Chevrolet debuted two unexpectedly-awesome concept coupes at last week’s Detroit Auto Show — the TRU 140S and CODE 130R. The former is a basically a Chevy Cruze wrapped in some (very) sexy clothes, while the latter is a retro-styled coupe with modern elements.
The General will use feedback received from the 130R and 140S in deciding whether (and how) to build one or both of the vehicles, which will be joined by more concepts aimed at the Millenial generation throughout 2012.
So the question for this week’s poll is… which concept do you like better?
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Comments
Wait, did I just see a Corvette logo on the CODE130R Concept? Something’s not right here…
You did. In fact, the TRU also has the crossed flags on it’s centre caps.
There is an explanation for this, although I’m not sure of GMA’s policy for linking to other news sites. Only one way to find out is to test the waters and hope I don’t incur someone’s wrath.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/09/why-do-the-chevrolet-coupe-concepts-have-corvette-cross-flag-emb/
Neither. The TRU looks too much like a Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the CODE looks too much like a BMW 1-Series. Perhaps if they made the TRU the rear drive model I could be convinced it was worth the effort. I’m not a fan of rear-drive but it matters to many so it’s reason enough to make it happen.
I like the 130r just because it looks like it can be a production vehicle and i like the retro styling . While the tru140s looks like a concept and gm wouldn’t have the balls to bring a car like that into production.
I like the styling of the TRU140 and the drivetrain layout of the Code130, so I’m a bit torn.
I’m curious why they choose a Red for the Code130 that makes it look like Lightning McQueen, and white for the TRU140 that has a muting effect on the aggressive style.
Re-imagine these cars with the colors swapped and see what you think.
Too bad the TRU140S is a concept car I like it but it won’t get built
@Skip GM has made it abundantly clear that both vehicles are production-feasible and that they will serve the market (Millenials) effectively with these cars.
Don’t be so sure Skip. Chevrolet has wanted to do a coupe based on the Cruze and the 140S is based on a Cruze platform. I think this one has production potential.I say build it!
The 130R is the better looking of the two; however, it has too much Chevy look. The 140S is too far out there in its design style. There are better-looking cars out there I would purchase over these two. Chevy needs to come up with better styling, Hyundai has done it so can Chevy. Only good-looking car Chevy has is the Camaro and I bought one.
c’mon you guys! BOTH of these are awesone! I’d love to have both in my stable! When are theyt available??
I love the 130R. it’s exactly what young driving enthusiast in the states need. right now if you love driving and truly want to explore and understand the skills needed to control a car at the limit, you are forced to buy tired 20 year old Japanese RWD coupes, or Fox bodies, and old F-bodies. You could also fool around with old BMWs and the like, but all of the above equal lots of money spent on a tired used car.
The Upcoming Toyota FR-S, and Subaru BRZ, as well as the Hyundai Genesis coupe, are addressing this problem directly. the Genesis coupe is unfortunately a lil too pricey and large to actually be dead on. But it’s an option non the less.
What many misunderstand about these types of cars, is they will NEVER be volume sellers nor are they intended too. they are about guys like me who love driving above nearly everything else. we just want to go out and drive. Not cruise, not drag race, not blast from stop light to stop light, but DRIVE. I mean the kind of guys and girls who dream of nice curvy switch back roads, and can’t wait to go out in fresh snow with a RWD car. the kind of guys and girls who spend months learning to heel and toe effectively, and understand why “drifting” is awesome, and what exactly is happening when a a car is pushed to it‘s limits, or exceeding them.
Lastly the type of people who these cars appeal to DO NOT want to spend a large amount of money to drive a fun, good handling RWD car, and know that there is no reason that one should have to. so yes GM, do the 130R. tweak it, but stay away from the extremely feminine shape of the 140R (that shape alone is what defines nearly ALL sissy volume selling FWD cars, and garners NO respect from true car guys the world over).
