What do blonde triplets, foam balls and Bob Lutz have in common? They were all present at the wildly hip, super jammin', totally hot Chevrolet press conference this morning where Chevy unveiled its trio of minicar concepts amid a group of provocative young dancers.
First to shed its cover was the Chevrolet Groove concept, which Chevy says is inspired by a "half-solider, half-modern " military helmet.
Lead designer on the Groove was Jawook Koo from the GM Design Center in Inchon, South Korea...
Dressed in matte Lunar Quartz gray paint and satin silver chrome exterior trim, the front-wheel drive Groove sits on five-spoke 17-inch wheels. It sits because the concept is a shell that lacks an interior and power plant, although Chevy says the engine bay is built to house a 1.0-liter diesel engine.
Oh, and blonde triplets because there were three cars, foam balls so press conference attendees could "vote" by pelting their favorite car, and Bob Lutz because he just makes good sense. — Kelly Toepke, Manager of Vehicle Testing
gmguy111 says:
08:58 AM, 04/ 4/07
This concept is so so in my opinion. it has a look that its durable than most microcars but at the same time it does not have a distinct look to it like the beat does. I'm just glad its not lame looking like the trax. The foam balls were a bit much
SubyTrojan says:
09:10 AM, 04/ 4/07
Hi, Kelly! I hope you all are doing well over there! I actually saw a segment on ABC's Nightline last night about the "triplets" and how GM is banking their hopes that these "small" vehicles will be "big" for them. They also highlighted the fact that the "triplets" were designed in Korea.
Link to Nightline's story:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3004942&page=1
roar02ram says:
12:12 PM, 04/ 4/07
Love it!
ateixeira says:
01:27 PM, 04/ 4/07
I think it looks good. It sort of resembles the new Scion xB a bit, with that trademark Chevy face.
It's a lot more interesting than a Cobalt, at least to me.
wale_bate1 says:
04:19 PM, 04/ 4/07
Frankly this looks like it could have some legs, but a 1.0L d?
C'mon, Bob, gimme something to get excited about. Tell me about the direct injection turbo d version with the Recaro Alcantara interior package and the sport suspension.
I want boot scoot in my cute ute...
cstone558 says:
04:18 AM, 04/ 5/07
OMG this is rip off from Totota's Scion division. Well I guess if Toyota had success with it. Why not GM?
jerrywimer says:
09:22 AM, 04/ 5/07
Erm, no. This looks nowhere near as ugly as the current Scions. Other than size and general form factor (ie. box / hatchback), these are quite a bit better looking than the Scions they could be compared against. Too bad there isn't an interior design to go along with this or the Trax. If the Beat's interior is any indication, GM should relaunch Geo with all three as choices for buyers. (That *would* be taking a page from Toyota's book)
carmelguy says:
09:19 AM, 04/ 7/07
This, and the other two, are so much cooler than anything Scion or Toyota offers! How cool! GM is gonna be just fine....
chrisntx says:
09:14 AM, 04/ 8/07
I saw the piece on ABC... A giant load from GM about these things being the new GM...
These things are all Scion/Toyota copies. You can see alittle Xa, Xb and even Yaris...
Copying others may have worked for Hyundai but its not going to save GM...
Tip to GM... In order to convince me to by your car over the Toyota or Honda you are going to have to get some creative designers and make a car that is actually reliable and doesnt look like SH*T on the interior.
netdude says:
12:28 AM, 04/ 9/07
The HHR wasn't bad, but this and the Beat would send me over to a GM dealer. Please keep the diesel, but maybe make it just a bit bigger with a turbo that meets emissions for even the toughest states like California and New York and you have a new GM owner!
jerrywimer says:
06:05 AM, 04/10/07
Chrisntx, when was the last time a Scion / Toyota offered a diesel? And you need to catch up a bit on the reliability ratings thing- GM's pretty competitive both in that area and in fit and finish nowadays. Add in the *much better* styling than the Scionotas have and these things could be a hit if they remain anywhere close to the concepts (and assuming they make it to market).
estreka says:
08:59 AM, 04/10/07
Jerry - I would remain skeptical about potential production of these mini concepts. I'm 99% sure GM only showed these to give the impression that they're serious about fuel efficiency. Subcompacts are not very profitable, and given any domestic's overhead costs, a subcompact just isn't worth the effort.
jerrywimer says:
05:27 AM, 04/11/07
Based on the most recent news (the part where Lutz mentions future RWD platforms being on hold now), I wouldn't discount them so strongly. Of course, the main linked news item mentions that these vehicles, counting as imports, won't do anything to help GM's numbers, since those are based on domestically produced vehicles. GM just needs to tool up some factories and build them here.. (hate to see the future RWDs going away again though!)