Not only did GM LET this happen, they know they can never win it back

To understand why Detroit is having so much trouble competing against Asian car companies, look no further than the Chevrolet Impala.

Chevrolet's general manager, Edward J. Peper, and marketing manager, Mark A. Clawson, said Impala sales were up 6.4 percent this year.
In the 1960's, the Impala was king of the road. General Motors sold more than a million of them in 1965. Now the Impala is still the best-selling American car, but it is selling less than a third of that total.

The Impala also lags behind four Japanese offerings — the Toyota Camry and Corolla, and the Honda Accord and Civic — in the annual race to be the best-selling car in America.

But Chevrolet, by its own admission, has no plans to try to win back the bragging rights anytime soon.

Full article here

MercBasher - 6/3/2006 9:41:33 PM

+1 Boost

Excellent article

courtstone - 6/9/2006 10:47:47 AM

+1 Boost

That was a great article and I do agree with fact that GM/Ford did not pay much attention to their cars, but their truck/suv's instead. Now that gas prices are a factor, they are paying the price.

I am still baffled at how anyone would think that the Chevy Impala is a match for the Honda Accord/Toyota Camry? The Impala is so bland and placid. I am so glad that the Camry is now reconizing that although we appreciate build quality, performance and reliability that we also like the car that we are driving to look good. The new camrys look much better than ever before (especially the SE). I have an Accord and probably will never consider another American car after I drove a Sebring for 3 years.

There is no excuse as to why Ford/Chevy/DCX cannot equally compete and overcome the "Camcord". The mid-size sedan is the market every automaker should focus on. They are trying to do everything they can except just build a better sedan. If they dont figure it out soon...it may be too late.

Daytripper - 6/10/2006 2:44:09 AM

+1 Boost

For all practical purposes the Impala died in 1995 when GM quit building the full-size rear-wheel drive Chevy. The current car bearing the Impala name is direct descendent of the old mid-sized Chevelle and even continues to use an updated version of the same chassis as the old Chevy Lumina. It's not terrible. It's just not as good as competition from Japan.

Yakamoto - 6/11/2006 8:16:45 AM

+1 Boost

i'm not a Buick fan but they are becoming more popular amongst the younger crowd. i also live in Fl and see young Buick drivers more and more.

i'm not quite 30 yet and the designs are definately something that has caught my eye in recent years. i think you're on to something huu76 when you said that this will be the brand to give Camry and Accord a run. although i don't think they are capable of coming close to taking over Japan's Big 3 (throwing Nissan in the mix) they potentially could cut into "Alticamcord" sales - to add on to coffee26.

Yakamoto - 6/11/2006 8:20:04 AM

+1 Boost

Impala already outsells Altima according to the article. my bad.

Aldairion - 6/12/2006 10:36:22 PM

+1 Boost

Just wait until the Buick Statesman comes in...