Reuss Describes Chevy SS Sedan As “A Four Door Corvette”
53
Sponsored Links
When the Chevy SS high-performance sedan reaches dealer showrooms in late 2013, it won’t have an officially-set production cap — said GM President of North America Mark Reuss.
“We will fill the orders of people who want one instead of declaring some kind of production volume and trying to fill it from across the ocean”, said Reuss following the launch of the Chevy SS NASCAR series racer at the end of November in Los Angeles. Reuss did, however, put a number on the overall production volume, but said that GM will sell as many SS units as the market demands: “It’s going to be a relatively low-volume—probably between 10,000 and 15,000 units—but we really don’t know because we’ll make as many as we sell,” Reuss said. “There’s no target, there’s no goal. We’re bringing the car here to go racing. That’s the No. 1 goal. It will be a halo for Chevrolet. We really don’t have a high-performance four-door sedan in the lineup. It fills that niche. We’ll make as many as people want.”
“Anyone who has the right amount of money and shows up in a Chevrolet dealership, we will sell them this car,” Reuss said. “You don’t want to over-think this stuff. We haven’t focus-grouped it. It’s going to be a really good car. People are going to want it.
Reuss also described the upcoming high-performance sedan as “a four door Corvette”.
Manufactured in Australia and based on the VF update to the Holden Commodore, the SS will commemorate Chevy’s first rear-wheel-drive sedan on sale in the United States in 17 years. We expect the beast to at least cradle GM’s all-new fifth-generation small block engine, the LT1 — which will serve as the standard engine in the C7 2014 Chevrolet Corvette.
With its NASCAR racer, the production-spec SS sedan will attempt to bridge the gap between Sunday races and Monday purchases, allowing the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” adage to apply to the Bow Tie brand.
“We’re thinking about the Chevrolet showroom,” Reuss said. “We have no sedan that is a high-performance sedan. That’s the void that the SS fills. We’re not going to rank order of performance by model or any of that stuff. The Corvette will naturally always be the fastest high-performance thing we do. When you start laddering performance, it’s a very dangerous game.
All of GM’s previous NASCAR entries, including the Impala and Monte Carlo, were drive by the front wheels.
The GM Authority Take
It’s great to hear that GM isn’t setting a production cap, even though the sales volume for a vehicle such as the SS will not exceed the monthly sales of a Chevy Cruze. But it’s this statement that makes us even more impatient for the February unveiling of the SS at Daytona: “This will be a very special car for Chevrolet,” Reuss said. “This will be a pretty special SS.”
Now if only GM could recognize the opportunity of a compact high-performance offering (like a Cruze SS). Wouldn’t that be the bee’s knees?
- Sweepstakes Of The Month: Win a Corvette Z06 and 2024 Silverado. Details here.
Sponsored Links
I owned several Vettes and purchased a BMW545i because it was my version of a 4 Door Vette for my line of work. I want this 4 door SS! Look forward to test driving it!
Why not a CTS? … Just curious…
As mentioned by Lou GM has no rear wheeled high powered sedan, that costs less than 45k that can compete with the Charger. The ATS is nice but underpowered, new Impala? front wheel drive, CTS above the price limit, Buick regal GS front wheel drive. Ford has the Taurus SHO yes its All wheel drive, Dodge the Charger /SRT and even the 300C with the Hemi .
Now this s a very small market here, but it does exist, and as stated the SS is not meant to be a high volume car, its a “HALO” car that is more accessible than a Corvette or a ZL1 Camaro.
I like the CTS, have driven the XLR and think Cadillac is spot on. However, having grown up the son of a Bowtie enthusiast I really like the edgy on the come performance of Chevrolet. The BMW545i was bad ass and should have been a US Muscle Car. I like the idea of owning a high performance Chevy that will smoke a snobbish European vehicle at the more reasonable price. Essentially I can blow away an Audi or Beemer in my Bowtie, take out clients and invest my savings in other worthy things! Great question and thanks for asking! Love that new SS!
