Poll: Is GM Making A Mistake By Not Offering AWD On 2014 Impala?
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It’s pretty much a universally-agreed-upon fact that Chevy has designed a home run with the 2014 Impala. But the range-topping Chevy will not offer all-wheel drive when it hits the streets a year from now. And that’s a shame, given that its most direct competitors from Ford (Taurus), Chrysler (300), and Toyota (Avalon) offer AWD as an option.
And it’s an even bigger shame when we consider the fact that the Impala’s Epsilon II platform fully supports the ability to be driven by all four wheels, as evidenced by its platform-mate, the Cadillac XTS and the (smaller) Buick LaCrosse. Hence our question: is Chevy making a mistake by not offering AWD on the new Impala?
Cast your vote in the poll below.
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No. How many awd CTS4’s do you see? not many (from my own observations, maybe 3-5% of all second gen CTS’ are awd equipped and I’m in snowy Canada), and with the CTS, people are already dropping a decent amount of money, going to awd in the CTS is a drop in the bucket. I use the CTS as an example since it’s rwd, for the average person much, much, harder to drive in the winter, even with good driving aids.
A full size fwd car is a walk in the park given a good set of Altimax Arctics or Blizzaks.
AWD-equipped CTS may sell in large numbers, or they may not. We don’t know since GM doesn’t break out sales by drivetrain. Seeing them on the road isn’t really a good measure of sales success.
But consider this: of the people who do buy the AWD CTS… would they have bought something different if AWD were not available? Perhaps something from the competition?
In other words, the Epsilon platform supports AWD… the XTS will offer it. And the XTS will be made on the same line as the Impala in Oshawa. So it’s really an artificial limitation to not offer AWD in the ‘Pala. So how ever many buyers will opt for AWD (5%, 10%, who knows?), Chevy will lose out to Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota. Is that something it can afford?
Out of about 70 CTS models we have in stock, I can count on my hand how many RWD CTS models we have. (excluding V’s) Yes, Caddy developed the AWD CTS solely because they don’t offer it in FWD. I live in MI.
The AWD LaCrosse is also very un-popular here. The residual PLUMMETS in terms of leasing. I think GM is just fine with offering the Impala in strictly FWD.
I BET IT WILL SELL JUST FIND AS IT IS…..
I live in NJ and have always been a Chevy man. 3 years ago I bought an AWD CTS because Chevy had no sedan with AWD and navigation. They solved half the problem but I’m very disappointed about the AWD. Obviously GM believes there is brand loyalty to the “General” but most Chevy drivers are often performance driven. I’m as likely to consider the Taurus SHO as another CTS when I replace it next year. 51 percent disagree with GM; they’ve learned a lot about quality but still suck at market research.
I think they are making it fwd only to maximize profit.
Or they can offer AWD as a $1,250 option (usually priced around there for every maker)… which is pretty much all profit.
Perhaps the strategy is to be more profitable per unit. But they will lose on volume to competitors who are offering AWD.
Thing is, if they offer AWD they are going to be creeping to close to Lacrosse territory. Especially price wise. I know this car when apples to apples with a FWD Lacrosse will be a couple thousand dollars less. in the neighborhood of 6-9K. Add AWD to the mix and that gap will shrink to the point where someone looking at an impala will say, well for only this little difference I can get a Buick with 20,000km more warranty and these other features, might as-well go with a Buick. I think limiting it to FWD is a smart choice. I live in Canada as you might have guessed with the KM bit, there are many people here who drive a front wheel drive car in the winter with our snow and icy roads, I myself drive a G8 which is RWD and my wife has an 06 G6 GT which is FWD. Yeah sure it would be sweet to have an AWD car but listen, AWD is good for two things, gaining traction from a stop when it is slippery, and for cornering ( even more so if it has a limited slip diff in the back [cts/srx]) On a highway going 110-120kph if you hit a slippery patch AWD isn’t really going to do a whole hell of a lot if it is just the standard set up, that’s why you have traction control and stability control. With those two features any car is perfect to drive in pretty much every condition other than bombing through fields after it has rained. Use a truck. Having the Impala as a FWD only vehicle is not going to hurt it’s sales, the current gen with all its faults is a sales leader, the new gen will smash records still. Man of us might think that GM doesn’t always think with both sides of their brains but believe me, i think they know what they are doing here. If it does turn into an issue for them you know that down the road, if they have to or need to, they will add an AWD option to the car to keep it competitive.
