February News

Briefs
Domestic carmakers reshuffled their corporate decks as presidential-types Ron Zarrella, formerly of GM, and Jacques Nasser, recent Ford president and CEO, have cleaned out their offices. There was much new sheetmetal, plastic, carbon fiber, and translation-challenged humor to be found at the Tokyo Motor Show. And it looks like Cadillac is preparing an assault on BMW M and Mercedes-AMG.

Toyota Targets Youth-Confirmed: Toyota will launch a third division (after Toyota and Lexus) in North America, one source says. This new nameplate will target the current youth market, which seems to be staying away from traditional Toyotas in droves. Models under its umbrella could include the upcoming Matrix, the Celica, the Echo (a U.S.-market hatchback version appears to be on hold), and the VS, a handsome five-door hatchback sold under the WiLL brand. In Japan, WiLL markets everything from Toyotas to shampoo to beer to the refrigerators to store it in. The third division won't get its own dealerships here-think Lincoln Mercury or Chrysler Plymouth. We don't yet know what it'll be called, but we do know it won't be "genesis," which was the name of a short-lived youth-market focus group at Toyota North America a couple years ago.

Smaller will make Bentley bigger-Volkswagen's new baby Bentley GT coupe, actually a midsize car by normal standards, hits the market in less than two years. Rolls-Royce and Bentley will split up at the beginning of 2003, with Rolls going to BMW and Bentley remaining a VW-owned nameplate. Bentley ultimately plans to build about 7500 GT coupes per year, multiplying the marque's current annual volume some six times, to about 9000 cars per year.

More powerful Infiniti coupe-A coupe version of the upcoming Nissan Skyline-based Infiniti G35 will have more horsepower than the sedan, Nissan says. The G35, which goes on sale here mid-2002, has a 255-hp version of Nissan's VQ35 3.5L V-6, which can be found under the hood of everything from the new Altima to the 350Z sports car debuting in August. Nissan says engineers can tune the powerplant differently to provide distinct characteristics for each Nissan and Infiniti model, with a horsepower range of 240-290. That top figure is likely for a G35 coupe. Look for the Infiniti as a warmup act for a possible Skyline GT-R introduction in the States in '04 or '05, as discussed at the top right of this spread.

Malibu Smartback-Chevrolet's next Malibu sedan, which hits the streets in early 2004 on General Motors' new Epsilon global midsize platform, will have an unusual hatchback/trunk. Called "smartback," it's a hatchback with a fold-down tailgate and a flip-up glass partition. Innovative? Yes. New? No, it's been done at least twice before: with the Kaiser Frazier of the early '50s and with the fifth-generation Honda Civic hatchback of '92-'95.

In Case The Malibu Smartback Isn't Flexible Enough-GM also confirmed plans for a Chevrolet crossover, which builds on the idea of the 2000 Traverse concept, but rides on the Saturn VUE's platform. It looks like a cross between the Traverse and the VUE, with the requisite Chevy Bow Tie on a Tracker-like grille.

Midsize Epsilon Platform Slated For Geneva-As for the above-mentioned Epsilon platform, it will debut at this year's Geneva Motor Show in the form of the next Opel Vectra. Besides underpinning the Vectra and the next Malibu, the Epsilon will provide the basis for the '04 Saab 93, and the Pontiac Grand Am and Saturn S-Series in '05.

Opening The Midgate Floodgate-And GM announced it will build a GMC crossover pickup truck with a Midgate, based on the GMT370 (Envoy XL) platform. It'll be more SUV-like than the Chevrolet Avalanche, GM says. Word is this new GMC will be named "Equinox."