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For the purpose/market it serves.... yeah, the Malibu is a pretty fine car. Chevy also has the Corvette, the newly arrived Cruze that is getting good initial press, the Camaro which is a pretty big hit (though I don't care for it), and of course the truck/crossover line that's doing well. IMO the only major hole in Chevy's lineup is a solid flagship sedan. I cannot believe GM is going to sell Commodores here as police cruisers without offering them to the public. Then they'd have a car far more worthy of the "Impala" badge than the car wearing that badge right now. Also, I hope they have a solid replacement for the Aveo in the pipeline for their B-segment. That's another notable weakness in their current lineup.
They could have taken a page from a past success and launched the Commodore here as a Caprice and offer a limited production performance model called the Impala SS like they did in 96.
Chevy needs a good entry level hatch back front wheel drive vehicle but don't call it the Chevette. That name is a joke. "Hey babe, wanna ride in my Vette?" Perhaps the upcoming 2012 Aveo will be that ride but it sure isn't right now.
They could have taken a page from a past success and launched the Commodore here as a Caprice and offer a limited production performance model called the Impala SS like they did in 96.
I thought offering the Commodore as a "Pontiac only" at that time was the right move for GM in a bid to give truth to Pontiac's "Excitement" marketing theme in trying to save the brand; and I thought keeping it exclusive to Pontiac to avoid overlapping and mixed marketing messages was also the right decision at that time, for the same reason. But alas, that all turned out to be too little, too late.
In light of Pontiac's demise, Chevy's "SS" division is of course left to take up the "working man's performance car" mantle for GM. And I'm OK with that as long as they're serious about no longer abusing the SS label, ala the non-forced-induction Cobalt SS of recent years. And your idea to offer the Commodore in two different names (Caprice and Impala SS) makes sense in a semi-rational world.
But one must keep in mind the phenomenally absurd EPA fuel economy standards that are barreling down on the auto industry in the next few years. In more rational times, it might have done well for GM to offer the base V6 Commodore as a Caprice (though it would be interesting to see if the market would accept a V6 Caprice), along with a V8 Impala akin to the Pontiac G8 GT, and an Impala SS akin to the G8 GXP.
But the fact is, stupidly stringent fuel economy standards are upon us and it's only going to get harder to sell full-size (or any size) RWD cars as anything but premium, preferably high-powered machines. And I think it's in this brave-new-world climate where a Commodore-V8-based Impala SS could serve as a limited-edition flagship sedan for the Chevy brand; it wouldn't have to sell a ton of copies to serve its marketing purpose. So GM could sell a few thousand, maximize its street cred, minimize its overhead (they're already crash- and emissions-certified over here), and fill a gaping hole in the Chevy brand market.
The Cruze is arguably Chevy's most important car of the past three decades, given the exceptional competition in that category, and Chevy's track record for compacts going back to the Citation circa 1981 has been pretty dismal.
If they're going to being back a real econobox to challenge something like the Hyundai Accent, a new name would have to be a must.
I'm not sure what the sticker of the base Cruze is, but it had better beck a heck of a car to challenge the Elantra (a new model will be out in 2011), Civic & Corolla.
was introduced for the 78 model year, or was that the Omni/Horizon? Were they as bad as the Chevette?
Chevette came out in '75, as a '76 model. Your right, it was the Omni/Horizon that came out in '78.
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i thought the Chevette
