Filed under: Coupes, Economy, Sedans/Saloons, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet, GM, Earnings/Financials
GM ramps up Cobalt production to meet demand
Click above for more high-res shots of the Chevy Cobalt SS
General Motors cites the success of the current Chevy Cobalt as the reason for delaying the launch of the Cobalt's replacement, the upcoming Cruze, in the States. In order to meet the market's soaring demand for small cars in general, and the Cobalt in particular, earlier this year GM added a third shift to the Lordstown Plant where the Cobalt is built. For '09, the General plans to build an extra 70,000 Cobalts, expecting fuel prices to remain high and demand for its compact sedan and coupe to follow suit. Unfortunately for the struggling automaker, those extra cars may not necessarily add up to extra profits, with the Cobalt priced below its main competitors from Japan. For this reason, GM will be adding a few bucks to the bottom line of the Cruze, in a pricing move similar to the recently released Malibu. Hopefully, the same tactic GM employed with its mid-sizer will translate to the Cruze and that extra cash will result in a better car than its predecessor.
[Source: CNN]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
stevereportdotcom 7:41PM (9/16/2008)
GM should try to make the Cobalt profitable. The Cruze at 19k+ will not sell well enough to compete with class leaders aka Honduh Civic. The Civic has a proven track record of being reliable, and very good resale value.
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alex 9:05PM (9/16/2008)
people said the same thing about the malibu... that's working out quite nicely.
people will pay more for the car, as long as the car is good enough to command the price. GM seems to have faith that it is that good, and based on the Malibu, CTS, Enclave, etc.... can you blame them for having some faith?
Dave 9:31AM (9/17/2008)
You may be surprised on how well the Cruze will sell. It is one of the top cars on my list. The Civic is not a cheap car and with options can cost more than $23,000.
GM's lesser dependence on rebates, rentals, and fleet cars is slowly bringing resale prices back up. Money on the hood is less money at resale.
MONTE 7:51PM (9/16/2008)
I am not buying a Cobalt, but I do plan on buying a Cruze if it sticks to the current design. Guess I will just wait.
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Lou 7:53PM (9/16/2008)
Nice looking SS. I was interested in the supposedly upcoming 4 door version, but not sure what the Cobalt's fate will be with Cruze coming. It would have been fun to decide between an SS, an Si, WRX, and MazdaSpeed 3!!!
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Torrent 8:27PM (9/16/2008)
I've seen 3 in my town. 1 black, 1 red and 1 silver SS sedan, but that's odd, because they're not out yet.
The weirder thing is that the drivers I've seen inside are women over 60 years old.... WTF?
montoym 8:52PM (9/16/2008)
@ Torrent: You mean the Cobalt SS's aren't out yet? I can assure you they are. I see my fair share as well. I also see a large number of HHR SS's as well. I think I've actually seen more HHR versions than Cobalt versions.
The new turbo SS versions actually started as '08 models so they have been available for a little while now. The '09's are already out.
Torrent 9:41PM (9/16/2008)
No, I mean the SS sedans aren't out yet. But I see them around town.
montoym 9:42PM (9/16/2008)
This post got lost at the bottom of the page.
edit:
It occurred to me re-reading the post that maybe you were referring to the 4dr versions only.
It's true that the sedan version is not out yet. I'm guessing that the ones you are seeing are the previous supercharged ones rather than the turbo ones. They look very similar.
Torrent 9:54PM (9/16/2008)
Well they have SS on the door and trunklid, sooooooooo.....
Wait.... did they make Cobalt SS supercharged Sedan before the 2009 model year? I don't think so.... Maybe I should take some pics?
eb110americana 10:48PM (9/16/2008)
@montoym: is almost right. There was an SS version of the old sedan, but not with the supercharger. That was only on the coupe. The old SS model was watered down into 2 versions:
1) 171 HP 2.4L SS
2) 205 HP 2.0L Supercharged SS
The latter was often referred to as the "SS SC," just as the new one is sure to be delineated as "SS turbo." The old 2.4L SS is now the "Sport" model (although I believe it will be dropped for 2009).
why not the LS2LS7? 1:11AM (9/17/2008)
My mother (who is over 60) has a Nissan Sentra GT-R. I laugh every time I see that big red R on the trunk and see her in there. It's a good car for her, but I can't think 64 year old were what Nissan had in mind when putting that badging on the trunk.
Torrent 2:29AM (9/17/2008)
@ eb110americana: well did they come with a sunroof and 18 in rims?
tekdemon 2:36AM (9/17/2008)
@LS2/LS7
I hope you meant the Sentra SE-R, unless there's an insane GT-R and Sentra hybrid out there.
The GT-R name will always just be for the GT-R alone =p
fizzandpop 8:01PM (9/16/2008)
There's demand for the Cobalt? Who knew?
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matt 8:02PM (9/16/2008)
I don't find the desing of the Cobalt all that attractive, I'm just happy GM has a car that they actually have to increase production of.
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CarbonBlack 8:43PM (9/16/2008)
I am not a big GM fan, But once my tax dollars entered the equation, I started rooting for them!
This is good news
jv2k 11:44PM (9/16/2008)
Sedan is somewhat bland but I think the coupes are pretty nice looking.
ASEVENSEE4 8:31PM (9/16/2008)
I didn't know it was such a hot item on the Avis lots.
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Torrent 9:43PM (9/16/2008)
You can't really effectively insult this car- especially since the article is about it's success.