Does anyone honestly think the HHR will be a sales success?

To me, if you take a deep breath, you can just catch a whiff of Aztek. This thing doesn't appear to be great looking, and so far it doesn't appear to be any faster or better than the PT Cruiser - which everyone will think GM copied. No better way to fix your "last to the party" image than introduce a blatant copy of another retro vehicle 4 years after it's introduction.

I mean does this thing actually excite anyone? anyone? ....and this after all the hoopla about "must have" products from Mr. Lutz.

But here's the kicker - if they are making this type of car to help their CAFE average - couldn't they do it with a more exciting car? say, 80,000 25-30MPG V6 Camaros, for example?

I dunno. I just don't get it

 

no.

 

They blew it big time. When do we get to start blaming current management for these awful tragedies of design?

 

Not only will this thing be late to the retro party, it will have missed it all together. If it came out in 1999 it might have done good, but 2006 is too late.

On the other hand, by 2006 retro will be retro, and this could be the first retro retro car which might make it cool

 

Some of you guys cry too much. It's a lot more practical than many other vehicles that people are buying right now. So what if it will be on the expensive side. Ay least it will get better than 15MPG.

 

Maybe it's not too late to cancel the program.

I will join the chorus and predict an early failure for the HHR. Then again, I don't expect the SSR to sell very well either after about six months on the market. 15,000 copies @ $45,000 for an impractical toy? There ain't that many stupid rich people in America.

 

I dunno about that. I used to work at the Country Club around here.

 

The reason why the PT Cruiser helps D-C's CAFE rating is because its classified as a light-truck. The judging by the rendering of the HHR, it too will likely be classified as the same. So, a 30mpg Camaro wouldn't have as big of an effect on GM's CAFE due to it being classified as a sub-compact etc.

 

I can imagine because of the CAFE issue, that GM will make sure that the HHR sells.

I wonder how many incentive dollars they'll end up leaving on the hood?

 

What I don't understand is why build this HHR on a FWD platform? Why not build it on the SSR platform instead? What they should have done is nixed the whole HHR concept and instead build a Chevy Nomad on the SSR chassis. That would be much more cool than a PT Cruiser wannabe!

 

The "SSR platform" is the TrailBlazer/Envoy XL platform. My guess is they wanted something smaller and it will likely be more car/minivan-like than truck-like anyways.

It may not be a car/truck that appeals to our audience, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is met with decent success--even if it is late to the retro party. If it provides practicality to go with the novelty it will be fine. Even the Vibe, which was also initially slammed, has won people over and done okay.

Of course, overpricing it (see SSR) will not hurt those chances. It should be a good chunk under $20k in the neighborhood of the Vibe and PT.

 

Nope, Chrysler's been there, done that, did it first.

Both the SSR and HHR will die. I doubt if SSR will ever crack 5k units/yr. I would be very surprised if HHR did over 50k.

PUT THE MONEY IN A CAMARO, DUMMIES! NOBODY ASKED FOR AN HHR!

 

Well now, there's some words of wisdom.

ANYBODY LISTENING?

 

Funny, in the current MotorTrend, which profiles the SSR as part of it's "V8 Thunder" issue, says the dealers felt the same way. They'd rather have the Camaro and Firebird than the SSR. Btw, that article said GM expects to move 14-15,000 SSRs per year.

 

If they use the Supercharged version of the ECOTEC and price it under $20K.... maybe.