I thought, and I QUOTE "GM is about moving forward with modern design." "We will not go retro."

All said by Mr Bob Lutz.

 

Hey Darth, this one's for you buddy...
"Just say no to retro..."
Chevy goes retro in bid to pass Ford

This explains what, why, and where the HHR is coming to life for.

Let's hear it for retro!

or not...

 

I don't see where they think these extra 200k sales are coming from. There can't be that many competitive PT Cruiser buyers and if they are trying to draw SUV buyers they are just shifting sales from one category to another, not adding new ones. I guess they anticpate nabbing Ford's/other's SUV buyers.

Also to be considered in this category of overlap: the upcoming Hummer H3. How many runabout small SUVs does that make now?

If they could design decent looking and inspiring cars, there wouldn't be so much need for SUV/Crossover sales. I hope the upcoming Cobalt is less homely than '04 Malibu, an otherwise reseptable car.

 

Kind of interesting, but kind of late since the Pt Cruiser will be in its 6th model year when these hit Chevy showrooms. Will demand support two of these type of vehicles-especially with Chrysler planning many new cruiser variants?

If Chevy really wanted to have their own unique people mover they would build the Nomad concept.

 

Nomad's actually a 2 door station wagon, so I don't think it'd be a good stand in for the HHR. But I do wonder where is the point of over saturation.

I know the key reason for the HHR, like the PT Cruiser, is to boost the truck CAFE numbers (fallout from Congress's efforts to raise that standard?), but isn't Chevrolet's Equinox also a similar sized Crossover?