It will be awesome for sure. I wonder what it will cost? And yeah I’m waiting for something like a Cruze SS. I suppose if the Focus ST is a great seller here, it may make GM think harder about it.
this vehicle will be exactly what gm needs in NA to compete with its primary target (whether gm admits it or not) the charger. gm knows they are lacking presence in a segment that they used to dominate (rwd sedan) but it seems they are only going after the SRT charger not so much the RT and by the looks of the brembo brakes consistantly seen in the spy shots this car will definitely be a 400+ horsepower vehicle. GM def has an opportunity on its hands to capitalize on where the charger fails to deliver…a nimble driver’s sedan with six speeds or better (8 speed auto if they really wanna make some noise) and last but not least a manual option that would most def persuade plenty of charger owners and potentials who want a stick with their v8
I am all for this car, and I am sure it will make the impact that GM is hoping for. But I have some concerns. If the SS is supposed to be a 4 door Corvette, why is it being represented in NASCAR? Would they think of putting a Corvette out there? Absolutely not. While words cannot express how much I despise NASCAR, the Camaro is a better option and not this, something that is supposed to be high-end performance sedan. It will be out of the reach of the typical tail-gating, beer-drinking, John-Deere-cap-wearing, NASCAR fans. Things are starting to fall apart at GM and they need to take stock quickly. They are losing focus fast. Where is Bob Lutz, dammit?!?
Richard, as much as I dislike NASCAR (for the “cars” being raced), your assumptions about the series are way off. I don’t have precise numbers in front of me right now, but NASCAR fans aren’t as primitive and/or poor as you make them out to be — it’s one of the first misconceptions about the series. That may or may not mean that they can/will be able to afford the SS, but let’s not forget about the NASCAR Camaro:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2012/07/this-is-the-2013-chevy-camaro-for-nascar/
So whether we like it or not, NASCAR is still the most popular automotive series in the US… Everything else is far behind. Thus NASCAR. Thus SS & Camaro.
Test drove a Focus ST two weeks ago – a GR8 little GTi fighter for which GM has no competing model. The biggest flaw with the ST is that it has no dual clutch gearbox otherwise very competitive with the GTi…power is on par with the Eco-Tec 2.0 litre turbo but has much better torque @ low revs. Handling is GTI-like, perhaps a little too stiff but turn in is better and it feels just as friendly as the VW. The Cruze platform seems pretty much on par with the Focus (which is very good) and the powertain is there in the GM catalog so Chevy engineers need to do some suspension tuning and put it in the marketplace…how hard can it be ? Put people from the Corvette team on it after the C7 introduction…I’ve been waiting now since the introduction of the Cruze ! Please Chevy, we need an SS Cruse !!
When the Cruze SS/high performance does come, one feature it won’t have is the massive and inexcusable torque steer of the Focus ST, thanks to GM’s HiPer Strut front suspension. The Focus also has some massive squeaks and rattles, but that may have been the specific car I drove.
So I’m guessing the Impala SS will include magnetic ride???
What Impala SS?
Excuse me I meant to say ” Chevy SS ” Alex , with that being said is it safe to say AWD and magnetic ride will be standard
Mike, ah — that makes more sense now.
I’m sure MRC will be available, at the least. Doubt AWD will be , though.
The current Holden HSV models have it. So it seems very likely.
Correction Impala SS?
Interesting that Reuss isn’t concerned about volume for an SS sedan, but won’t give the mainstream buyer a C-class hatch/wagon. Makes a statement about his priorities.
@VeranoHatch which do you think is more profitable?
The SS will be more profit per unit, but the hatch/wagon should sell more units IF DONE WELL. If GM was able to build a Mazda 3 (SkyActiv) with a Buick interior, that would be quite a car, but they won’t. GM tends to go mediocre in the C-class, so their hatch would be just another in a saturated market. Build something that gets “Best in Class” press and it might be a different story. GM could use a vehicle like that. The Volt was a step in that direction but it is a bit too far out there (in price) for the Chevy buyer. Where I live there are more Chevy dealers than Mazda dealers, but lots of 3s already on the road. And I do believe that, at least where I work, people would much rather buy American, so mixing in foreign car data might not be a true indicator.
When the all-new range of GM’s 4-cylinder EcoTec engines arrives, it will deliver as good or better results as SkyActiv in the 3… even though the Cruze Eco still achieves best-in-class fuel economy (while the normal 1.4T Cruze is what, 2 MPG off while being 4 years older?). In addition, the Cruze interior is significantly better than that of the Mazda, so I see no need for a Buick interior at all.
