DETROIT -- Atop Mark Reuss' wish list for Chevrolet's lineup is a modestly priced, rear-wheel-drive sporty car to appeal to young drivers.
"A really nice, light, rear-drive car that's inexpensive -- we know that rings a bell," the GM North America president told Automotive News last week. "That'd be a huge win for us if we had that."
It's not on the drawing board now, Reuss says. But GM tipped its hand to the idea at the 2012 Detroit auto show, where it showed a rwd Chevy concept coupe, dubbed Code 130R.
"Really strong" feedback on the concept from young people reinforced Reuss' desire to add something fun at the low end of Chevy's lineup. At the time, GM executives envisioned pricing the 130R in the low- to mid-$20,000s.
In the last few months Chevrolet has unveiled three new or redesigned performance cars: the Corvette Stingray, SS sedan and Camaro Z/28 -- but all are high-priced, low-volume vehicles. A moderately priced sporty entry could give GM's mainstay brand a volume driver.
Such a vehicle would compete with the Subaru BRZ and the Scion FR-S, the sibling rwd sports cars co-developed by Toyota Motor Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., which owns Subaru. Priced in the mid-$20,000s, the rwd cars have won critical praise since they were launched last year.
If GM decided to pull the trigger, it "would not do that design" seen on the Code 130R because it's already dated, Reuss said. He also said GM likely wouldn't build it on the Alpha rwd platform on which the Cadillac ATS rides, preferring instead to underpin it with a platform that is "really scaleable and efficient."
