Downer of the Day: Chevy Beat not coming to U.S.
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jul 15th 2008 at 1:45PM 
Click above for more live shots of the Chevy Beat concept
We called the apparent decision by the General to bring the Beat to the U.S. a "no brainer". Unfortunately, that premature news wasn't quite based in fact, as the cool little mini-car will not be coming to American shores. Too bad, 'cause our commeners definitely agreed that the Beat would fit perfectly into Chevrolet's American lineup now that gas prices have risen to the point that they are significantly impacting the new car buying decisions by much of the U.S. population. It seems that fuel's meteoric rise didn't come soon enough for GM to engineer the Beat to meet U.S. safety or crash standards.
We have hopes that the next-generation of GM's minicar will be engineered with the U.S. market in mind. Raging successes like the Mini Cooper and, so far at least, the smart brand, have shown that a premium small car with an emphasis on fuel mileage and distinctive styling can do well, even with our exceedingly fickle buying public.
[Source: GM via Autoblog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Travis 1:49PM (7/15/2008)
This is absolutely infuriating.
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Rod 3:18PM (7/16/2008)
I completely agree! I just bought a Mini Cooper five months ago but I would gladly sell it to buy one of these. The Chevy Beat is just what the General needs to turn itself around!! They need to fix the 'safety problems' that they claim is keeping them from selling it here in the US and just get it on dealer lots already!!!
Mark Deadrick 2:26PM (7/15/2008)
No brainer, meaning no brains at GM. I'd be prepared to be disappointed by the Volt too, there is too much hype involved for it to be a success.
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roz 2:32PM (7/15/2008)
these people are criminals.
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BoneHeadOtto 2:17PM (7/15/2008)
Looks like GMs plan to save money is to not produce cars anymore.
clap...clap...clap...clap way to go GM.
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tankd0g 3:30PM (7/15/2008)
If only that could do that (other than while their workers are on strike that is), they might be in better shape now.
Steve 9:54AM (7/16/2008)
There's a lot of GM-bashing in this thread, but those who do it so seem to be missing the point of why the cars won't be sold here: our federal government won't allow them.
I can think of whole slew of cars produced for other markets that don't meet our "safety standards". The Ford Ka, VW Polo and Lupo, and Mazda 2 are a few off the top of my head. I'd love to at least have the option of importing the Fiat 500, but if I can't title and register it for the road, what's the point? Are we so Ameri-centric as to bash all of these automakers for not designing those cars to meet our standards? Or are we going to accept the fact that many automakers design products that don't meet our regulations, and the best way to get those products here is to convince our legislators to change the regulations?
The "safety" standards set forth by DOT negatively affect everything from performance, appearance, and efficiency. Remember kids, safety features = weight. Bumper height mandates have affected affect everything from 30 year old MG's to brand new GTI's. Then there's our archiac and flawed headlight beam pattern standard I'd love to see updated. And all the side and rear and frontal impact and crumple zone standards add weight.
Our government insists on protecting citizens from their own stupidity. I say screw it. Stick drivers, especially the lousy ones, in cars that aren't over-engineered to protect the occupants from harm or death. If people were more in tune with the frailty of life and their own mortality while driving 'less safe' world cars, perhaps they'd practice a little more situational awareness and exercise better judgement when among other traffic. Plus, we'd get some awesome overseas products to boot.
Some people are too quick to bash GM and don't see the larger issues and possible solutions at hand.
wildgoosechase73 4:10PM (7/15/2008)
It's time for the US to temporarily change it's crash and emission standards to the European standards. This would allow manufacturers to quickly bring the small cars that are needed to the market.
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s10 4:34PM (7/15/2008)
No, that wouldn't change a thing. What GM should do is to design cars that meet the US standards... they haven't changed that much the last few years.. so if other companies can do it, why not GM?
dartingd 6:03PM (7/15/2008)
There goes GM's chance to sell me a car. Looks like I'll be taking a look at a focus, fit, or festiva next go around...
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Brent 3:39PM (7/15/2008)
The Beat was going to be my first GM vehicle!
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s13hybrid 10:02AM (7/16/2008)
+1 , or at least it would be a very high on the list candidate.
This is so dissapointing.
Nelson Cheung 3:46PM (7/15/2008)
Any reasons why? It seems like a smart thing to do...oh wait did I say a smart thing to do? I always forget that isn't GM's best attribute of late.
But seriously does anyone know the reasons why?
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GoodCheer 5:39PM (7/15/2008)
I'll set my crack research team to digging up and answer for you: (seconds pass)
A-HA!
"It seems that fuel's meteoric rise didn't come soon enough for GM to engineer the Beat to meet U.S. safety or crash standards."
Whew... we don't call them "crack" for nothin.
Dustin 1:22PM (7/16/2008)
They claim it would take nearly TWO YEARS to modify the Beat to pass U.S. crash standards. So apparently Europe allows cars to be made from tin foil.
John Rowell 3:59PM (7/15/2008)
Aww, too bad. I truly believe this would have been a hot seller. Maybe GM will wake up and start selling a similar car after all their competitors have beaten them to the punch. Typical GM stodginess. Hello? We need some innovative thinking here...
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John 11:14AM (7/16/2008)
Is that the faint heart beat of America I hear? This is really sad. Ford are you going to fail the American people on your little car too?
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Dan 4:35PM (7/15/2008)
" It seems that fuel's meteoric rise didn't come soon enough for GM to engineer the Beat to meet U.S. safety or crash standards."
But doesn't Europe have more stringent standards for those criteria??? WTF?
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Patrick 4:40PM (7/15/2008)
definitely not.
US crash and emissions standards are the toughest in the world, which is why you don't get a lot of japanese turbo cars etc here.
the US needs to design these vehicles to meet US standards and sell them all over the world like that so they can offer them here. a lot of other companies (ford) are waking up to this, GM should too.
i don't want to drive a death trap just because it's american, cute, and gets good mpg.
Engel 5:48PM (7/15/2008)
I don't think GM will go out of business by not bringing this car to the US, but who had the lack of vision, foresight, interest, and/or intelligence to plan this vehicle for production without meeting US safety standards? I realize that our fuel prices are nothing to complain about compared to what the rest of the world pays at the pump, but examples like these really do not instill any confidence, sympathy, or brand loyalty for GM. How out of touch with the market can you get?
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