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Monday, November 12, 2007
Pontiac shows its next youthful hatch.
BY STEVE SILER, October 2007
Pontiac gives us much-needed detail on its all-new Vibe hatch/wagon/crossover, which is scheduled to debut at November’s Los Angeles auto show. This will be the second generation of the Vibe, which, along with its mechanical twin, the Toyota Matrix, first hit the road in 2002 as a 2003 model.
What has changed for ’09 includes every body panel—some a little, some a lot—to inject some much-needed flair into the Vibe’s styling. Gone, thankfully, is all that cladding, which presumably was there to fool people into thinking the tall wagon was actually an SUV. Also missing are the current generation’s integrated roof rails, which effectively disguised the tall, flat roof and allowed stylists to present a more sloping roofline while preserving cargo space. The new model has a more conventional roofline yet still appears sporty.
What won’t change is that the Vibe will continue to share its platform and certain powertrain combos with the 2009 Toyota Matrix that was unwrapped at October’s Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas. Word is that GM moved up Vibe production (at GM’s joint-venture plant in Fremont, California) by a couple months to first-quarter 2008 to keep up with Matrix launch plans. The Matrix is built at a Canadian Toyota plant in Cambridge, Ontario.
BY STEVE SILER, October 2007
Pontiac gives us much-needed detail on its all-new Vibe hatch/wagon/crossover, which is scheduled to debut at November’s Los Angeles auto show. This will be the second generation of the Vibe, which, along with its mechanical twin, the Toyota Matrix, first hit the road in 2002 as a 2003 model.
What has changed for ’09 includes every body panel—some a little, some a lot—to inject some much-needed flair into the Vibe’s styling. Gone, thankfully, is all that cladding, which presumably was there to fool people into thinking the tall wagon was actually an SUV. Also missing are the current generation’s integrated roof rails, which effectively disguised the tall, flat roof and allowed stylists to present a more sloping roofline while preserving cargo space. The new model has a more conventional roofline yet still appears sporty.
What won’t change is that the Vibe will continue to share its platform and certain powertrain combos with the 2009 Toyota Matrix that was unwrapped at October’s Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas. Word is that GM moved up Vibe production (at GM’s joint-venture plant in Fremont, California) by a couple months to first-quarter 2008 to keep up with Matrix launch plans. The Matrix is built at a Canadian Toyota plant in Cambridge, Ontario.
Labels: Automobiles Reviews
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