Whether or not they call it a Chevelle, GM's now very explicit plans are to build a vehicle in the same mold as their once extremely successful RWD car, probably sharing a platform with a new Australian model. Here's everything we think we know. In 2012, Chevy first gave enthusiasts a peek with their CODE 130R Concept, a small RWD car that was clearly aimed at younger-than-Camaro buyers.
The idea was to get a feel for what the youth market wanted since, when the economy turns around, they're going to start buying cars. The Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ have made it clear that there's demand for just such a thing.
The Chevy SS is another example. It's a halo RWD sedan for Chevy that's essentially a rebadged Holden. For various reasons, some political and some fiscal, GM needs to export vehicles from Australia. It's also why we have the Chevy Caprice police cars.
And this is how we end up with a Chevelle. GM has already committed to $1 billion in manufacturing in Australia through 2022. That's for two vehicles and neither of them is probably going to be a massive RWD sedan for Holden as that market is drying up faster than the plains around Canberra. They'll have to be "global" products.
One of those products is almost certainly the Holden Cruze. The other? No one is saying publicly, but we're hearing that it'll be the modern version of the Holden Torana. No one in Australia (maybe the accountants) wants the brand to go fully FWD/AWD and a small RWD platform lets them do what they're maybe not going to do with the next Commodore.
In order to make a Torana as part of this massive expansion there's going to need to be a global market for the vehicle. Enter the Chevy Chevelle.
This is a very popular rumor and they're not helping it by trademarking the Chevelle name. If you look at the naming convention that GM has (Camaro, Malibu, Impala) there's a nice slot for a Chevelle-like vehicle.
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