This will easily be something they role out later based on the initial success of the vehicle, should Chevy be all things to everyone, not sure AWD is necessary on this vehicle.
AWD is rarely seen here in Canada on any car unless it’s a Subaru where u don’t have the option. Most people here just get snow tires which is better anyways and will save your (Canadian) bacon in most situations.
I’ll drink to that.
Since most people here live in cities, AWD is just costly extra. Roads get plowed, sanded, and salted. Put on winter tires with steelie rims, drive a bit slower than the speed limit, keep an extra safe following distance, and a FWD car will do just fine in the winter here.
awd doesnt allow someone to drive closer to another driver, or drive faster. awd doesnt help a car stop, i think people with awd/4wd get that mentality and leads to accidents. all too often have a seen 4×4 vehicles in the ditch or up someones ass. when your going 40 down a snow covered road with awd, fwd, or rwd, it’s the breaks that stop you. no matter which wheels are driving the car, they all have the same traction patch, awd just uses it more effectively on acceleration and turning.
my 305hp rwd CTS has never failed me in the winter, and i have driven through some tough shit blizzards and pounded up mountain roads for snowboarding trips.
That’s easy for us to say. But not so easy for the car salesman who is getting cross-shopped with the competition that offers AWD by consumers who think they’re über safe because of it.
Good point, its too bad that the public is so misinformed over the benefits of AWD. As someone said above, most people who get in accidents in bad weather are AWD driving people because they think nothings ever going to happen to their car because its AWD.
But then again the Impala’s segment, which is small when fleet sales are excluded(fleet buyers dont care about AWD), arent going to have much buyers who are interested in AWD, as most wont even know or care that the competitors even offer AWD, and the salesman can direct the buyer to the nearest Buick dealership, At least 50% of the buyers who would have bought a AWD impala would buy a AWD lacrosse in the absence of the AWD Impala, so GM really doesnt have much to worry about.
Well, yes. But there are two things that kind of nag me about the situation.
One is that — unless it’s a Chevy-Buick-etc. store — the salesperson will NOT recommend a LaCrosse. Most salespeople don’t care. Nothing against salespeople, just a fact.
And two is that Chevy is a full-line automaker/brand… yet it’s refusing to offer what other full-liners offer. Same goes for not bringing the Cruze Hatch, Cruze Coupe, or a compact crossover to North America. A full-line automaker needs to cater to the mainstream without sizable gaps in its lineup, and Chevy is failing at doing so.
Good point again, yes its not optimal that the impala doesnt offer AWD, and I think it should, especially when it is relatively easy to do so.
Im just saying that the decision not to offer AWD on the impala is not hurting GM and Chevy all that much and its not something that I feel should be on top of GM and Chevys to-do list.
Youre right I completely overlooked the fact that salespeople are not going to do that, but any well researched buyer looking for an AWD full size sedan will have the lacrosse on their list, so I still think its safe to assume that probably around 50% of those who would buy a AWD impala would buy a AWD lacrosse, as the choices among the full size AWD affordable are so limited as the only real players are GM, Ford, Toyota, and maybe Chrysler(I consider chryslers offerings to be of a different class/segment but ill include them because most of the automative community considers them competitors).
Don’t be so sure that people will go to Buick if the can’t get want they want from Chevy. In my area Buick is still seen as “the old man’s car” and you are not to be caught driving one unless you are a card carrying AARP member.
@Cactus Maybe it’s that way right now, but it won’t be for long 🙂
I see lots of young people in Buicks……all age groups will be scooping up these fine cars
But then again not many people would like how LaCrosse look and prefer Impala’s look if they want AWD. Even though AWD models don’t sell that much.
I agree with all the canadians therereally is no need and they dont need the etra profit cause they will still kick ford, chrysler, toyotas asses in sales thanks to the fleet sales of the continued 9th gen.