Yes, a Cruze hatch will likely sell more units — but GM needs to get take care of its production investment at Lordstown first before it starts modifying the line. In reference to your original comment, I bet Reuss has very little to do with this, as it affects profitability at GM’s most important car segment; meanwhile, the SS will be imported from a plant that has made LHD variants before. Again, I’m guessing the decision to delay a Cruze hatch is purely financial (as it relates to production) — so reading into it as Mr. Reuss’ “priorities” would be reading too much into it.
As you know, fuel economy is a trade-off with performance. “Best in Class” should be a reference to the combined fuel efficiency/performance. Unfortunately, there’s really no way to measure this given that cars are different, so people tend to talk right past each other in a debate. In short, the 3 does well on both performance and fuel, whereas usually an auto-maker gives up a bit more on one to get the other closer to “Best in Class.”
The thing about the 3 that intrigues me the most isn’t its engine. It’s the transmission. Read up on it. Though I’m eagerly awaiting the 1.6 Turbo for the GM cars of interest to me personally, transmission developments are more of a question mark. I’m not here to discuss Mazda. I’d much rather be discussing what GM is doing in this area to stay competitive in the fuel economy/performance race.
@verano hatch i honestly believe reuss an gm are down playing the volume subject b/c this car has a lot riding on it..they know with the results that the last Holdens had here (g8 and gto especially) they can’t afford to miss the target again and loose potential profits by having a slew of performance sedans collecting dust on dealer lots so they looked @ the data and marketing from gto an g8 to develope a slot an purpose for this car in Chevys lineup so instead of doing an everymans performance sedan they chose to do a high performance flagship sedan with a v8 powertrain which makes sense b/c gto and most g8 sales were v8. This car is not only GM’s answer to the most potent chargers but a guinea pig for rwd sedans in NA all together! With the el camino trademarked again we could possibly get a ute too! C’mon gm pull the trigger on the rest of those holdens!!
I agree the Chevy SS is a test for the market, though the say it’s mainly about the race car then w/e. It will be very interesting to see how well this sells. No guess. Engine, tranny and price combo will go a long way in determining success I’d think
Alex,
I don’t know what stage the Focus ST was in when you drove it but the one I drove did not suffer from any overpowering Torque Steer, in fact it was much less than my HHR “SS” and not much worse than a GTI ! It also had NO annoying squeaks or rattles, in fact, much as it pains me to say (I’m a long time Chevy guy) the ST is the nicest Ford I’ve driven in a long time ! However, the price of the ST in Canada is a bit much, the monthly cost for the ST being nearly twice that of my 2012 Civic Si (which was admittedly quite a deal – 200.00CDN less monthly than the GTI !) and the ST interior in Canada is available in any colour as long as it’s black, unlike in the USA. If Chevrolet is going to release a Cruze SS turbo they had best not underestimate the ST !
Jim — the ST I drove most recently was a 100% production model. It suffered from significant torque steer in first and second (sometimes even third) and had some pretty nasty wheel hop in first.
That said, I’m not bashing the car, but it seemed to me (for the 3 days I drove it) that Ford did little to assuage the torque steer. As for the interior, it’s good, but I expected more. The seats, for instance, are great — but the seat’s cushion doesn’t tilt up or down — making for some pretty bad ergonomics for the stick.
The rattles I experienced all seemed to come from the headliner area — so it may have been the particular unit I drove.
Other than that, I loved the car — but would still get a GTI/GLI before the Focus due to better exterior and interior design, lack of torque steer, and more body style choices (3 door, 5 door, sedan). Chevy needs to get into this segment. It’s fairly low in volume, but it drives people to showrooms and improves the brand’s image in the long run (ahem, as does the Chevy SS).
