Nel 2013 arriverà una nuova Chevy "porky" (come è scritto ), su piattaforma Zeta e dal 2015 due nuove piattaforme, tutte RWD.

Chevrolet SuperSport Sedan Coming in 2013, Wagon and Ute Body Styles Possible for Next Gen on Zeta II

May 2, 2012 at 4:08pm by Dave Mable

General Motors sees a growing need for rear-wheel-drive cars in its product portfolio, and such an influx requires either an unimaginably flexible platform or a series of rear-drive component sets. Since “unimaginably flexible” isn’t something GM does well, the company is in the midst of dropping, reworking, and creating rear-drive architectures.

General Motors currently sells rear-drive cars built off of one of three architectures: Y-Car, Sigma, and Zeta. The first underpins only the Corvette—an anomaly in the company’s platform strategy. But the latter two volume platforms grew from a program dating to the early 1990s called Global Rear-Wheel Drive (GRWD in GM-speak). The plan was to use GRWD to build some Cadillacs plus a slew of Holdens for Australia. GRWD was doomed to failure because the Cadillac models required significant cost increases that couldn’t be absorbed by the Holdens, which are sold in vast numbers as razor-margined company cars. The project then splintered and evolved into Sigma and Zeta.

While only three Cadillacs have been spun from Sigma—the previous-gen SRX, the STS, and the current CTS—Zeta serves as the base for products as diverse as the Chevy Camaro, the El Camino–like Holden Ute, and even a Buick Park Avenue for China. All of the Zeta vehicles do have one thing in common, though: They’re porky. When Zeta development was in full swing, Holden management decreed that the Commodore (and all its variants) would ace the Australian NCAP crash tests, but the brand’s price sensitivity meant that extensive use of costly high-strength steel was out. And so the Zeta cars were made strong the old-fashioned way, with mass.

New Stuff: Two RWD Platforms On the Way

Today’s Zeta will morph into the lighter and even more flexible Zeta II for 2015, at which point the Camaro will move onto the Alpha component set also used by Cadillac’s ATS and next-gen CTS. Before that happens, though, Chevy will sell a pair of Zeta-based cars. Actually, the first of these is already on sale—if you’re a state, county, or municipal government that’s allowed to purchase imported products. (Many departments have rules that prevent them from purchasing vehicles not assembled in America.) The vehicle is the Chevrolet Caprice PPV.

The second vehicle, of course, is the most interesting. Perhaps as a way to justify future North American production of its cop car, perhaps simply because Chevy “gets it,” a civilized, civilian take on the PPV joins the model lineup next year. Wearing the SuperSport badge, the car will initially ride on the current Zeta platform and be offered exclusively as a four-door sedan. The SuperSport name and styling also will be applied to the 2013 Chevrolet NASCAR entry. The launch powerplant for the roadgoing car is expected to be the Camaro SS’s 6.2-liter V-8, pumping out something on the high side of 415 hp. A version of GM’s latest 3.6-liter V-6 will be added after the launch for the weaker of heart; we’d expect this engine to produce at least 320 hp. The SuperSport and the Caprice PPV will then migrate to the Zeta II platform in time for the 2015.5 model year. When this happens, full production will shift to North America, thereby delivering a much larger market for the cop version. In addition to the SuperSport sedan, a cropped-rear-overhang sport wagon and a Ute pickup are being considered for the North American market.

Zeta II also will be used for two Chinese-market Buicks starting in late 2014, and one or both of these cars could arrive in North American showrooms if it’s determined that brand needs large rear-drive cars. Conspicuously absent from the Zeta II plans is anything from Cadillac. That’s another story—and another platform.

Via Car and Driver Chevrolet SuperSport Sedan Coming in 2013, Wagon and Ute Body Styles Possible for Next Gen on Zeta II

Altre notizie... Sarà un Commodore long-wheelbase come MY2014 (aka Chevrolet Caprice PPV police cruiser)?

Chevrolet SS Performance

Announcement Due Soon: Repor

It was only two months ago that Chevrolet first announced it was ditching the Impala in next year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup in favor of an all-new model, one that would also be joining the brand’s passenger vehicle lineup in the new year.

This immediately sparked rumors that either the Holden Commodore sedan or its long-wheelbase variant, the Caprice, would form the basis of the new model.

While Chevrolet remains tight-lipped on the matter, a number of hints have appeared online recently and this has reportedly caused the official announcement date to be brought forward.

According to Australia’s Drive, an announcement of an export program for the Holden Commodore sedan to the U.S. is imminent, possibly coming as early as this Friday.

Some of the hints that point towards the Commodore being reintroduced to the U.S. market (the car was previously sold as a Pontiac G8) include the sighting of several left-hand drive Commodore prototypes testing in Australia alongside the Dodge Charger sedan, which is sold exclusively in North America.

There was also a recent report claiming the Commodore was coming and possibly some other variants of the car including a wagon and utility.

Finally, there’s also the fact that the Commodore’s long-wheelbase cousin is already on sale in the U.S. as the Chevrolet Caprice PPV police cruiser.

As for the car’s name, the “SS Performance” moniker surfaced recently via a leak on GM’s own website for its OnStar system. The automaker also trademarked the SS symbol recently despite having used it on some of its cars for more than half a century.

Stay tuned for an update.

motorauthority.com/ 2014 Chevrolet SS Performance Announcement Due Soon: Report

Interessante.. Effettivamente ho sempre trovato un pó assurdo che Chevrolet (ma neanche Ford..) non abbiano in gamma nemmeno una berlina a trazione posteriore.

