GM: No Beat for U.S.

According to Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of Global Product Development, the U.S. will not be getting the Chevrolet Beat, which will be sold in Europe as the Spark. Apparently the little Beat wasn't designed to meet U.S. crash standards and it'd cost too much to re-engineer. Full story on Autoblog is here.

In my opinion, this means that GM is content with the way the Aveo is doing in North America. Although it's pretty apparent that the Aveo is a bottom-of-the-line car (and bottom of it's class, too), it does sell well. It doesn't, however, make GM look like much of a player in the subcompact market. Certainly not as much as Honda, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, Mini, Smart, and soon, Ford. Oh, I guess that's nearly everyone. However, if the Aveo ain't broke, don't fix it, right? I guess another way to look at is at least GM has a subcompact in its lineup. Eh.

To me, this looks like another case of GM not bringing its A-game. Simply showing up is apparently enough for GM in the b-segment.

Consumer Reports: Yaris = Fail. I disagree.

Let it be known that I am not a fan of the magazine Consumer Reports. I just don't think they have a clue on some things, especially some things automotive.

The latest move by the magazine that makes me continue my distrust is the ranking of the Toyota Yaris (with the manual transmission) as one of the worst cars on the U.S. market at the moment. According to a report on CNN Money's Web site, CR said the Yaris' "lows" were acceleration, vague steering, and numb shifter. Let's address the acceleration issue first.

According to Road and Track magazine's comparison test of the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, and Nissan Versa (April 2007):

"At our test track, the Yaris flat-out smoked the other two to 60 mph, taking 8.5 seconds against the Fit’s 9.0 and the Versa’s 9.1. Aside from its obvious lack-of-weight advantage (it weighs only 2295 lb.!), that quick time was achieved because the gearing of the Yaris’ 5-speed manual transmission allowed it to hold 2nd gear to 60 mph, while the 6-speed Versa and shorter-geared 5-speed Fit required shifts to 3rd."

Okay, so what's that mean, CR? Were your tests done differently?

Second: Vague steering. OK – the Yaris' steering isn't the best on the market. Fine. However, remember: this is an economy car. Most people aren't buying this car because of its world-class steering feel. The Yaris was the least-expensive vehicle CR tested. It says so right on the magazine's Web site. What do you want for $12K?

Third: Numb shifter. Define "numb." Imprecise? Compared to what? Certainly not the Hyundai Accent or Kia Rio. Those two cars, which I still think are overall good vehicles, had the worst manual shifter I've ever felt. How about a manual Chevrolet Cobalt? Even the Cobalt SS Supercharged had a clunky, imprecise shifter compared to my Yaris.

Like CR, these are my opinions. I certainly don't think the Yaris deserves to be on this list. I can think of plenty of other vehicles that should be on this list instead of the Yaris, but you know what they say about opinions: Opinions are like assholes – everyone has one (and they all stink).