Chevy or Opel? What to do with Volt outside North America
When GM launched Chevy Volt concept last year, officials explained why they badged the car as a Chevrolet. The Volt was intended to be a mass market car that would be affordably priced and widely available. Chevrolet is a global brand for GM and the company wanted to make it clear that the E-Flex technology would be available everywhere. Unfortunately, while the long-term plan is for E-Flex to be widely available and affordable, at launch it will be anything but. With Chevrolet being a budget priced brand in the rest of the world, selling the initial Volts as Chevys could make marketing problematic in the places like Europe.
GM wants to make the Opel brand a technology leader in Europe, but E-Flex is among the most technologically advanced systems GM has. Offering it in a Chevrolet first runs counter to the plan. GM faces a similar dilemma with the Corvette, which doesn't really fit in with the rest of the Chevy lineup. The Corvette is essentially sold as a stand-alone brand in the rest of the world without referencing Chevrolet. Mike Arcamone, vice president of GM Powertrain Europe, told Automotive News that Opel and Chevrolet would both offer E-Flex vehicles within months of launch, the Opel would likely launch first over there.
Although the Opel Flextreme concept that was shown at Frankfurt last September used a diesel engine for the range-extender, the early production Opels will only use the gas/E85 flex-fuel engine from the Volt. While the Euro-Volt will use the same styling as the American car, the Opel will apparently have a different body style, perhaps more like the Flextreme.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TIMMAH! 7:42PM (6/09/2008)
How about maybe build it and get it into the Chevy showrooms first, and then maybe worry about what exactly it's going to be called in other markets?
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Nick 10:43PM (6/09/2008)
Why isn't the Volt's wheel design smoother? A 5 spoke design creates a lot of air drag..
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len simpson 9:49PM (6/09/2008)
Flextreme is more palatable than the Volt.
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1985 Gripen 10:39PM (6/09/2008)
Move them upmarket with leather as standard and other "near-luxury" accoutrements and sell them as Saabs. Saabs are sold world-wide and they start a little more pricey than either Chevy or Opel. Saab's been a technology leader and is very advanced in E85 technology, which the Volt will be equipped to run. Saab has a partnership with Volvo currently in Sweden to develop a hybrid car and a few years ago Saab debuted the first ethanol-capable and convertible hybrid in the 9-3 BioPower Convertible concept.
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Andrew Tanasescu 11:11PM (6/09/2008)
@Nick
Thats the concept. But hopefully GM will try improve the aerodynamics of the car significantly before releasing anything remotely similar to the concept. It is already proven that it (the concept) has horrible aerodynamics. The reason behind the styling is probably because they dont want to make it drastically aerodynamic since the re-design following this improvement could possibly turn off potiential buyers.
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Peekoyle 9:01AM (6/10/2008)
who cares what you call it just get the damn thing in the showrooms, like 2 yrs ago.
Oil is $138 a barrel!
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BGJ 9:50AM (6/10/2008)
Chevy or Opel? The answer is both, with the Opel debuting first in Europe, but the Chevy debuting first globally in the US. The Chevy & Opel will look nothing alike so that is good.
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Wise Golden 2:10PM (6/10/2008)
Neither Chevy or Opel, rather, it should be badged as a Cadillac. It's a booming brand in Europe and the US. The initial price will be Cadillacish as well, so why not give people the ego boost of the brand.
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1985 Gripen 10:33PM (6/10/2008)
I think some in comments are missing the point. GM is fretting what to release the car as because it's going to initially cost more than what people associate GM's economical brands (Chevy in the U.S., Opel in Europe) costing. For the first year or so until economies of scale kick-in and bring down the price they're trying to figure out what to sell it as.
That's why I say Saab. Saabs generally cost more and are known technology leaders, not just in ethanol technology but also in turbocharging. The Volt is slated to have both flex-fuel capability and a turbo. In order to call it a Saab though they'll have to add-in some near-luxury amenities.
After a year or two they could sell a more spartan economy model badged as a Chevy and Opel.
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1985 Gripen 10:37PM (6/10/2008)
Furthermore (add to my comments above) Saab's factory in Trollhattan, Sweden is tooling up to produce cars on GM's Delta II platform, which is the platform the Volt is based-on.
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