Part IV - The Bright Headlights The 2003-2004 vehicle sales period held something
interesting. Through September of 2003, Ford was ahead of Chevrolet
in the passenger car segment by 8,000 cars. At the time of this
writing, Chevrolet is already a staggering 165,000 sales ahead of
Ford in the same segment for 2004. This makes Chevrolet #1,
Toyota #2, Honda #3 and Ford at #4 for the entire passenger car segment.
The Chevrolet "American Revolution" had clearly picked
up tremendous momentum in less than one year.
Part of the momentum includes the all-new Corvette C6 with a standard
400hp/400tq, a top-speed of 185mph and a price tag of $300 less
than the previous C5. The C6 is not only going to become a home
run, but if the rumors of a C6 Z06 are true, it will certainly turn
the home run into a grand slam clear out of the park. Following
quickly behind the new C6 will be the supercharged Cobalt SS along
with a new Impala and Monte Carlo, both with an available 5.3 liter
engine. Clearly, the performance vehicle segment is picking
up even more momentum as the Revolution continues.
So how does this momentum benefit the f-body enthusiast when deep
in their hearts, there is no replacement?
Have faith, and have a seat before you continue reading because from
very far away, something was heard from GM's direction starting quite
some time ago, but it was simply too quiet to be heard at first.
Each time a new vehicle is proposed, part of the procedure is to have
a clinic for it to gain consumer feedback. Certain participants
are selected based upon very strict criteria to be part of these clinics
where they view initial proposed vehicles and offer their thoughts.
The data is then compiled to determine how the proposed new
vehicle direction should go. Usually, there is no indication
of who manufactures the vehicle or even what the car will be named.
This is to ensure that the feedback is not biased to one particular
brand or model.
A few months ago, GM held a clinic for a nameless vehicle in the coupe
segment that drew very positive results from the clinic participants.
How positive were these results?
It scored higher than any other vehicle in Chevrolet's history.
Something is coming. In the next couple of years, we may be
nearing the end of that long, dark tunnel and what comes out of it
may indeed be the best yet. Hopefully the negative aspects of
the new GTO release won't have an impact on that. Have faith. Article by Jason Debler - 11/10/04 - Unauthorized
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