What happened to Chevrolet? Extinct?

[Toeknee_33]

Back to Chevrolet discussion.

 

IMO GM treats brands as a marketing expediency. Bad examples include re-badging a Subaru Impreza to masquerade as a Saab. Or selling the same Aveo as 7 different brands in different markets.

 

GM launched Chevy into Europe in 2005 with a mix of Korean and American models. 9 years later they U-turned and exited the market. Not the best way to build a brand.

 

The Sonic is Korean-designed, the Cruze engineering is led by Opel, while the Malibu is mainly American. Can't remember where the Orlando originated. Platforms, engines, gearboxes, components are taken from everywhere in the GM empire. I don't see any brand heritage, any product identity or coherence, or engineering philosophy that we would be proud to see in our cars.

 

It's just a collection of disparate car models sourced from all of GM's repertoire of models, and conveniently re-hashed, re-badged. That's Chevrolet to me.

[DACH]

Back to Chevrolet discussion.

 

IMO GM treats brands as a marketing expediency. Bad examples include re-badging a Subaru Impreza to masquerade as a Saab. Or selling the same Aveo as 7 different brands in different markets.

 

GM launched Chevy into Europe in 2005 with a mix of Korean and American models. 9 years later they U-turned and exited the market. Not the best way to build a brand.

 

The Sonic is Korean-designed, the Cruze engineering is led by Opel, while the Malibu is mainly American. Can't remember where the Orlando originated. Platforms, engines, gearboxes, components are taken from everywhere in the GM empire. I don't see any brand heritage, any product identity or coherence, or engineering philosophy that we would be proud to see in our cars.

 

It's just a collection of disparate car models sourced from all of GM's repertoire of models, and conveniently re-hashed, re-badged. That's Chevrolet to me.

 

The Orlando is based on GM Delta II platform, first for the Canadian market and now produced in South Korea and Vietnam.

Sadly this is how Chevrolet sells its global products worldwide, unlike it's home market more American which are more interesting.

 

Very unhappy with GM that it has ruined many brands like Plymouth, SAAB, Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer.   

[Karoon]

In USA, many consider american cars as crap, ie GM, Chevrolet, Buick, Dodge, whatever.

 

I once drove an Impala going at 100km/h.

Scared the shit out of me, like rock and roll, can hardly control the car.

Had to slow it down to 70km/h before feeling more comfortable.

 

i've never had a good impression of the american workforce. I've been in a few of their factories before and it seems like the workers all got attitude.... plus their unions are damn powerful... 

 

i know they set all the quality standards, six sigma etc, and we take their boeing quality for granted, but those are top end industries..

for automotives, its a mixed bunch 

[Lala81]

i've never had a good impression of the american workforce. I've been in a few of their factories before and it seems like the workers all got attitude.... plus their unions are damn powerful...

 

i know they set all the quality standards, six sigma etc, and we take their boeing quality for granted, but those are top end industries..

for automotives, its a mixed bunch

American manufacturing has never been about exceeding quality. It's always been quantity, free market efficiency and also they were the first to automate production of many things like canned food etc. So they started creation of the machines that are used in factories.

 

But the Japs and the Germans etc have all gone beyond them in terms of robotics etc after building on the strong base they inherited. And hence we favor Japanese and German engineered cars. Not that the Americans are bad, just that they aren't the best anymore. Just like we can't say French cars are terrible, they are just not great.

 

Well the American brands still have their own local suvs and pickups. It's just that gm approach to globalization didn't work.

[Apple-Tree]

Heavy ..... and thick skin.

 

 

just curious to know, Chevy is safe due to the number of airbags? or crash test rating? 

 

[Volvobrick]

 

I am amazed that you guys still relate Chevrolet as rebadged Daewoos? How many yrs ago was that?

 

These days they are real Chevies from USA or special models designed for Asia market. 

 

No more Daewoo crap inside liao

 

Erh... so it's real American crap inside now?

 

[Soya]

Back to Chevrolet discussion.

 

IMO GM treats brands as a marketing expediency. Bad examples include re-badging a Subaru Impreza to masquerade as a Saab. Or selling the same Aveo as 7 different brands in different markets.

 

GM launched Chevy into Europe in 2005 with a mix of Korean and American models. 9 years later they U-turned and exited the market. Not the best way to build a brand.

