2011 Chevrolet Orlando – Driven To Write

That’ll be the, er…Chevrolet? (Part Two)

Would new models bolster Chevrolet’s tenuous foothold in the European automotive market?

Chevrolet Orlando. Image: gmauthority.com

Chevrolet’s 2005 relaunch in Europe was, to say the least, a rather understated affair, with a model range that was composed entirely of rebadged and very mildly facelifted Daewoo models from South Korea. Although the first new Chevrolet model for Europe, the Captiva crossover, had been unveiled at the Paris motor show in September 2004, it did not go on sale until early 2006. Nevertheless, European sales for 2005 came in at 211,737⁽²⁾ units, representing a modest 1.87% increase over the previous year. This was respectable, but certainly not the step-change that General Motors might have hoped for following the rebranding.

Chevrolet abandoned Daewoo’s unique marketing proposition of fixed price sales and outsourced servicing. Instead, it set about establishing a traditional dealer network, often paired with existing Opel or Vauxhall dealerships. How this was viewed by the dealerships concerned is open to speculation: did it provide potential for increased sales, or simply unwanted internal competition and added complexity and confusion? Continue reading “That’ll be the, er…Chevrolet? (Part Two)”

Big and Dumb and Much the Better For It.

Driven To Write assesses an underdog.

2010 Chevrolet Epica 2.0 L6 Turbo diesel. All images: The author.

_{Editor’s note: This article made its first appearance on DTW in July 2014.}

Tinselly, crudely assembled and unattractive sums it up, but luckily that’s just the Chevrolet badge on the bootlid. The rest of the car surprised me by being vastly better than the reputation suggested. The Chevrolet Epica has ended its six year production run and perhaps its reputation needs a little burnishing. I’ll tell you why: there’s very little wrong with the Epica and a lot that’s right.

Regular readers will Continue reading “Big and Dumb and Much the Better For It.”