Adding 4wd to a fwd platform adds little to the car and sales. Adding awd on rwd is appreciated, but on fwd a little unnecessary, and for those who it well help buy a lacrosse, if not those people are a small enough segment so that GM doesnt really need to worry about them.
I think it should be offered not unless they’re saving up for TT V6
that TT 3.6L is going to sit in the ATS-V and not much else for it’s inauguration. XTS might get it, the 6th gen camaro will likely be the first chevrolet model to use it.
Unless the next gen Commodore intended for NA gets more than just a V8 line up as previously reported
I think it’ll be in the impala first then the camaro
I can totally see an 83 year old driving a Regal GS manual with 20’s.
They didn’t have those 15 years ago when Buick was designated “The last car you’ll ever buy.”
AWD is just a security option makes your car easier to drive on ice but its not fundamental on a luxury car who cares if its front wheel drive and if your the owner of an AWD system car you’re not going to shooting by the 7 seas that your car is AWD, who cares its your car and you bought it because its nice not because a damming AWD system.
I too live in Michigan, the motor city. Just not right in the heart of it, thank god! But, the awd option is not needed. I have a 2011 Malibu LTZ, it’s just fine in the snow. Unless we get like 6″ or more then you won’t be driving in it anyway. Give me a decent set of snow tires and I am good. AWD only allows for good acceleration on slippery conditions. Other than that you don’t need it. The cars simply don’t have the ground clearance.
I am a fleet manager and currently nearly 30% of my fleet are Impalas. However, the Subaru Legacy is becoming the main vehicle I purchase for my upper midwest fleet location because of cost and the all wheel drive. GM should produce a car to complete with the Legacy, such as a Malibu all wheel drive option and an Impala all wheel drive option. Even Ford and Mercury have all wheel drive cars in those segments!
who’s Mercury?
there is a reason there arent more players in the full size awd market… no one gives a crap. it’s a very small niche market. it’s like the minivan market only less sales and more unecessary
Sorry, I’m showing my age, it used to be called Lincoln/Mercury. Now just Lincoln.
Ken, I am with you….that is correct, bud….Lincoln/Mercury
To be honest, the Legacy is such a crashing nonentity, cars in the mid-size segment without AWD already outclass it.
Like the Malibu, for instance.
As a Chevy salesman, we NEED an AWD sedan. I would actually prefer both Malibu AND Impala AWD. I’m in the Pittsburgh, PA area, and whether it’s in their heads or not, there is a demand for AWD sedans. As has been stated above, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Subaru all offer AWD sedans. People walk into our Chevy store and we have nothing to offer them. Friends of ours have a LaCrosse AWD, and their daughter has a Milan AWD and wants to replace it but doesn’t want to be just like her dad and get the Buick. I have nothing to offer her. Malibu and Impala would give her a choice. My brother bought a CTS AWD a year ago because I had nothing to offer him in an AWD sedan (which was a must for him). At the Cadillac dealership when he was buying his car, the salesman mentioned that the vast majority of their CTS sales were all wheel drive. There is a market for this feature. GM, please give us the ability to be competitive. Give us the ability to have an edge! Give us All Wheel Drive on the Malibu AND Impala! Thanks!
You represent a small minority of customers who really want AWD but from my drives throughout the Penn State area there are lots of people with full size 4x4s. I bet some of that mentality goes over to the car side. In my case I live just over the border from Buffalo and even there ( the snow capital) you don’t see AWD cars. If you’re really after that kind of traction of capability, then you should just buy a crossover with AWD.
Don’t compare the CTS to the new Impala. You may not see too many CTS4’s because the other option is rwd. If I can’t buy a rwd Impala then awd is the next best choice.
well im stuck because i know allota people including myself that love RWD! but i just watch that the AWD V6 Nissan GTR BEAT the mustang supersnake!…. so imma have to lean twards AWD if RWD isnt even in the picture…. wonder why their avoiding RWD now….
I don’t see the need for all-wheel-drive in Colorado (the state not the truck) but some people want to buy it go ahead make it an option.
