Chevrolet Aveo 3-Door at Geneva

Where are Beat, Groove and Trax?

By Thami Masemola
March 4, 2008 7:29 PM
Filed Under: American, Chevrolet, Geneva Motor Show

Back in New York, 2007, we had our eyes tickled into submission by three awesome looking concept cars from Chevrolet; Beat, Trax and Groove. One of them got voted best after a competition run by GM, and hopes ran high that this would be a possible future Aveo. Fast forward to 2008 Geneva and those hopes are dashed.

Nothing at all against the Aveo which has been brought out in Geneva today. The car is sexy enough for a smaller vehicle, and follows the debut of the 5-door in Frankfurt last year. An entry level 1.2-litre is on offer, putting out some 84 bhp/ 62kW, which is very good for that size. The 1.4-litre has been upgraded to101 bhp/ 75kW, also punching above class-average. The new Chevrolet Aveo3-door will hit most dealer floors in June.

Back to the triplets. The one way GM can make it up to us is to produce the winning design as a separate entity, otherwise what was the whole point of that entire exercise?

Source: Chevrolet

Press Release (Click to expand)

The new three-door Chevrolet Aveo celebrates its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show (March 6–16, 2008). With this debut, Chevrolet is consequently renewing its successful compact class family. The five-door version that premiered at the Frankfurt Show in September 2007 will go on sale in March. The most significant features of both models are their striking exterior, high-class interior and a new, even more efficient gasoline engine. Like its notchback stable mate, the new hatchback models will now bear the name Aveo throughout Europe. European dealers will have the dynamic three-door hatchback in their showrooms from June 2008.

Buyers will have a choice of two gasoline engines: a new 1.2-litre unit, now with two overhead camshafts and an output of 84 hp, and the upgraded 1.4-litre engine, which now develops 101 hp. The bigger unit is available with automatic transmission. Both engines are even more frugal than their predecessors when it comes to fuel consumption. For example, despite the fact that its performance has improved by 12 hp, the basic engine will now need roughly 14 per cent less fuel in the MVEG fuel efficiency comparison.

The Aveo is playing a key role in the success story of Chevrolet Europe: Over 440,000 cars of the compact-class family have been sold since 2002. With a 25 % share of the model mix (2007), it is also the biggest seller in the Chevy range.