 

The Sonic is Korean-designed, the Cruze engineering is led by Opel, while the Malibu is mainly American. Can't remember where the Orlando originated. Platforms, engines, gearboxes, components are taken from everywhere in the GM empire. I don't see any brand heritage, any product identity or coherence, or engineering philosophy that we would be proud to see in our cars.

 

It's just a collection of disparate car models sourced from all of GM's repertoire of models, and conveniently re-hashed, re-badged. That's Chevrolet to me.

Sounds like the ultimate parts bin car....

[Vinceng]

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Are Chevrolet cars still built with GM parts?

[Watwheels]

Back to Chevrolet discussion.

 

IMO GM treats brands as a marketing expediency. Bad examples include re-badging a Subaru Impreza to masquerade as a Saab. Or selling the same Aveo as 7 different brands in different markets.

 

GM launched Chevy into Europe in 2005 with a mix of Korean and American models. 9 years later they U-turned and exited the market. Not the best way to build a brand.

 

The Sonic is Korean-designed, the Cruze engineering is led by Opel, while the Malibu is mainly American. Can't remember where the Orlando originated. Platforms, engines, gearboxes, components are taken from everywhere in the GM empire. I don't see any brand heritage, any product identity or coherence, or engineering philosophy that we would be proud to see in our cars.

 

It's just a collection of disparate car models sourced from all of GM's repertoire of models, and conveniently re-hashed, re-badged. That's Chevrolet to me.

 

Orlando is design in the US intended for their market but last minute pull out and sell in Canada instead.

 

A lot of car makers do the same. Take parts from part bin and put them together. Nothing new. Especially when they sell cars in every continent. Where ever can make parts cheap, you know. It's the same for Opel before they sold it off to PSA (aka pug,citroen).

PSA also have factories around the globe, especially China. They enter the China market early supplying their taxis. Where ever the parts can be mass produced cheaply it will likely come from there. So don't be surprised if you see your car parts come from eastern europe or even some parts of Asia.

 

[Cheefarn]

Malibu is a good value car to drive, inside looks more atas than the c series

 

But resale value is poor

Me driving a 2015 Malibu now. 

 

Seriously u buy a car for resale value?

 

Planning to drive till scrap... and I know this car will hang on fine till scrap, unlike most Euro cars and some Japs cars. 

 

One thing great about driving rare cars in sg... you can be on the road for one full week and still didn't meet another Malibu  And u can make friends with Opel Insignia and the final Saab 95 owners...and then jio them to pop open their hoods...and see their faces when they realise they just pay extra 30-50k for whats essentially the same car haha...

 

and then see them almost bangng their head on their car when they compare the cabin of my Malibu with theirs... Many switch gears and parts are interchangeable  

 

Whats happening? This is becos all 3 cars were based on GM global and highly versatile Epsilon II chassis platform. Even the current Impala rides on a stretched version of the same chassis

 

The newly launched next gen Opel Insignia at Alpine... well again it shared the same platform as the new Malibu that I've shown on page 1. 

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Are Chevrolet cars still built with GM parts?

Of cos they are. 

 

The old rebadged Daewoos were not. but the current model lineup surely are. ...except maybe the Captiva... for the Captiva is still a refugee from the old Daewoo days...but even then GM has added many of their parts into the Captiva already

 

Anyway Captiva will EOL soon. Replaced by the new and excellent Equinox...this model will also replace the now dead Orlando as well 

[Cheefarn]

Sounds like the ultimate parts bin car....

U mean the Japs are not? Esp Toyota and Honda?

[Soya]

U mean the Japs are not? Esp Toyota and Honda?

Parts bin is not uncommon.

 

Only difference is the parts in the bin has gotta be good to begin wif

[Watwheels]

It's all down to QC. Not all are reliable sources. Car makers don't make all of their car parts. Even airbags are outsourced. Just look at Takata, they make airbags, seat belts and car seats. I'm sure many read about their airbags.

 

Air/oxygen sensors and engine management system(aka your engine ecu) comes mainly from Bosch or Denso. VW group diesel gate, who provided the engine management system for their diesel engines to cheat emission tests?

Edited January 24, 2018 by Watwheels

[Cheefarn]

It's all down to QC. Not all are reliable sources. Car makers don't make all of their car parts. Even airbags are outsourced. Just look at Takata, they make airbags, seat belts and car seats. I'm sure many read about their airbags.

Well said. Almost no car manufacturer made their own parts. 

 

Most GM parts are by AC Delco and Delphi. Although lately they do use Denso parts as well. 

