Delphi, hahaha
Iād have to agree with the small cars feeling roomy inside. They have a lot of work to go there. Honestly Iāve felt more cramped/unconfortable in their newer SUVs/Minivans, compaired to tiny toyota.
Focus fun? I donāt know any who have a non-SVT Focus say its fun to drive. It doesnāt stand out from a Civic, Sentra, Corolla. Sure its better than a Cavalier (so is an 1890 oxcart!).
As for the Camaro, coming from a friend of Scott Settlemire (ex Camaro brand manager) he mentioned with a wink and a grin to keep your eyes out in Detroit this January, for something that would start production in '08. I just hope they donāt go retro. Retro sacrifices the long term for an immediate short term. Yeah the Mustang garnered alot of praise and excitement, but what happens in 3 years when weāre swamped with V6ās everywhere, and the once catchy style has grown long in the tooth (a la PT Crusier, Thunderbird).
GM will build an HHR version? :lol:
So what has Scott Settlemeier been up to lately? I met him a while back at a show in Ohio. Cool guy. Then again, that was before the Camaro was killed off.
return of the fox body?
He was the Vette guy for awhile after the Camaro was gone, now I believed his job is organizing shows and events, etc. A guy I work with is very close to him, and Scott has a few acquaintances here in the Hudson Valley apparently - when heās in the area they usually all go out for dinner in Newbugh. Only time I met him was at SLP day in Englishtown once, and I agree he was a cool guy to talk to.
He used to post every once in awhile on some of the LS1 boards under the s/n Fbodfather.
Yea, I remember reading some of his posts. Very knowledgable guy. GM should have more guys like him around.
If you have any contact info for him, please pass it on to me.
Scott was given the option of early retirement with benefits, and turned it down so that he could help see the camaro through to completion. When he says jump, ask how high. Guys like him are definately still fighting for us.
As for Kapa being sidelined, consider it a non event. The media had a field day with it, but they are the same smucks that cant drive new 500hp vettes out of the 12s. Scott has said āforget about kappa, it is just a nameā . There has been alot of debate regarding its chassis, and odds are what we see in detroit is not going to be on the chassis it sells with, but the ending of kapa NA is not the end of the world. What they realized is that what worked on the small scale in Austrailia, did not neccessarily translate to savings here. A modified sigma is also a possibility, along with things theyāve floated such as kapa-lite, etc. A name game, they have a number of chassis that can be made to work, its a matter of āstruts up front bc of irs cost in rear?ā , ā this over that bc it has a lower beltlineā etc
The actual look of the car, along with the contract for some of its parts, has been in place, as far as insiders have been able to tell us. Now that the old plant has been torn down, and a new contract has been pretty much set up with canadian auto workers, its supposed to get interesting for us soon.
As for GMs products, it isnt a matter of 1 car or the other getting attention. THEY ALL need attention, and have been getting it. They postponed the kapa type cars in order to finish up the GM-900 trucks in time, now they are getting other projects done. The quality in GM vehicles has gone through the roof in the past few years, often putting them ahead of even toyota and honda for various initial qualities. They also have more fuel efficient cars than their big competitors, although a media bias and a long history of fuckups is giving them an up hill battle.
For example, some of the import companies work on hybrid cars that get all of the praise and accolades. GM has been implementing hybrid buses (I believe on the west coast) and hybrid setups for trucks and the like (those with historically poor gas mileage). Their attempts save more gas than all of the low volume hybrid cars, but dont get the attention. A hybrid car at this point, imo, is a great marking tool but a big waste of time. Not to mention most dont get their advertised mpg, and few if any will save you enough gas to be worth their increased price over the length of ownership.
And I just cant see a focus being that much better of a car to drive than a cobalt or civic or any of the other offerings in its class. I am purposely not any sort of expert in that type of car, but Im willing to venture that the VAST majority of their owners look at little else than its mpg, price, and availability. Camaro / Mustang owners are going to have a much higher percentage of those interested in speed or sporty looks, but as the 4th gen camaro found out, still not enough to overcome ergonomic issues. The car MUST sell to the same people looking for v6 mustangs, eclipses, monte carlos, tiburons etc in order to survive and provide the few enthusiats with a badass v8/T56 combo. And I assure you we will take weight penalties for that, such as everyones big desire to get a damn IRS. Its just the price the enthusiasts will have to pay, and another reason I might only try putting a new one into the 10s or 11s and keep it a daily driver, so that the other cars in the stable can go big game hunting. This new one will go the way of the mustang in terms of weight, although in certain cases, the 4th gen was there too. I just hope to god we dont get into GTO weight territory, although anything is possible at this point.
Well, I really do like what I am seeing with their new trucks/SUVās. If this car can compliment the lineup, great. If it doesnāt really fit into the lineup, I think that could be a bad thing in terms of associated sales.
I have noticed how many 60+ woman I see driving Solaras/Solara convertibles. Maybe Buick needs a car to compete 
Edit: AND I must say I did see a black HHR up close. Well, despite having to be a butch female to like it, the paint was very flat. Little orange peal. Did you know how excited this made me? Out of all the cars I have detailed, the GMās had THE WORST case of orange peal. I nearly piddled at the possibilities of a GM that pays attention to even that, when some companies (COUGHMERCEDESCOUGH) could care less on certain models. Itās the little things that make me excited.