Chevrolet Motor Division

When mom, dad and the kids drive to the neighborhood theater to see "Days of Thunder" this summer, they may be surprised to discover that the family car has a starring role. The Chevrolet Lumina, the transportation of choice for many people whose favorite option is a child safety seat, turns up as Tom Cruise's howling monster of a race car in the film, complete with stickers on its neon-green body armor promoting auto parts, not theme parks.

Chevrolet giveth and Chevrolet taketh away. Lifeguards from Long Beach to Imperial Beach are scrambling to acquire pickups and sport utility vehicles for beach patrol because Chevy has ended its public relations-steeped program of loaning vehicles for high-profile strand duty. The automaker announced its decision in December, and eight of the 10 affected cities will lose their vehicles May 10, just before summer season starts.

Eight years after creating the Geo nameplate to attract import buyers, Chevrolet said Tuesday that it will eliminate the Geo name and start selling its Metros, Prizms and Trackers as Chevys, beginning next fall. The three Geo vehicles, whose sales through Chevrolet-Geo dealerships are up nearly 8% this year, will continue to be produced in the U.S. and Canada by joint ventures between General Motors and Japanese partners.

It used to be that performance meant how many bales of hay or flats of sod a pickup could carry. Of course, that was when trucks were designed for work and not for play. Trucks are no longer just tools, and performance now means horsepower, torque ratings and traveling from zero to 60 miles per hour in a short period. Rather than hold hay or sod in the bed, pickups now boast extended cabs to get two or three more people in the cabin.

If you have thick skin and deep pockets, you'll find the 2003 Chevrolet Suburban more pleasant than many of the other sport utility vehicles on the market. It offers a smooth, sedan-like ride and rather agile handling for a vehicle so big -- except when you have to pull into that tight spot in the parking lot.

Chevrolet is starting a "roadside assistance" program covering all 38 million owners of Chevy and Geo cars and trucks. But don't expect General Motors' top-selling division to make it easy for motorists to find the toll-free number to call for help. The program takes effect next week. For now, though, the only owners who will be told directly of the 800 number are buyers of the 1991 Chevrolet Cavalier, Chevy's most popular model.

The city will be receiving free vehicles for its lifeguard beach patrol fleet--but there's a catch. In exchange for use of new Geo Trackers, the city will help Chevrolet promote the jeeplike vehicle in what a city official described as a "precedent-setting case." Chevrolet will give Huntington Beach eight new vehicles a year for the next three years, starting this summer.

The shots were fired early, right after the Ford Taurus was shown in its NASCAR configuration at Indianapolis in August. "If that's a stock car, my aunt is my uncle," said Felix Sabates, owner of two Chevrolet teams. It sure didn't look like a Taurus, which is a four-door Ford. This was two inches wider in the rear and the lines didn't resemble anything you could buy in a showroom.

Back by popular demand ... The Impala SS sedan returns to the Chevrolet stable this fall after too long an absence. In the 1990s, Chevy sold a full-size sedan called Caprice, an ugly, bulbous machine that became the car of choice of taxi fleets because hardly anyone else would set foot in it. Then, in order to instill some life into the car, Chevrolet turned Jon Moss, who tinkered with performance cars, loose on Caprice. In 1961, Chevy had introduced its first Impala SS, or Super Sport.

If you have thick skin and deep pockets, you'll find the 2003 Chevrolet Suburban more pleasant than many of the other sport utility vehicles on the market. It offers a smooth, sedan-like ride and rather agile handling for a vehicle so big -- except when you have to pull into that tight spot in the parking lot.

General Motors' Chevrolet division--which used to call itself "The Heartbeat of America"--is turning to a 32-year-old designer to boost the pulse of its cars. Sure, he's young, but Bryan Nesbitt already has scored a hit that will probably go down as a classic, even an icon: the PT Cruiser for his previous employer, Chrysler.

In this sun-drenched landscape, awash in sexy restored '65 Mustangs and surfer woodies, Jerry Crawford of Orange cruises to his own beat--in a pair of cherry Chevrolet Caprices. Crawford, 47, an Orange County sheriff's deputy, knows his blue-green 1994 and black 1996 highway behemoths aren't the sleek, chromed dream machines of most Southern California drivers. "But they're comfortable and dependable, and that's what counts," he says. "So people can make fun of them all they want."

The shots were fired early, right after the Ford Taurus was shown in its NASCAR configuration at Indianapolis in August. "If that's a stock car, my aunt is my uncle," said Felix Sabates, owner of two Chevrolet teams. It sure didn't look like a Taurus, which is a four-door Ford. This was two inches wider in the rear and the lines didn't resemble anything you could buy in a showroom.

Eight years after creating the Geo nameplate to attract import buyers, Chevrolet said Tuesday that it will eliminate the Geo name and start selling its Metros, Prizms and Trackers as Chevys, beginning next fall. The three Geo vehicles, whose sales through Chevrolet-Geo dealerships are up nearly 8% this year, will continue to be produced in the U.S. and Canada by joint ventures between General Motors and Japanese partners.

Chevrolet, once the stalwart among General Motors Corp.'s car divisions, announced a restructuring Friday that will cut about 350 white-collar jobs in the next year. The announcement was the latest in a succession of steps GM is taking to cut its bloated work force and reverse staggering losses in profits and market share. The 17% cut in personnel at GM's largest division will come through early retirements and attrition, spokesman Dave Hudgens said.

When Mark Lautherboren bought a new Chevrolet pickup from a Westminster dealership in 1988, he said he thought he was buying the truck of his dreams. But what he got was a lemon. As soon as he got it home, Lautherboren said, he noticed paint blisters and bubbles, scratches, pockmarks, runs and drips, along with fire damage in the engine compartment and torn and deformed seats and door panels.

When Mark Lautherboren bought a new Chevrolet pickup from a Westminster dealership in 1988, he said he thought he was buying the truck of his dreams. But what he got was a lemon. As soon as he got it home, Lautherboren said, he noticed paint blisters and bubbles, scratches, pockmarks, runs and drips, along with fire damage in the engine compartment and torn and deformed seats and door panels.

Chevrolet, once the stalwart among General Motors Corp.'s car divisions, announced a restructuring Friday that will cut about 350 white-collar jobs in the next year. The announcement was the latest in a succession of steps GM is taking to cut its bloated work force and reverse staggering losses in profits and market share. The 17% cut in personnel at GM's largest division will come through early retirements and attrition, spokesman Dave Hudgens said.