E allora come al solito si chiede aiuto agli australiani

Potrebbe farlo anche Ford con la Falcon, ma é improbabile. Sono quasi riusciti a far digerire agli americani i motori Ecoboost, non sarebbe coerente

Eccola (cammuffata da Nascar car )

Chevrolet Confirms V8-Powered, Rear-Drive SS Sedan;

Releases Camo’d Photo of 2013 NASCAR Version

May 17, 2012 at 10:01am by Alexander Stoklosa

We already knew that Chevrolet is working on a civilian vehicle using the Zeta bones of the rear-drive Caprice PPV cop car, and that it will be called the SS. It also will serve as the basis for company’s 2013 NASCAR entry. Today, Chevy made the news official and released some details on both the “limited-production” SS and the Sprint Cup race car. (We also already know that the next-gen SS sedan will move to Zeta II architecture; for more details, read our story here.)

For starters, Chevy has confirmed the SS will get a V-8 engine when it goes on sale late next year as a 2014 model. The company didn’t elaborate as to which engine will power the SS, but we believe it will get the same 6.2-liter V-8 as the Camaro. Expect the big motor to produce about 415 hp in this application. Chevrolet also didn’t mention anything about a six-cylinder SS, but sources tell us that a version with GM’s 3.6-liter V-6 will be added to the lineup after the car’s launch. As for the SS Sprint Cup car, Chevy provided the photo above of a camouflaged test car and also confirmed the racer would debut at the season-opening 2013 Daytona 500.

The roadgoing Chevrolet SS will be built in Australia, and will be a bow-tied take on the refreshed Holden Commodore that’s also due next year. (Production of the Zeta II version is expected to shift to North America, however, and ute and wagon versions are under consideration for that generation.) Like the Holden, the Chevy is expected to have some aluminum body panels—notably the hood and trunklid—and may also incorporate electrically boosted steering in the interest of fuel economy.

The Super Sport moniker is an icon in GM history, and the new SS sedan will be the latest in a long line of sporty Chevrolets to wear the twin-S badge. It has been well over a decade since Chevy last applied the SS name to a large, rear-drive sedan (the Impala SS from the mid-1990s). Given our affinity for the last widely available rear-drive Zeta sedan—the Commodore-based Pontiac G8, which hit 60 in 4.7 seconds in GXP trim—consider us excited to slide behind the wheel of this one.

Primi Spy Shots:

2014 Chevrolet SS Spy Photos

Like a Pontiac G8, except you'll be able to buy a new one soon.

MAY 2012 BY ALEXANDER STOKLOSA MULTIPLE PHOTOGRAPHERS

What It Is: Chevrolet’s upcoming SS sedan, which will share its rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform with the new, police-only Caprice PPV. Basically a shorter, civilian version of the Caprice, the SS is being added to Chevy’s lineup as a prequel to a new version due in 2015 that will be built in the U.S. The SS also will serve as the brand’s 2013 NASCAR entry.

Why It Matters: We recently uncovered Chevy’s plans for this car—which the company later confirmed—and it’s important for two reasons: First, it resurrects the Pontiac G8, a car that we liked a lot. Second, it is a big, rear-drive sedan that’s going to get V-8 power—something the world can always use more of.

Platform: Like the G8 before it and several Holden products, the SS will sit on the short-wheelbase version of GM’s Zeta platform (the Caprice cop car uses a very long wheelbase). The new Chevy basically will be a Pontiac G8 underneath, and the roofline, doors, and glass match the defunct Pontiac as well, however, the SS will get bow-tie–specific styling at the front and rear.

The test car seen in these photos is wearing heavy camouflage at each end, but we can see some potential differences between it and the Caprice and G8 through the cladding. Up front, the SS looks as if it will get more cooling ducts and intakes than the cop car. And are those cutouts in the hood’s camo we see? We’ve got our fingers crossed that those are covering up Pontiac GT GXP–like hood vents to help a big V-8 breathe. The rear end also appears closer in execution to the departed G8 than to the Caprice, with a trunklid-mounted license plate and an aggressive diffuser-style rear-bumper element defined through the garbage-bag sheathing. The SS is supposed to get a lightweight treatment compared to the G8, just like the Holden VF Commodore it will be built alongside.

Powertrain: Even though Chevrolet has yet to confirm which V-8 engine is headed the SS’s way, we expect it will launch with the 6.2-liter V-8 from the Camaro. The SS’s big eight-cylinder will make more power than the PPV’s 6.0-liter V-8; expect something in the neighborhood of 415 hp. We’re told a 3.6-liter V-6 will enter into the powertrain mix somewhere down the road. If you needed any more reason to be excited about this car, a 415-hp Pontiac G8 GXP we tested way back in 2009 reached 60 mph in 4.7 seconds. Here’s to hoping that car’s six-speed manual makes it into the Chevy version.

Competition: Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, a used Pontiac G8.

Estimated Arrival Time and Pricing: The NASCAR version of the new SS is due to be revealed later this summer, but the production car won’t make it into showrooms until next year.

Car and Driver 2014 Chevrolet SS Spy Photos – News – Car and Driver

motorauthority.com

E il render di ar and Driver

Lamiere e giro vetri della G8 comunque giusto?

Il render si, ma la versione "reale" sarà su una nuova piattaforma quindi dovrebbe cambiare rispetto alla G8!

Worldscoop

Praticamente la Holden Commodore, no? Riprovano a fare quello che avevano fatto già anni fa con la Pontiac G8...