Many of you took the time to fill out the sport compact car survey I posted a while ago (here: http://www.mazdamp3.com/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13648 ) Here is why I asked you to take my survey:
A few guys (including myself) at GM have been discussing how GM has a bit of a gap in its model lineup. Namely, small sporty cars in the $20-low $30's range (Canadian). In fact, I'm in the market for a small sports sedan in that region, and the closest thing that GM offers is the Cavalier Z24 sedan (not interested) and the new Saab 9-3 (just outside of the budget at a start price of $35k.) So instead, I ordered a Mazdaspeed Protege.
Most other automakers have something in this price range for the sport compact crowd, such as the Acura RSX, Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, Subaru Impreza 2.5RS (and its big brother the WRX), Toyota Celica, BMW Mini, VW Golf GTi (and Jetta 1.8T), Ford Focus SVT, Dodge SRT-4, and so on. Namely all those cars that I asked you to rank on my survey. So maybe The General should foray into this growing market segment (in my humble opinion anyway).
Long story short, in mid-March 17 I made a small presentation to the small car product planners at GM about what a guy like me would like out of sport compact car, and suggested some ways GM could enter this segment.
We discussed importing the Opel/Vauxhall Astra GSi (see here for some pictures: http://www.gsi.top-webservice.de/oliver/oliver.htm )
Specs are 2.0L turbo, 17" wheels with sticky rubber, Recaro seats, sport suspension. Yum. The Opel Astra Turbo Coupe is very nice as well. Unfortunately, with import laws, CAW stickiness, and homologation issues, it is impossible.
The other alternative involved upgrading an existing vehicle. I can't say anything really about the direction GM chose to take, but lets just say keep an eye in your rear-view mirror for a hotted up version of a certain 4-door coupe with plastic body panels in a years time...
Thanks again everyone for taking the time to fill out the survey. I really appreciated your input, and the boys at GM had a look at all your responses, so they actually counted for something!
A few guys (including myself) at GM have been discussing how GM has a bit of a gap in its model lineup. Namely, small sporty cars in the $20-low $30's range (Canadian). In fact, I'm in the market for a small sports sedan in that region, and the closest thing that GM offers is the Cavalier Z24 sedan (not interested) and the new Saab 9-3 (just outside of the budget at a start price of $35k.) So instead, I ordered a Mazdaspeed Protege.
Most other automakers have something in this price range for the sport compact crowd, such as the Acura RSX, Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, Subaru Impreza 2.5RS (and its big brother the WRX), Toyota Celica, BMW Mini, VW Golf GTi (and Jetta 1.8T), Ford Focus SVT, Dodge SRT-4, and so on. Namely all those cars that I asked you to rank on my survey. So maybe The General should foray into this growing market segment (in my humble opinion anyway).
Long story short, in mid-March 17 I made a small presentation to the small car product planners at GM about what a guy like me would like out of sport compact car, and suggested some ways GM could enter this segment.
We discussed importing the Opel/Vauxhall Astra GSi (see here for some pictures: http://www.gsi.top-webservice.de/oliver/oliver.htm )
Specs are 2.0L turbo, 17" wheels with sticky rubber, Recaro seats, sport suspension. Yum. The Opel Astra Turbo Coupe is very nice as well. Unfortunately, with import laws, CAW stickiness, and homologation issues, it is impossible.
The other alternative involved upgrading an existing vehicle. I can't say anything really about the direction GM chose to take, but lets just say keep an eye in your rear-view mirror for a hotted up version of a certain 4-door coupe with plastic body panels in a years time...
Thanks again everyone for taking the time to fill out the survey. I really appreciated your input, and the boys at GM had a look at all your responses, so they actually counted for something!