Alex,
The car I drove was notable to me as it’s Torque Steer was so much less than my SS, it was worst in 1st but as the tires were struggling with grip, not really bad, in 2nd and 3rd not bad at all, I found the Turn In just fabulous, as good as the GTI except that the ST has more power and you have to be more careful with it. I like the front seats but the GTI’s interior is better. The GTI’s manual gearbox is better, although the ST is close but the VW’s dual clutch gearbox is the way to go, especially if you up the GTI’s power which is easy. With about 250HP the GTI IS better than the ST but I find the current Golf styling is too dated (perhaps as my wife has had 3 of them). If I were Chevy I’d build a better GTI in both a naturally aspirated version – maybe 225HP and a turbo with 300. The styling of the Cruze is OK as it is , just muscle it up a bit for the SS. I really want Chevy to build a Cruze SS.
But Alex, I gotta tell you , I got my Si (which I got a GR8 deal on ) so I would have more “car budget” for my new C7, which I’m anxiously awaiting the intro of next month !! Just so you know I’m still a Chevy guy at heart !
Four door corvette OK but I would hope that a 2 door coupe and convertible will be available…
Jesse — what do you mean? The Corvette is already offerred as a Coupe and Convertible…
Will the SS have a 2 door coupe or convertible as an option ?
The SS/Commodore is technically related to the Camaro and Camaro Convertble… so those are it.
Of course, there’s also Corvette and Corvette Convertible…
The camaro and camaro convertible may be related but they are surely not the same as having a family size 2 door sedan.
Jesse — the market you are describing (large 2-door “sedans”) is non-existent today, so it would be nearly pointless (and very unprofitable) for GM to introduce such a vehicle. Instead, Chevy is competing (and winning) when it comes to:
1) RWD performance coupes (Camaro, Corvette)
2) RWD performance sedans (upcoming SS)
If you need space for four, then a sedan will ultimately serve your needs much better than a similarly-sized coupe.
Alex, I think you hit the nail right on the head. I do think GM needs to get a practical, compact 2-door going in NA. Whether it’s a version of the Cruze or the GTC.
That it does, my friend. Everyone has one/will have one, including:
Honda Civic
Toyota (Scion TC)
Kia Forte
Hyundai Elantra
VW (EOS/Golf Vert)
I believe the Ford will eventually have a Focus coupe, as well.
That’s the bulk of the market, right there! How Chevy doesn’t have one STILL is beyond me.
This platform was already introduced in the US in 2009 by GM as the Pontiac G8. It was available in a GT which had the 6.0L V8 with 361hp and the GXP with the 6.2L that had 415hp. If you have seen the Australian V8 Supercar Series, you have seen the Holden Commodore, which the G8 was made from. The only difference was the front bumper, front fenders and hood (and the G8 is left hand drive of course). I have a 2009 G8 GT and it is an awesome car. The build location on the window sticker was Sydney, Australia. This car turned heads when it was stock, as a four-door so I don’t know why all the comments seem to be so concerned with having a two-door version. I have since supercharged, tuned, lowered and put rims and tires on my G8GT. It has around 600hp and I always joked that it was my 4 door Vette!
And what a great four-door Vette it is… and will be 🙂
I agree! I think this will be a great selling car. I think a lot of people didn’t realize what a car the G8 was until it wasn’t available anymore due to Pontiac’s demise. Most people had no idea that it was even a RWD V8. I don’t watch NASCAR but if this is what it takes to bring this car to us, I thank them.
The G8 GT suffered most, in my view, from tone-deaf dealers. The one I tried to buy the car from seemed indifferent to ordering one in the blue color I desired, and acted as though it was foreign to the Pontiac line. He must have been successful: Pontiac is no more.
Currently drive a G8 GT. Love the power and handling. Can’t wait for the SS.
Seeing as you Yanks are a bit behind the times I can bring you a little up to speed hehe on what you can look forward to. The Commodore (SS) is built for racing, if you Googe Australian V8 Supercar series you can watch them in action since @ 2003 (for the current body style) In Australia we have a group called HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) Like AMG for Mercedes HSV is for Holden. http://www.hsv.com.au/e3/home/ The HSV site doesnt show a wagon but Holden does have one with all the goodies. You are getting a great car, we also wish that like the Monaro you got from OZ (GTO) They would also do a new Monaro based on this body style. Look up Australian Muscle cars on the web, It’s like an alter world of Muscle Cars very much like what you have in the USA
Any word on a 6-speed manual for the SS?