I saw the renderings by Manaorss for the 130R and although nice, he ruined everything that made the 130R perfect as a classic small RWD coupe. he lowered the green house, ruining the proper upright driving position as well as the commanding view of all 4 corners of the car. He also shortened it; dropping the 4 place seating. the car NEEDS to be practical. if it can’t serve as a sole form of transportation for the owner than it’s just another pretentious, toy. Yay, yet another 370z, Genesis, Corvette, Camaro, Mustang, etc: insert every other typical pricy, non practical, severely compromised in some way, sports coupe or sports car here.
The type of car that that the US market has been completely devoid of for nearly 20 years is a pure, light, RWD, CHEAP, simple, sport sedan/coupe. That a car guy on a budget, or unconcerned with image, can go out and buy on a entry level budget, and have years of fun with. yet the same car readily takes his friends out on Saturdays, and holds all of their junk on a road trips, and is cheap to insure, while being cheap to operate, or modify.
That’s a TRUE enthusiast car. a car that allows young and old, uninitiated, or experienced alike to fall in love with driving! there are very few cars that even approach that market now. the 130R has the potential to blow that segment wide open. GM tread very lightly here! If you go forward with a car of this magnitude, you BETTER get it right. The kind of people a car like this appeals to will tear you to shreds in print and by word of mouth if it doesn’t drive worth a damn, weighs too much, and cost too much. All points of which you have a unfortunate and LONG history of doing.
A well executed car like the 130R will do more for GM’s image than even the Corvette or Camaro.
edit: the reference to Manaross’s renderings relates to a pretty heated discussion on GMinsidenews.com about these two cars. i just copied my post there and posted it here because i felt it directly related to the discussion.
Very well-put, jz. I’m with you all the way there.
The only other thing to keep in mind here is that a vehicle like the 130 could attain mainstream status/volume since it will be effectively marketed to a broad range of Millenials. Even if it’s somewhat popular among those folks, then it could attain “mainstreamity” — and thus be financial lucrative.
You are right Alex. I just feel that GM marketing may not be up to the task of properly marketing a car like the 130R. It would be a dream come true for GM and enthusiast alike if such a car went ‘mainstream’ a true win win for everybody.
We’ll see. Of course, marketing today makes a huge difference in a vehicle’s success. But seeing that GM even identified the Millenials as potential customers and built these concepts, I think they’ll be able to market it properly. Just don’t call the same team handling Scion’s campaigns 🙂
I think there will be bias because of the color choices at their introduction. The 130R does look like the love child of a BMW 1 series and a pissed off Lightning McQueen. Millenials are the Toy Story generation, so GM is a bit early marketing after Cars already. The 140S might have done better in a lime green or something more obnoxious, guess they couldn’t have 3 red cars on the same stage?
The 140S also seems like it will just become the Cruze coupe, whereas I feel the 130R has more potential than serving as design cues for the next Camaro. I like the photoshop sedan: http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/1422/130rsedan.jpg
And even the more far fetched Nomad version: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/chaseabryant/My%20Designs/ChevyNomadSide.jpg
The cars don’t have interiors yet, and these will be VERY important if they want to sell them to 20 somethings. That doesn’t mean having Facebook and twitter integration/connectivity which is the latest buzzword, but having a well designed, intuitive, thoughtful interior with ample screen space, no cheap feeling materials (hard plastic), and room to hold two drinks, phones, iPods, etc. Based on what we’ve seen so far and the drivetrains my vote is for the 130R. It looks like it has more usable space (assuming the rear seats can fold down to fit a snowboard/surfboard/fill in your oblong gear), better visibility (unlike the Camaro), and the eAssist will help get better city fuel economy which is how most people (and most young people) spend a majority of their time driving. Needs to earn those crossed flags though (yes the fleur de lis is not there but still) with the addition of the 2.0L 270 hp 4 cylinder, but it could even out the chevy lineup nicely – 130R, Camaro, Corvette.
To everyone who has a favorite – voice your opinion on Facebook, Chevy should be watching and as of right now the 130R (91 likes) is beating the 140S (15 likes) in their respective Chevy make this car! groups. A top gear episode with these would be fun…
Bean-counter Graw says 140. It looks better, would likely be cheaper to build as all the parts and bits are available, and would likely be more affordable to the average buyer.
