NOV 14

GM's head of the Aveo program is very happy with how the Aveo is selling. It's GM's smallest car, and they've just announced that their bringing the five-door (the new name for hatchbacks) to America. And that's fantastic...we love it. But they're still way behind Toyota and Honda in the American sub-compact market.

Why? Well...because they aren't making them. There's only one plant that makes Aveos, and they make 70,000 of them a year for sale in America. Every one of them sells, and at a profit. But GM is apparently afraid to boost production much more because they just don't see a big American market for the cars. The idea is that they can only make money off them if they keep the price extremely low.

They do that by making the cars in South Korea at one dedicated plant, and absolutely never ever marketing the car. And while it's encouraging to see more and more small cars on the road...GM stands by the fact that subcompacts make up less than 2 percent of the car sales in America. But the new Aveo looks manageably attractive, and though they're not planning diesel or hybrid versions (for the American market anyway) it's a great car for next to no money.

Frankly, I'm tired of small cars being designed for low-income people...but I can't complain...since I'm happy to be able to afford an Aveo....and not much more.

EcoGeek's coverage of the LA Auto Show was underwritten by the General Motors Company, which, we agree, is very strange since we say some fairly mean things about them with some regularity. The only condition of their assistance (travel and lodging) is that I disclose it, which, of course, I would have done anyway.

Comments (11)

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written by Papa Hotel, November 15, 2007

As they say, 'small cars make small profits'... it's not a big surprise they're not aggressively marketing these.

I agree the looks are ok/good.

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GM Does Make Them!
written by DougDante, November 15, 2007

The Aveo is made by Daewoo, which is a subsidiary of GM.

GM Makes these Cars!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Aveo

In fact, if you look at new Chevy cars, a lot of them are designed and will be built by Daewoo.

No, it's not in the USA, but GM isn't just a US company!

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written by Gee, November 15, 2007

GM needs to do a little shifting of their corporate image. There was a pretty good article yesterday in the NYT about their products vs. perceptions.
On the one hand, GM does not need any more automobile brands. OTOH, The idea that Chevy makes all these heavy trucks, on down to subcompacts is backwards for today's world.

I like that there's a push for Saturn to be the Domestic face of GM's European cars. Saturn should be used as the umbrella for all cars with non Big-Bigger-Biggest cache.

(What bothers me is GM's GREEN advertising campaign whereby they tout their green products. That would be great if you went into a showroom and there were green options everywhere you look, but that's not quite reality.)

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hrmmm.
written by alh, November 15, 2007

Unless my memory's completely shot, the 5-door was available in the US when the car debuted here in 2004. (I bought mine that year, though mine's a 4-door.) Were they perhaps discontinued stateside sometime between then and now?
And for the record, I really like my Aveo and I plan to drive it until the wheels fall off. :)

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written by CD, November 15, 2007

Bring back the Geo Metro xFI
I owned a 1993 that got 60mpg on a regular basis

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written by yemek, November 15, 2007

As they say, 'small cars make small profits'... it's not a big surprise they're not aggressively marketing these.

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written by Tricia, November 15, 2007

Funny this article just came up. Last night I watch a little feature called "Who Killed the Electric Car?" and WOW! was the stuff GM pulled crazy.

In case anyone decides to look up the movie, understand ahead of time that is was blatantly agenda driven. However, I think the conspiracy theorists have a point on this one -- and the small car vs. SUV market in general.

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Hear! Hear!
written by David, November 15, 2007

I'd like to second the call for small cars designed with a bit more (any) luxury. We bought our Yaris last year, and it blew my mind how many options just weren't available. In the US, not even having cruise control as an option is a pretty big thing! I still love it, because it's small and because it gets 40 mpg, but c'mon people. I'll pay 20K (or 30K or 40K) for the right car. Build it already!

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Yaris likely much more durable
written by Phli, November 15, 2007

somehow the Aveo doesn't instill me with much confidence. I'd rather spring for the extra $2K and buy a Yaris which I suspect would be much more durable and reliable.

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Nice, but where is the mileage?
written by immrlizard, November 17, 2007

It is good that more car makers are making cars that get a little bit better mileage but I had a 1987 sprint turbo that got nearly 50 MPG in daily driving. Where are those types of cars now? You would think that in 20 years they could make one that would at least get that in mileage.

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written by Kristin, November 19, 2007

I drive a 2005 Chevy Aveo 5 door that I purchased in the US new for under 10k. It's a lovely, cheap little car. I miss the fantastic gas mileage I had on my first car, a Geo. My Aveo only manages 30 mpg on the best of days, and while I was sorely tempted to get a Toyota for the better gas mileage, the Aveo was just the right price for a recent college grad. Yes, I wish I had better gas mileage, or a hybrid, and sometimes I'm nervous that a car wreck would leave me with my engine in my lap, but I'm going to hold on to it until manufacturers decide to sell me a car that gets better mileage in the 10k area.

I'm voting with my little wallet by encouraging companies to market green solutions that everyone can afford - if they're good to my wallet now, I'll be a happy customer who will come back in 5 or 10 (or 20) years when I'm making more money and buy a more expensive green solution!

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