Chevrolet is going to become an even bigger division if they get everything they want, which is likely even to the detriment of B-P.

Personally, as much as I'd like to see a RWD Impala, if my job depended on me making the right decision at GM, I'd keep Impala as FWD/AWD, and give the new large car a new name like Teal98 and you favor.


I think that would be a better name for a RWD sedan (with a optional 400hp V8) than Caprice.


SSbaby, the Impala isn't really a bad car. It's a good tossable size, it's styling at least has a pulse (unlike Camrys and Accords), the less than good interior IMO is cured with the new version. I bashed the daylights out of the Impala till I drove one a couple of years ago. Unless you're a type of person who spends hours measuring interior panel gaps, or prefer engines that sound like sewing machines, the Impala is a pretty good package. It's not something I'd buy, but with 200,000 people per year lining up, can't say it's a bad marketing move.

Though the Zarella era did more harm to GM than anyone save Roger Smith's final years, I don't think Zarella was behind the Impala FWD move. GM put the Monte Carlo name on the Lumina coupe early in the decade, and it worked out very well. It's not a far jump to see how marketing types who are great at studies and research and not much else figured that applying the name "Impala" to a (then) highly styled Lumina replacement would generate even more sales.

They were right, but they diluted the name (built up solely through the mid 90s version) in the process.

 

[QUOTE=guionM]Personally, as much as I'd like to see a RWD Impala, if my job depended on me making the right decision at GM, I'd keep Impala as FWD/AWD, and give the new large car a new name like Teal98 and you favor.


QUOTE]

I'd love to see Impala return to RWD (it should never have left) but from GM's perspective it could be a bad move- for GM and the future of RWD. And, if it were my job on the line, I also would leave the success of the FWD Impala untouched while introducing the new RWD sedan. It's a simple case of "if it aint broke..." I guess it is a case of the greater good outweighing my sense of what feels right. The Impala name would be an unfortunate sacrificial lamb helping Chevy's bottom line until the market truly shifts to RWD/AWD.

 

I will probably get crucified for this, but with the death of the W-body, why not call it a Monte Carlo. I am surely going to get flamed. However, I don't want to hear the 2dr vs 4 dr arguement as anyone who looks at tha market honestly knows that large 2 door coupes will not sell in the volume that is necessary here. The Monte Carlo was always a large car, and the name has some stock behind it.

*runs and hides*

 

That sounds good too me


whether it is FWD or RWD I think the next Impala needs AWD as an option. I think the current SS and GP GXP would be awesome with AWD and V8s

 

Monte Carlo four-door coupe. Extremely interesting idea....

 

And Biscayne.

But please, let's leave them in the past!


If the new RWD sedan is big, then Caprice would work. If it's meant to be somewhat sport and is the size of a Commodore, then I think Chevy needs a new name. Lumina would be fine if it hadn't been ruined -- the mideast Commodores are called Chevy Luminas. The old Impala was a very big car, and the new one, though less big, is still big. The old Chevelle was the low buck version of the Malibu, except for the SS model. If the new car is the same size as a Commodore, that places it about where the old Nova was. But that name obviously won't work any more.

If GM can't come up with a good new name, what about Omega or Calibra? Or maybe Cutlass? Oldsmobile doesn't need that name any more.

 

fleet sales account for over half the sales of both the Malibu and Impala. Factoring out the fleet sales, Impala and Malibu barely sell over 100k sales. Fleets may prop up volume, but they're bad for profit and resale, as well as image. I don't have a problem with fleet sales, but I do have a problem with people claiming these cars are huge sellers, when the buying public officially accepts both less than they do the 300.

 

The people demand the return of the vaunted Chevy Celebrity EuroSport nameplate.

 

The pile of names left behind is quite large.

Lumina, Vega, Celebrity, Citation, Monza, Cavalier.

Then you look at Honda and see Accord and Civic for the last 30 years. Toyota has an even longer run with Corolla, though Camry replaced Corona in the early 80s.

A good argument for keeping Malibu and Impala to what folks would expect, I guess.

On the other hand, the car is more important than the name -- a variation
of the old saying, "You can call me anything you want -- just don't call me late for dinner".

 

Actually, that was one proposal some time ago. No idea if it still is.

Remember, the current MC is likely gone around the same time the Camaro and Chevy's RWD sedan come out, and the Grand Prix's replacement is going to be the same structure, so it's nowhere near far fetched.

 

Monte Carlo would be a fine name for a new midsize RWD sedan.

 

Why not call it Monte Carlo... its already got racing pedigree from GM's marketing of the nameplate in NASCAR.

The 2 door couple would then need a new name... Chevelle? Sorry I'm not totally across traditions, mainly because GM hasn't strictly followed its past. I'm more an outsider looking in.

 

Why not have a Monte Carlo 2 door and 4 door? Historically, both Monte Carlo and Grand Prix were 2 doors. I think GP got the four door in the late 1980s. Then it lost the 2 door a couple of years ago.

 

Sigma (Zeta-Lite) based rwd Sedan with LS2, 6-speed manual/6 speed auto............Charger what?