Petra

On the one hand, the UAW's insistence that it is entitled to job security, health care, and above-average wages is infuriating. On the other hand, if GM had said "No" to the UAW's demands 25 years ago, they might not be in this predicament. In the end, I'd say that both are to blame equally. Concession is simply not in the UAW's vocabulary, and anybody who was expecting them to take a hit for the team was only fooling themselves. And GM doesn't have the guts to call the Union's bluff. Nearly 40 years of caving, and you think they're going to change tactics now? In the end, it is all leading to one sad, familiar conclusion. I'd love to see some drastic change as much as the next person, but I just don't think it is realistic.

See that black plastic in the center stack of the Dodge? I'm pretty sure that's the same gross, black plastic that the center stack in my 1996 Grand Caravan is hewn from.

Neat renderings. For some reason, it says "Oldsmobile" to me.

I wonder what the cost premium will be compared with gasoline versions. Consider that this car will get equal mileage to my 1994 VW Jetta Diesel, but will have amenities such as power windows, A/C (ok, my car has A/C, it just doesn't work), not to mention a lot more room, whilst weighing probably about 1,000 pounds more. That's what I call progress!

Looks to have lost little from the so-called concept, which is a good thing. There are a lot of people here who will hate on the Accord for the simple fact that it is a Honda. Too bad. The Accord has always been a great car, and this coming generation will be so much the better. Yeah, the new Malibu is great, too, but I'd say it is still playing catch-up, especially with regards to powertrains and simple driving dynamics.

I voted for the Beat... neat little car, kind of reminds me of the late, great Honda CRX. Stick the Cobalt SS motor in it and watch it go! However, the styling is all Pontiac, IMO. It reminds me of their concepts from the late '90's - early '00's, like the Piranha and the Rageous. The Trax was a close 2nd for me. It presents an interesting take on the "Mini-me SUV" style, but the Beat's styling was more provocative and I didn't really dig the Brown on Copper body mouldings... too many bad memories of the Aztek. The Groove was a distant 3rd. Sorry, but it brings nothing new to the table, and I guarantee that buyers would dismiss it as GM trying to cash in on the xB's success. Also, the front end reminds me of the bland/hideous Chevrolet Uplander, a vehicle which should never be imitated in any way, shape or form.

The fact that Toyota refers to "Blizzard Pearl" (AKA: White) Paint as "stunning" only serves to reinforce their reputation as the king of bland. Yawn...

Have they learned nothing from the Commander? What's that old saying about making the same mistake twice and expecting different results...

I can dig it. As much as some people like to wax nostagic about the Razor, it just simply could not have been produced at an appropriate level of performance with a low enough cost at that time. The more modern Caliber/Compass/Patriot platform of today, along with its more powerful lineup of engines (both naturally aspirated & forced-induction), is about a perfect match for this Demon.

Interesting you should mention that, as I would be rather curious to see what would fill that signifigant sales void... after all, those fleets are not going to stop wanting vehicles all of a sudden. And, furthermore, returning the Impala to RWD would only serve to make it more attractive to fleets, particularily law enforcement. So long as Oshawa is tooled for flexable manufacturing, I would be in favour of simply continuing to produce the current generation Impala for fleet use only well into the next decade. But, as this thread demonstrates, who really knows what GM has up their sleeves?

I've had ING since, uhh... yesterday. So far, so good!

Hard to say... I found it difficult to find a flattering picture of that car.

Not that anybody here cares, but Toyota actually did make a car called the Corona at one time:

Second... Looks like a mid-90's BMW to me. It's a good, sleeper look that I happen to like, and I look forward to seeing many more pics.

The Compass is really not a terribly bad vehicle. It's just a terribly bad vehicle to wear the Jeep badge. The people who wrote those reviews were totally oblivious to the whole, "It's not a real Jeep!" dilemma.