By JAMIE LAREAU, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
By 2011, Chevrolet will get a version of one of the three minicar concepts that General Motors unveiled at the 2007 New York auto show, company executives say.The vehicle, expected to replace the Aveo, will be expanded to the size of a subcompact.In April 2007, GM unveiled the Groove, Beat and Trax minicars in New York. In November, GM said it will build and sell the Beat overseas, with production starting in 2009. But the automaker has said it will not sell the Beat in the United States.Now, GM says the United States will get a version of the Groove or Trax by 2011."Of the triplets, we will get one of those variants," says Ed Peper, Chevrolet's vice president. Which one? "I don't want to say at this point."The vehicle that Chevrolet gets will be "very similar to one of those vehicles" but larger, in part to meet U.S. crash test standards, Peper says. For example, the front fender and grille likely will be extended to meet U.S. safety standards.The car will come to Chevrolet "in the next couple of years," Peper says.GM global design chief Ed Welburn says the company has designed the new small car to be more stylish than the current Aveo. Welburn says the name of the vehicle hasn't been decided.GM will build the Beat on the company's global minicar platform in Shanghai. The unnamed subcompact intended for the United States will be built on GM's Gamma global small-car platform. Sources familiar with the project say GM likely will assemble the new car at its plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.Chevrolet has said it will replace the Cobalt compact with the new Cruze compact in the 2011 model year."We're looking at all opportunities when it comes to small cars and small utilities," Peper says. "The market is very hot right now for small, fuel-efficient vehicles."
source: www.autoweek.com
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