 

GM also uses Takata airbags despite being an all american brand

 

Anyway QC makes or breaks the parts. Does anyone here remember how crap Thailand made Toyota parts were back in the mid 2000s? 

 

I used to own a then new G9 Altis 1.8 (rare in SG also), shocks leaked within 1 year. CV joint boots cracked which worn out my CV joints within 2 yrs. 

 

Turns out that the shocks were OEM by KYB Thailand. And the CV joints were from Nippon Bearings. Both were and still are one of the most famous manufacturer of such products. 

 

It is a good thing that Toyota feed backed to these companies and they improved their products significantly there after. Today you guys buy aftermaket KYB Excel G shocks and they are from either Thailand or China... yet no one complains.... 

[No_worries]

I remember one of the bros here converted an Aveo to run on CNG close to a decade ago. And yes after the government relax the loan curbs in 2003, quite a lot of people bought Chevrolet as it was marketed as an American brand with Budget prices. They even offered a CNG converted Optra in 2008 with a full factory warranty. And not forgetting the radio advert, “drive a Chevy”

[Griever]

cannot compare an old car with a new one la. u compare to old accent then fair mah. all new cars now are definitely an upgrade. 

i drove the aveo5 for 5 yrs...no problem at all. nvr hv to go workshop for any repair. only normal servicing. 

I do owned a Hyundai accent in 2004, and that car was way better than the aveo.

 

In fact I even met another uncle during repair in workshop. That uncle also swear its the lousiest car he ever owned. Also complained Alpine motor service sucks, almost fight with the customer service guy. He was complaining resale value also like crap, hence he unable to change the car....

 

My experience, the aveo was a manual transmission. Clutch pump corroded hence the clutch will be stuck once step on. After engage gear don't know when to accelerate as the clutch stuck and suddenly release.

 

Next problem, the engine accelerates by itself. Sometimes stay at 2000rpm, sometimes lower, sometimes varying up and down. Error light came up, error code shows TPS fault. Change to new one, after 1 day back to the high rpm. Then suddenly everything went back normal for about 6 months, then go crazy again. Self accelerating car...

 

And then the headlight casing totally became brittle and start collapsing. Mechanics not even dare to change the bulbs scared later the whole casing collapse down. Din want to change as planning to get rid of the car.

 

Smaller issues like central locking jam till the car door cannot open. have to exit via other doors....

 

Overall never owned/ seen a worst car than this. Totally lost confidence in ex-Daewoo cars rebadge chevy...

[Gizmore]

Drove an Aveo5 for 7 years. I guess it can be consider a crap car for the following:

 

1. Harsh suspension

2. Poor noise isolation

3. AC is loud at level 2.

4. Poor fuel consumption (ave 10km/ltr)

5. Driver's airbag only.

 

Throughout the 7 years of ownership, I have changed the following major items:

 

1. AC compressor (on the 5th yr)

2. Alternator (on the 6th yr)

3. Engine gasket (on the 5th yr)

4. Solenoid (twice, under warranty).

5. Oxygen sensors (on the 5th yr).

 

Met with the following accident:

 

1. Side swipe a Mit Colt Plus. Scratches on front left fender. 

2. Kiss a Mz3. No damage to my Aveo5. Mz3 bumper crack. 

 

 

 

Aveo5 is my first car and I have to say that it has exceeded my expectation. Vehicle is fully serviced Alpine Motor and never skip a servicing interval. (Although the servicing standard at AM needs improvement but at least they got the stuff fixed) It gets me front point to point. I have driven it really harsh, gear change at 3k rpm and above. Corner at speed that I shouldn't have for such a low-spec car. Overload it with 7 pax and the suspension is still ok when I sold it off last yr at a mileage of 160K KM. 

 

Some say it lacks power because of the heavy body mated with a puny 1.4L engine. I have no problem overtaking as I have said, I drove the Aveo5 hard. If i need the power, I just floor the pedal, the gear drop and I have the power to overtake. 

 

I drove before a rented Cruze and Malibu in US before. The Malibu is probably the most underrated car. Spacious interior, comfortable drive, all the gadgets. 

 

There are a handful of Malibu owners here in SG and they will probably feel the same. Best bang for the buck. 

 

Take away the Chevy brand and slap it with any popular Japanese badge, it will sell like no tomorrow. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by Gizmore

[DACH]

Seems like Chevrolet here is not so good.

 

But my fiend managed to drive his Cruze for 10 years COE, but say the condition already pretty run down.