next year.

My wife is looking at a Mustang GT right now because we need a new car as a daily driver.

My dad is going to buy an 300C next year. My sister wants the Mustang GT this year as well.

I might also look at the Shelby Cobra next year.

GM has lost $200,000 in sales from my family alone.

 

ehh its just standard GM, always late to the party -- even if they do show up weeks after the party has ended ...

 

Accurate story.

FWIW, it's NOT the Chevrolet Motor Division that's adverse to bringing back Camaro. I know former general manager Kurt Ritter was fighting an uphill battle for a Camaro & RWD sedan years ago, and there isn't a Chevrolet exec worth his salt that doesn't see a gapping whole in their lineup regarding a performance coupe and a large sedan.

The problem is that everything goes through a single process. Chevrolet doesn't design & engineer their own cars. For all intents and purposes, they have to request it, and then it's prioritized, and co-ordinated with regards to cash, chassis, and plant availability, amoung other things. As you see, there's a HUGE opportunity for things to become entwined in politics, conflicting goals, or even the whims of individuals.

So it's not Chevrolet fault for the most part. It's GM's system of getting cars to market that's the problem.

 

What - the parts about "looking" and "talking" and seeing that there's an "opportunity"?

 

They gotta say that till the final green light, which is when tooling orders go out, & final development commenses.

 

The parts about RWD Chevy sedan the part about RWD Chevy Camaro-type coupe, the part about a Chevy RWD concept at Detroit and the part about we'll be able to talk more about this in afew months.

I think you can start taking Peper's comments literally.

 

If he bought a 300 because of the Mercedes suspension, he got suckered. There has never been a Mercedes produced with the suspension components that the 300 rides on.

 

As bad as I hate to, I have pre-ordered a new 06 C6. I have owned Z/28's from every gen, and I had HARD feelings from Chevrolet abandoning us, I loved every Z I ever owned, but i'm tired of waiting for the "5th Gen" that prob will never come. The Vette has some big shoes to fill.

 

"The brief on the new 300C Hemi starts with two complex axles yanked almost wholesale from a Mercedes-Benz E-class. Optional all-wheel drive via a planetary-gear differential with a 32/68 front-to-rear torque split (the Mercedes-Benz 4MATIC system, in other words). A Mercedes-brand tilting-and-telescoping steering column seals the deal for most body types.
Although the 300C and the Dodge Magnum share not a single stamping with a Benz, the Silver Star has its glittering imprint on their suspensions, body designs, and technologies. Dual-phase steel is one neat-o trick nipped from Mercedes note pads." -Car and Driver

The 5 speed automatic is also from Mercedes.

 

Those two components are produced by DCX-Homberg, a wholely-owned supplier that makes parts for both M-B and Chrysler. Those are not suspension parts, however. Spending even a few minutes under a 300C will lead anyone to the conclusion they don't share many components. That's not necessarily a slam against Chrysler; it's just that there's a big difference in price between the two brands, and some of the fabrication techniques show that difference.

C&D specifically stated that a particular component was lifted from Mercedes, when in fact I worked on it and know damn well that it was designed specifically for the application. In other words, they got a least one thing very wrong in that article, so I doubt the accuracy of their other statements. I don't know if they just got lazy, or if DCX deliberately misled them.

Different case, different TCU, and different assembly location. Still a great transmission, but it's not a 100% direct carryover.