Z28 Graw says 130 because it would be cheaper than the Camaro, has RWD, and the 1.4L T/C isn’t anything to thumb his nose at like it was 15 years ago.
Judge Graw says 140 is better than the 130 because the 130 has a distracting and mishappen greenhouse, although he’s too old for the boy-racer good looks of the 140.
*bangs his gavel*
Luke!! Why oh why did you post that link to the 2dr wagon chop?! I am in love!! If GM had the nerve to produce such a car I would buy it as soon as it was announced! The sedan looks AWESOME as well. Just imagine if Chevy had the nerve to do a full line up of such a little car. Throw in a simple AWD system for our friends up north and with a dedicated GOOD marketing effort GM Could usurp BMW &Nissan, as the maker of affordable drivers cars! Heck they may even recapture a few lost Pontiac fans!
One can only dream…
I second that. Great job on the Photoshopped 130 concepts! (What can you do with the 140? hehe) The mini-wagon has my vote too. Could be some great competition for the ‘lil coopers.
Although I understand why GM & other companies are starting to target “Millenials”, (becuase it’s one of the fastest-growing segments of the population), and yes, the Cruze, Sonic, Spark and these concepts certainly have their place, what concerns me is that with many Millenials, they haven’t had the opportunity to establish credit yet, or are so far in debt with college loans, their credit is already in trouble.
I have a 22 year old son, by all definitions a Millenial, and he can barely afford an old “beater with a heater”. How on earth can Chevy/GM make these vehicles affordable enough for the very people they are building them for and marketing them to???
Also, a good portion of these youger folks have an “entitlement” or “gimme” mentality-a lot of them want the best of everything but aren’t willing to work for it. Chevy needs to step up the game on interiors, smart-phone apps, mobile internet & so on, but somehow they need to make all the technology affordable, yet profitable.
How can Chevy build these vehicles to sell to youg folks that can not get the financing to buy them? Just wondering….
Micheal, you bring up an issue I worry about as well. In the past you graduated college or worked a good trade job right outta high school and you could easily afford a new entry level car, or a nice mid level car if u optioned it right. Now? Not really and it’s seems to be getting worse.
But there are those few who see something they want and no matter what the circumstances, do what they have too to get ahead. Hopefully cars like these will also attract those young people as well.
Definately, I am a so called “Millenial” and while I dont mind that GM and other automakers are making cars that suit my needs but I dont think its a good business model for them. I would consider myself well off but I cant afford a new car right now even with excellant credit, but my credit is so far relatively underdeveloped(I prefer a cash lifestyle) and I probably would not get a loan even if I wanted one. GM and also other manufacturers are misunderstanding the “millenials”. For example, many of my friends dont know the diferences between a cruze and corolla, other than the corolla is better because its a toyota, meaning they dont know anything about cars and are strongly influenced by public perception and by what there parents drive. Here in california, where there is a stong anti-domestic presence against the big three, my friends automatically love imports and would never think about buying anything other than a Toyota or other import brand for their first new car. Basically many of them wont even know about the features designed by them by the automakers. And as Michael says, many “millenials”, frankly, want all those cool features and the new car but lack the disciple and responsibility required to save up for a car and actually afford it, even if its in the low 20k range. I think GM should rather focus on making youth-oriented cars rather than developing a car based solely on “millenials”. On a positive note, many middle aged adults will also be interested in youth-oriented cars simply because they will make them feel younger and they will drive up sales. In short, GM should not depend just on the “millenials” when making a car if they expect to be profitable on it.
Well, California has always been a bit “different” when it came to automotive tastes. Over time, this will change — especially as the “domestics” release their best products ever… which also happen to be better than the “imports” that are so preferred by the Californians.
