The high-performance group at General Motors Co. has a broader mission again -- with a marketing veteran in charge who is eager to develop powerful small cars.
"We have a tremendous opportunity in the small and compact car market," said Jim Campbell, who was shifted last week to the new position of vice president of GM's performance vehicles and motorsports. He was moved over when GM marketing boss Joel Ewanick hired Chris Perry from Hyundai to run Chevrolet marketing.
On the eve of its trip through federal bankruptcy court last year, GM put development of high-performance small cars on ice.
GM now is considering expanding its performance line to its small cars, such as the four-cylinder Chevrolet Cruze as well as the next-generation Chevrolet Aveo. The Cruze goes on sale in the fall.
"Small cars and compact cars are going to be more and more important going forward, and we're looking at efficient performance," said Campbell, who has experience working with GM's NASCAR, American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am Road Racing teams. "We will work with those teams to provide performance variants."
Campbell said the performance division will "cross all brands" at GM but the primary emphasis will be on Chevrolet and Cadillac. While Campbell's division is not yet defined, he said he will build his own organization drawing from other GM departments.
Campbell will coordinate the performance-vehicle efforts at GM's marketing, engineering and performance parts and accessories departments.
The moves are led by North American boss Mark Reuss, who was executive director of the performance division from 2001 to 2005. It's also a reversal from the pre-bankruptcy days at GM when its High Performance Vehicles Operations unit was axed, and GM reassigned 60 engineers who had worked on special-edition, low-volume performance cars, such as V-Series vehicles for Cadillac and SS vehicles for Chevrolet, at the tech center outside Detroit.
At the time, GM said all performance projects were on "indefinite hold."
With the division strengthened, GM can look at some projects that were previously put on ice. "This is much better from an organizational perspective," Reuss wrote in an e-mail. "It's people working for a common goal under one strategic direction." In marketing, Campbell said the aim is to improve the image of each brand. He said: "If you come in and see a V-Series, you might not buy it, but you might consider something else" in the Cadillac showroom.
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-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----
hopefully they do work along the lines of what ford has been doing. If they can recreate excitement in the product line it would make all the difference. I just hope they do not make some tacky *performance* versions. The SVT line has been a big boost for ford for some time now, it would be nice to see that in GM.
ss cruze coupe? perhaps but i just dont know..
Oldsmobile all motor > Saab/Opel boosted
ss aveo? that could be pure epic lol
I actually want SS to go away. The badge has been so watered down from what it used to mean.
TheSundownFire (GME Chat) wrote:I actually want SS to go away. The badge has been so watered down from what it used to mean.
This.
If they are going to do some small car performance versions, I would rather see the "Z" nomenclature revived.
I have no signiture
i think they need to do something completely different. keep it per platform as well.
WiGM-Tuners member.
Cruze Type-R? Lmao - I don't give a sh1t what they call it, as long as they build it with unbridled enthusiasm. I might shed a tear for the muscle car guys though if they would put an ss badge on an aveo.
Overall though, this is good news. The aftermarket seems to take the brand/market more seriously when the manufacture does.
I want a cruze ss coupe that weighs 3000 lbs or less, and uses a version of the six speed awd system from the upcoming regal GS. The regal GS woudl be a sick car if it wasn't auch a fat ass.
i agree with watering down the SS name, Z seems little better in this case.
I think the cruze needs more than 2.0L and boost to be worthy and compete with the class
With all of this technology and engineering at their disposal, you think they would come up with something that would actually blow peoples minds. I think some of the crap they are coming out with is a slap in the face to true enthusiasts. The turbo Cobalt is probably the best out of the box performace vehicle GM has produced in a LONG time. Personally I think the SS Camaro can suck a dick. If they are going to produce a performance line of small car's they need to start thinking outside the box and competing with the big boys.
^^^This.
Theyre more about making a car look fast than actually making it perform.
