Zeta rumors have been the hot topic of General Motors’ enthusiasts and mainstream media since the first inklings of the return of the Camaro. Initially the platform was going to see production in North America, hosting an entire lineup of rear-wheel drive greatness. Then gas prices spiked the first time and GM’s cash position dwindled, thus killing the glorious plans. Fast-forward to today and drama still surrounds Zeta, but future plans are starting to become clearer.
Since the demise of the Holden derived Pontiac G8 sedan, there has been much internal debate about bringing the Holden Commodore back to the North American market. GM’s high executive turn rate since emerging from its 2009 bankruptcy has not helped that matter, with each of the three post-bankruptcy CEO’s having a different position on the importation of Holden products.
Back in September GMI first reported that Chevrolet was aspiring to have a Commodore-based sedan on the North American market. Internally the sedan has been referred to as “SS Sedan.” Initial reports had the car launching for the 2012 model-year, but that has since been pushed back to 2014 model year, likely to capitalize on the redesigned Commodore that will launch around the same time.
According to documents obtained by GMI, the ‘SS Sedan’ is now operating as an approved program. The program is running under the code Z2SC and is expected to launch in North America in early 2013 as a 2014 model year vehicle. GMI was able to independently confirm the time frame with Holden sources as well.
Perhaps the more interesting news is that GM is also considering the Holden Ute and Holden Commodore SportWagon for the North American market. Unlike the ‘SS Sedan,’ the Ute and SportWagon based models are not currently approved for production. If approved, the documents suggest the Ute would launch at the same time as the sedan, with the SportWagon launching later in the 2013 calendar year. The documents list the Ute based vehicle as ‘El Camino.’ The El Camino’s program code is Z2RC, while the SportWagon code is Z2WC.
GMI expects that the approval of the El Camino and SportWagon will hinge on fuel prices in North America and potential profitability of the two models, as both would likely be very low volume products.
In other Zeta news, GMI has also been able to confirm that the Caprice patrol vehicle is expected to have a second generation on the North American market starting in 2014 model year as well.
It’s important to note that the Zeta program at GM has been a near constant source of drama internally. As our reporting has reflected, there has been a tremendous amount of back and forth about Zeta. GMI is, however, starting to see some consistency with regards to the future of the ‘SS Sedan.’
Ugly and boring. No thanks.
Any new info on this? I want a G8-esque car in the worst way but by the time I’m gonna get rid of the GP the 09 G8’s are gonna be ancient. Anyone hear anything?
Bump:
A lot of activity recently
General Motors registering the “SS” trademark last month
Chevrolet has said its new entry in the racing series will be both a new vehicle and a new nameplate.
GM’s OnStar accidentally confirmed the 2014 Chevy SS
Now car and driver is claiming a wagon and ute are coming as well
Most of the links can be found here:
If it looks anything like the photos… poor choice. It looks like a mix of an Impalla and the year they changed the Taurus into the Fivehundred
GM needs to step up the looks. Euro cars seem to have the curves and body lines people are liking these days.
I definitely cannot get enough of them kia, honda, hyundai, toyota body lines, every car they make is seXY
I wouldn’t mind it being so bland because you could just swap out the front end for the commodore…JDM YO
That is a really awful looking car.
How can GM take something that looks as good as that Commodore and turn it into that ugly silver pile of shit?
I doubt we see something that looks like the silver car
Here is the 2014 Impala, probably more design language from it
LOL Really? I believe I’m talking about BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, etc.
I do not think those companies make 15k cars^^^, if you look at any of the designs of 45k plus cars from GM, actually any brand, the designs are much nicer, the point of that ugly silver car above is that everyone’s 18 year old kid may be able to afford it
Funny taxi cab drivers in Europe are driving around these mercedes that look good. Plus I doubt this apparent new “G8” is going to be for $15k. Being is a domestic car, price shouldnt be $45k to have a look like a european car.
I must be the only person in the world that’s actually happy that GM’s cars don’t look like POS Volksfaggens.
There are two ways in which the SS will not be the Pontiac G8 2.0: It’s going upmarket and it’s not for the masses.
Chevy is treating the SS like a halo car.
The high-power small-block V8, in his words, makes the SS “a four-door Corvette.”
“Pontiac had all kinds of options and trim levels [for the G8]. This will be different.”
This pile looks like it would be the suzuki version of platform.
I don’t know why I even opened this thread. I regret it, i just threw up in my mouth a little bit
If you really this the car is going to look like anything posted in this thread, you are mistaken
The nascar version at least gives cues to the design language.
this i like
Chevy SS should be introduced next week. Holden Commodore below gives a good idea what we will see.