Additionally, the term Millenials does, in fact, refer to young people. It’s just that it — right now — happens to be Millenials who are young. There isn’t a universally-agreed upon time frame for the birth of a Millenial, but the term usually includes people born in the late 1980s, early to middle 1990s, or as late as the early 2000s. I think Millenials is simply the “hot” word GM chose to explain these two concepts.
However, I think it takes a conscious consumer (Millenial or not) to understand a product, especially a product such as cars. Those who won’t know it if the features/car was developed for them… fine. But there will be those (like ourselves) who will. And then we’ll tell our car-unconscious friends… and so the word will spread far and wide 🙂
Does this mean to C7 Will be an old guys I mean baby boomer’s car.
Rear wheel drives rule the road. Front wheel drive is for pussies
FWD is also for people looking for an affordable, stable, fuel effecient, roomier vehicles who are not performance minded like us enthusiasts and just need a car to get around, these people also comprise 70% or more of the global population.
Just because we dont like FWD does not mean we can reject its benefits or importance, or belittle its users.
Agree with you about all of those except for the affordable bit. FWD cars are more affordable because, as of late, RWD has been reserved for premium/luxury makes. No reason (financially/economically) that a FWD car has to be less expensive than a RWD car. That “extra” drivetrain length is negligible with economies of scale.
RWD rules the road? Not by the numbers.
Many simply don’t care about the drivewheels. A minority of motorists (that would be us) DEMAND all of our cars to be RWD, but if it’s not practical or economical, an automaker isn’t going make a RWD car for a slim few.
And then we have cars like the Toyota GT-86 and Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Neither will sell (GT-86) or sells (Genesis Coupe) in huge quantities… but does a heck of a lot for each brand when it comes to enthusiasts.
And there’s the rub.
Do you throw money into engineering a low-volume car that is suppose to be pitched at people who want the fun of RWD but only have money for used cars?
Or do you say ‘Screw it’ and make the car on the cheap becasue money is being lost on each unit just for the odd chance that the car might serve as a ‘quazi halo car’ for the brand that rope people into the old Sloan ladder?
I mean a production 130 could woo me, but not if it’s being built to a price and reminds me of a Cobalt.
Grawdaddy, i think you are missing the point entirely Enthusiast do far more to hurt or help a Automakers image than ANY advertising can. there is a whole generation of car lovers curusing the streets right now thinking that the Nissan GTR is the end all be all of cars simpley because an enthusiest created a car game (Grand Turismo) that fellow enthusiest flocked to and displayed the GTR a car not even sold on these shores i might add, in god like favor.
We would not even have a R35 GTR on these shores if it wasn’t for enthusiast, (99.9% of which can’t afford a GTR or will the ever have one). But you know why Nissan spent the millions necessary to develop the R35 GTR? because they knew that the marketing benefit that they would reap from the Enthusiast community would do wonders for the Nissan brand as a whole world wide.
Every sports car, super car, exotic, and to a lesser extent Luxury car ever made owes their existence to interest first shown by Enthusiast.
GM hasn’t had a firm grip on the youth market and more importantly the Enthusiast market since the early 70s. and a major reason for that is the shortsighted quick money policy of ignoring that segment or making half-assed attempts to appease it. (lets go down the list of “sticker job/ appearance enhanced” performance legends GM turned out in the last 30 years…SMH). those cars nearly sealed GM’s fate as merely a producer of heartless, sorry excuses for transportation among the general enthusiast minded community.
A reputation that is so pervasive that GM can barely sell a Corvette that best nearly every car it’s compared against in nearly every way, AT NEARLY HALF THE PRICE OF IT’s COMPETITORS!!
Cars that are aimed at the performance and Enthusiast community show a Automakers heart. they show what that company is truly about and what type of passion motivates them to engineer, produce and sell cars in the first place.
Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari road cars (which Enzo hated by the way) Lamborghini, Porsche, Bugatti, Duesenburg, Lotus, Honda, Chevy, Ford,
Audi, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Jaguar, Lotus, and many more, owe everything that they stake their reputations on to the endorsement of the Enthusiast community.
