Canada-Only Pursuit Will Likely Be Cobalt Clone with Pontiac Styling
DETROIT: The tendency with regard to the Chevrolet Cobalt and the Pontiac Pursuit will be to consider them replacements for, respectively, the Cavalier and Sunfire.
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| The Cobalt and Pursuit are going to be playing more upscale roles for GM, as "exciting premium small cars". (Photo: General Motors) |
That would be wrong, however, as Cobalt and Pursuit are going to be playing more upscale roles for GM, as ''exciting premium small cars'' when they show up in dealerships in the fall of 2004 as 2005 models.
The roles of the low-cost entry-level vehicles in GM of Canada's lineup are now being played by a group of Korean-created models including Chevrolet Aveo and Epica and soon, I am reliably informed, a unit or two bearing the Pontiac badge.
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| The Cobalt and Pursuit will sit on the Delta architecture, which is a much better chassis than under any previous small car from GM. (Photo: General Motors) |
With Pontiac and its Pursuit model, very little is known, as it is a Canada-only product and the folks in Oshawa are keeping quiet about it. Specific details on Pursuit won't likely be known for some time, but we can be sure that in all mechanical measures the Pursuit will be virtually identical to the Cobalt, since this segment is huge in Canada and GM wants to have a good shot at it.
So dedicated was GM to making Cobalt and Pursuit a success that it re-structured its car creation process to create them, making it leaner and faster. Now all of the company's new programs work the same way, so it takes less time to get product to market.
First off, Cobalt and Pursuit will sit on the Delta architecture, which is a much better chassis than any previous small car from GM. It's much more solid than you normally see in the small car category, and solidity is an excellent starting point for any kind of vehicle.