Classic Cars Chevrolet

General Motors is hoping that they can keep China as a vital market and is banking on the release of three new models for the country to help hold down their position there.

The Buick Enclave SUV, the Chevrolet Cruze sedan, and the Cadillac CTS-V are all arriving in China with high hopes. The idea is for the vehicles to cover the wide range of customers in China and offer each customer base something new. From wealthy sporting types to individuals looking to purchase their first vehicles, General Motors is banking on this line-up to appeal to the masses.

The idea is, roughly, to remove the focus from the United States with the struggling economy. By focusing on China, General Motors is focusing on a region with proven growth.

“We have to recognize that the U.S. is where the problem is now. We’re growing in these other areas,” said Robert Socia, vice president of Shanghai General Motors. “The problems in the U.S. are finite and are attributable only to the U.S., and a little bit, to Europe.”

With that sense of growth in areas like China, it’s safe to say that General Motors is aiming at moving in a positive direction regardless of the economy or perhaps even in spite of it. For information on growth in China or on other Chevy cars, keep your browser locked here for frequent updates.

If there were to be one Chevrolet car that sums up the company’s mission for the upcoming year, the Chevrolet Traverse does the trick.

The 2009 Traverse is a crossover with a difference, a vehicle that ought to make Chevy fans proud. It shares a platform with the GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and Saturn Outlook but has a look all its own that will make owners forget all about those other cars. Chevrolet has learned that lookalike cars aren’t exactly what the public is looking for, so it has tossed out the old-fashioned rulebook in constructing the 2009 Chevy Traverse. Other cars will follow suit with their own fresh looks.

The Traverse is focused on looking sporty, with a sloping roofline and the two-piece horizontal grille up front.

It also works beautifully from the inside, as driving the Traverse is a real treat. It is hardy and stands up to the rigors of the road, working well on stopping hard and cruising along with little to no lean. Early test drives come back with great reviews, as drivers have put the crossover through the ringer with tremendous success. In short, the Traverse rocks.

For more information on the 2009 Traverse or other Chevy cars, hop on down to your local dealer today and arrange for a test drive.

If you have a mullet and make no apologies for it, yesterday was probably a good day for you. Yes, it was the 50th Birthday of the Chevrolet El Camino.

The 1959 El Camino made its debut 50 years ago yesterday, marking the beginning of an era that would spark half of the redneck jokes ever written and introduce the concept of the truck-car hybrid to the public. Sure, today we have different concepts of hybrids, but perhaps more is owed to the El Camino than any other entry in the early hybrid category. After all, who can beat a truck AND a car? That’s right: nobody.

It’s easy to discard the El Camino as a terribly ugly entry and, in all truth, it is not an attractive vehicle given today’s standards. Often featured in rather obnoxious or less-than-flattering colour schemes and gobbling up plenty of gas, even for its time, the El Camino stood apart from other Chevy cars in that it represented one core group of potential customers more than any other.

And yet, having one of these babies in today’s world could raise your cool factor ever so slightly in that ultimately ironic way. Over the years, Chevrolet has produced plenty of magical moments. As to whether the El Camino was one of them remains to be seen, of course, but for the time being it sure is a lot of fun to remember that the truck-car is 50 years young.

The brand new Chevy Volt is facing down some serious marketing opportunities. Not only has the Volt been heavily promoted in a variety of avenues, but Stephen Colbert’s show recently had the opportunity to interview General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and talk about the brand new Chevrolet Volt.

Colbert’s finest hour came when he proffered the question “Will it get me laid?” to a seemingly flustered Lutz.

Lutz’s response: “You’re going to get a lot of nice, no-makeup environmentalist [women].”

While Lutz responded in typically hilarious Colbert Show fashion, Chevy’s promotion of the image of the Volt is dead on target. By going on shows like Colbert’s the Volt will rack up a fair range of marketing opportunities and will get more people interested in the vehicle. But if Lutz and Chevy intends to be continue to raise its profile amongst the target audience for the Volt, they’ll need to be a bit more progressive in terms of the answers.

Lutz sounded outdated and not entirely supportive of the Volt, which is a vehicle that he and all Chevy cars reps need to get behind if the intention is to sell it to a younger public. The appearance on the show along won’t necessarily sell more cars, but his support behind the vehicle will. And he and other Chevy reps will need to work harder in the coming months to promote the vehicle.