If you build a product aimed at the Enthusiast community and build it like you give a damn, you’d be surprised how far that praise and loyalty will take you, and who will get swept up in it along the way. Don’t believe me? Look at BMW.
When that first 2002 hit these shores, who would have thought that nearly 40 years later the reputation that that car established would lead to a full line of cars AND SUVs (of all things) bought buy a majority of customers who don’t know a thing about ultimate driving machines or how to use them.
Let’s not get away from the topic at hand. It’s about which one we like and whether or not GM should make these. First, an opinion. If we lived in a “perfect” world, all cars would be rwd. However, companies are more concerned with cost than with what their consumers want. I think the 140s is gorgeous. I also think that the 130r looks like a queer(unusual), poor attempt to clone an rx-8 (which is a disgusting destruction of the beautiful rx-7).
Too many of you guys are confusing drivetrains and styling. These are two totally different factors. Younger buyers demand style above many other features. The 140s is SO much nicer than the 130r.
With respect to the rwd vs fwd argument, I agree with the majority. I’ve only ever owned fwd (except for my 1990 f-150 beater…rip). Rwd cars are either too damn expensive, or have mid-life crisis written all over them. If both cars can be built for $20k-ish, why can’t they offer rwd on both models. Stop knocking the 140s for being fwd.
Finally, yes GM, you need to build these cars. They are very practical. The 140s is beautiful. My only gripe is about the poor choice or limiting rwd to the ugly sister. If GM really wants us to decide for them, have them read the hundreds of blogs demanding that these be built. And that the much sexier 140s be given it’s very much deserved rwd drivetrain.
I own a 2011 Chevy Cruze, and I’m very impressed with the gas mileage and the way it drives. However, before the Cruze went into production, I was looking for information on a 2 door Cruze like car from GM…and didn’t find one. Now GM is finally getting to it!! There are many words that could be used to describe the concepts: “Bold, stunning, classy, affordable, striking, luxurious, sharp, feirce, efficient,” and the list goes on. The 130r looks like a mix of a Camaro and a Charger if you ask me, but still a very remarkable looking car. The idea of a much more affordable rear wheel drive coupe is awesome in itself. The 140S is much more luxurious looking than the 130r. Yes, it looks like a few other cars from other brands, but come on…if you had this car drive through your town, it would turn heads, and drop jaws to the ground. I had the first Cruze(LTZ) in my area and I had several people a week, that I did’t know, ask me about it and say they’d like to buy one. I’m all about having a coupe but not the Camaro(fuel economy and other things), which I could’ve purchased and saved some money rather than the Cruze. Both concepts have the sporty and classy looks, have great gas mileage, and will be pretty affordable(hopefully). As a young college student, I think I can speak for many college students and say, we want to have a nice car to make us feel older and show we have class, can afford a nice vehicle, and we don’t like to drive mediocre cars! Yes, both concepts are stunning to say the least, but the 140s has a Cruze platform, which probably means it has a better chance of production than the 130r. I believe if an SS model of either concept was produced it might have, a Camaro-like engine under the hood and maybe even rear wheel drive(140s). I love the thought of connectivity in the cars, making it much easier to listen to music, talk on the phone, etc. I think the cars should have a connectivity like Ford has to sync contact lists and such, and maybe have a personal GPS assistant for each car, rather than having to call OnStar. I think GM is doing a great job; They’re not just building and selling cars, they are asking the people what they want. They are doing something alot of other companies aren’t doing. Everybody has a voice, and GM is listening. And hey, if you don’t like either of the cars, it’s simple…drive a different car!
I love the tru 140 s … Maybe a little too much.(search nearly every Day for news) Its the perfect Car for me. Sure americans love muscle cars with RWD but chevrolet dont sell cars only there. I life in austria and 34 of 39 peoples i asked would take the tru because they are not realy fans of muscle cars. Dont get me wrong. I think they should build both! These cars are Perfect for young exotic and muscle car fans. Personal i never wanted to buy a chevrolet but the tru changed my mind and now im a tru(e) maniac.