BY ALISA PRIDDLE
GM is investing in its Lordstown, Ohio, plant to build the Cobalt replacement.
Here is the first official look at the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, which will both replace the Cobalt compact car in the U.S. and become the company’s new global offering in the volume C-segment. (more…)
BY ALISA PRIDDLE
This concept is a runner and could be built, if GM decides the design is right.
That Hummer plans to continue to downsize and create a Jeep Wrangler“sized H4 has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the industry. Each new Hummer entry has been smaller than the one before it.
But for three new designers at General Motors, the timing couldn’t have been better. The recent graduates of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit were hired by GM a couple years ago, about the time the automaker decided it wanted a concept in a new segment to augment the mid-size H3 and the full-size H2 SUVs. (more…)
BY TONY QUIROGA, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY
Despite its humongous size, it’s a pickup that’s easy to live with.
With the discontinuation of the Ford GT, we wondered, What’s the best vehicle in Ford’s lineup? After trying out the 2008 F-250 Super Duty, we’re thinking a case could be made for this pickup.
When put up against its classmates, the heavy-duty Dodge Ram and GM pickups, the redesigned 2008 Super Duty brings home an impressive report card. (more…)
BY ERIK JOHNSON
A turbocharger roosts under the HHR’s retro-styled hood.
As Chrysler uses Detroit’s annual Woodward Dream Cruise to roll out another snoozer special edition of the extremely long-in-the-tooth PT Cruiser”this time the Sunset Boulevard Cruiser, inspired by a street 2300 miles and several tax brackets away from Motown’s famed avenue”Chevrolet has decided to inject a little bit of muscle into the event. Make that a very little bit of muscle, because the bow-tie brand has seen fit to unleash upon the world the Chevrolet HHR SS, which is, of course, based on the diminutive HHR trucklet. (more…)
BY ALISA PRIDDLE
Front-drive Malibu was to be followed by rear-drive Impala, but those plans still are in limbo.
Dealers should start receiving the new 2008 Malibu, available in four trim levels including a hybrid version, in November.
The Malibu is the last General Motors vehicle to come from the outgoing Epsilon platform that is being replaced by the new Global Midsize Vehicle Architecture. Cars from the next-generation architecture start rolling out next year with a new European-market Opel Vectra, with a steady stream to follow. (more…)
BY HOWARD WALKER
Not to be outdone by the Suzuki XL7, the new Equinox Sport gets GM’s 3.6-liter V-6, too.
Chevy’s new amped-up Equinox Sport”we’re not sure why it’s not an SS either”is due in showrooms next fall as a 2008 model. It gets GM’s 263-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 coupled to a six-speed automatic, a stiffer suspension, forged 18-inch wheels, a new look inside and out, and will be offered with either front- or all-wheel drive. (more…)
BY ALISA PRIDDLE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTYN GODDARD AND THE MANUFACTURER
The 2008 CTS is only the start. We clue you in on the rest, including a sub-CTS model, an upcoming diesel, and the next-gen SRX and DTS.
Cadillac is launching a much-improved, second-generation CTS for the 2008 model year. The car will initially launch as a sedan in more than 40 countries worldwide. It should be in U.S. showrooms in mid-August. (more…)
BY RAY HUTTON
Well, the swallows come back to Capistrano,and so do the rumors of Alfa’s return to the U.S.
Alfa Romeo has a fine heritage but a difficult recent history, particularly in the U.S. In the early 90s, the Italian marque limped away, just as too many of its 164 sedans had done. (more…)
BY STEVE SILER
The littler Hummer now packs a V-8 punch.
After two years of lion styling with housecat horsepower, Hummer’s runt of the litter finally gets a V-8 variant, dubbed the H3 Alpha. With 300 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque, the Alpha’s 5.3-liter V-8 is the mill the H3 should have had all along. Surprise, surprise”we like it better even though we still don’t love it. (more…)
BY ALISA PRIDDLE
Studios duked it out in the design of the key car for Cadillac.
Much ado was made of the fact General Motors Corporation had two design studios competing on the design of the Chevy Camaro. Ed Welburn, GM’s vice president of global design, was so pleased with the results of the exercise that he applied the same practice, and then some, to the development of the 2008 Cadillac CTS. (more…)
