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GM considering ‘micro-premium’ car

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1 603 views Jan 12, 2008

GM considering ‘micro-premium’ car

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Size no longer matters when it comes to the premium consumers are willing to pay for a little bit of luxury. You only have to look at the runaway success BMW has been having with its Mini range and to a lesser extent its 1-series model to see that there’s big money in small cars. GM is one carmaker exploring the possibility of launching a pint-sized premium car.

With regulators both in Europe and the U.S. seeking tougher environmental standards, carmakers are keen to downsize their product ranges. The problem for GM, according to BusinessWeek, is that it has no premium compact car platforms. Its current small car arsenal is based around budget platforms developed by its engineering team in South Korea.

One solution is to use a chassis from its Opel division in Germany, and possibly making it RWD too. The other problem is what brand to launch it under. Some of the brands under consideration include Buick, Saab, and Saturn, but no decision has been made yet.

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By NaBUru38 Posted: 1/13/2008 12:30pm PST

The Aveo and Corsa can't be considered "premium cars" (well, the Corsa D would in the Mercosur...). At the same time, Saturn, Chevrolet and Opel aren't "premium brands", and Buick and Cadillac are too American for such a small car.

For that reason, Saab seems a good option for me. The problem is that they lack names for both a B-segment (subcompact) and a C-segment (compact) hatchback, because the only remaining name is 9-1 (unless they start using even numbers). But there's another possibility: Saab can sell the C-segment hatchback as just another body style for the 9-3 range.

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