NY Times: "On Route of Chevrolet Impala...

[Lexcar14]

Pretty good NY Times article about the Impala. I couldn't really disagree with much of what the article was talking about. It was basically talking about how the Impala is a shadow of its former self. However, the article was quite positive about the current Impala and how well it stacks up against the Asians.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/03/business...artner=homepage

DETROIT, June 2 — 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.

The reason is that G.M. prefers to stick with its decades-old approach of breadth over depth, buckshot over a silver bullet. So rather than placing an all-or-nothing bet on a single car at one division, it sells family cars through a variety of brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac and Saturn.

"We're able to get at more people because we've got locations that sell all these vehicles," said Chevrolet's general manager, Edward J. Peper Jr.

That idea served G.M. well when it sold more than half of all new cars and trucks back in the 1960's. But now G.M. controls less than a quarter of American sales..."

[62impala]

Pretty good NY Times article about the Impala.  I couldn't really disagree with much of what the article was talking about.  It was basically talking about how the Impala is a shadow of its former self.  However, the article was quite positive about the current Impala and how well it stacks up against the Asians. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/03/business...artner=homepage

DETROIT, June 2 — 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.

The reason is that G.M. prefers to stick with its decades-old approach of breadth over depth, buckshot over a silver bullet. So rather than placing an all-or-nothing bet on a single car at one division, it sells family cars through a variety of brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac and Saturn.

"We're able to get at more people because we've got locations that sell all these vehicles," said Chevrolet's general manager, Edward J. Peper Jr.

That idea served G.M. well when it sold more than half of all new cars and trucks back in the 1960's. But now G.M. controls less than a quarter of American sales..."