I’ll always have at least one AWD vehicle in my household. I make plenty of road trips in the winter and even in the Detroit area there are plenty of storms that drop 8″ or more snow. I always equip my AWD cars (historically Subarus) with snow tires. That combination makes the car pretty much unstoppable. Those that say FWD or RWD is “better” obviously haven’t driven an AWD equipped vehicle to it’s full potential. There’s a reason why top of the line rally cars are AWD…not front or rear.
That said, owners of sedans probably aren’t driving in this manner and could easily get by with snow tires and front or rear drive. I can understand why GM is not including it in all models. The “average” consumer doesn’t want to spend more money, and get worse gas mileage.
Jeremy, a fwd car with a decent set of snow tires is just as good as an awd with all season tires, imo. You’re still limited by ground clearance, anyway. I own a 2005 Grand AM GT and a 2011 Malibu. Both cars get equipped with snow tires for the winter and I’ve never had either stuck in the snow.
Kiel – you’re welcome to your opinion and I agree that tires DO make a huge difference. However, there is a degree of balance and control that is gained when you have 4 tires providing power to the ground. I opens up a range of driving tools that are not available to fwd or rwd cars. I use snow tires, even with AWD because I like to brake and steer….call me crazy. Anybody driving in snow should be using snow tires…they’re mandated in Europe. Of course, we American’s are too smart to be told what to do.
In college (Michigan Tech in Houghton MI….>400 inches of snow some years)…I drove an ’84 Subaru wagon home in the middle of a blizzard from the bar one night back to my apartment 3 miles outside of town. The road had not been plowed in over 12 hours and the only tracks on it were from a snowmobile. When I pulled into the parking lot I could see that I’d been driving in about 16″ of snow. I almost couldn’t open my doors when I stopped because the snow was so deep. After 5 years of school up there I can site many similar stories, but that was probably the most extreme. The car had $30/ea re-tread snow tires, the stock 70 hp engine, and I was driving in low-range.
and it plowed through all of that 16″ of snow all that way because it featured an enhanced flux capacitor that allowed it to defy physics and acted like the main deflector dish on the starship Enterprise (pick your flavor, i prefer the NX class)
I recently saw a test somewhere ( maybe Car and Driver ) where they compared a FWD car with snows vs. a AWD car with all seasons. The difference in acceleration was minimal and in every other comparison the snows were better. Unless you’re in rally car, AWD is nice but not necessary.
Yeah, I’ve never lived that far north. I grew up in the Thumb area right on lake huron where we always got lake effect. I now live in Chesterfield, northern macomb county. The roads around here are usually cleared pretty quick. I just don’t feel that the Impala sales will suffer because the vehicle isn’t awd. GM doesn’t have that many awd (cars), and their sales are still pretty strong.
By the way, not to be rude in anyway. But, driving through 16″ of snow in a car seems a little ridiculous and I think you may have embellished slightly. There is no way in hell a car, even if awd, can drive through that deep of snow. You would need a lot of ground clearance to make it through. Even in a 4×4 pickup you would be pushing it.
You make my point. Most people have no idea what an AWD vehicle is capable of because they have never tried it. Your concept of needing 16″ of ground clearance to drive through 16″ of snow is incorrect. About 8″ of that snow was getting pushed by the front of the car and forced around the side..the rest goes under and gets compacted as you drive over it. A light vehicle can drive up onto the snow to some degree. I’ve seen old Toyota pickups drive on packed snowmobile trails that a full size Ford couldn’t get 5 ft into…because the Ford sunk all the way to the bottom of the snow pack and the Toyota drove on top.
That particular storm produced over 30″ of snow in 24 hours. I remember it clearly because a bank robbery took place the same day and resulted in a hostage situation. My road got plowed once, earlier in the day…do the math..over an inch per hour on average..no embellishment needed. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n6kaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iUUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6275%2C3870872
The tires make more of a diffrence than does the number of wheels turning. I’ve seen plenty of people mud bogging where just a change from all terrains to mud terrains is the difference between moving and sitting. If you’ve got regular all season tires on a AWD car and you’re plowing through over a foot of snow, you’re not moving very well, if at all. If your Subie had only a 70 hp engine, then I’ll bet the tires were as wide as a pizza cutter, which also helps a lot. I had a ’87 Corolla with P175 that cut through snow like crazy, and they were all seasons.