You may recall that GM Car Czar Bob Lutz announced that GM would produce an entire family of E-Flex vehicles (the missing ninth GM brand?). Well, here's the prospective papa: the Cadillac Provoq concept. Is that pro-vock as in "provocative" or pro-voke as in "What are YOU looking at?" Our man on the scene was standing at the back amid a pack of chattering ADD journos, so he's not sure. But Mr. Mehta thinks it's pronounced "provoke" and he's sure GM puts the accent on the first syllable, as in PRO-voke. So, when's the Voke coming? I bring you this rant because there not a whole lot to say about this barge, except that someone should look under the hood to see if they even bothered with the hydrogen bits (GM has a history of cobbling together fake alt propulsion prototypes). Oh and GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz reckons the PROvoq "may" be out in June. WITH E-FLEX??? Don't be silly. Anyway, at least the "normal" Provoq– complete with the Saturn Vue's side vents– is wider than the outgoing SRX.
[Reported by Sajeev Mehta]
Funny, I was just telling my wife yesterday that the critical vehicle that’s missing from GM’s overextended product line is another generic CUV.
So every brand has to have a CUV? 4 with the Lambda’s(for now), God knows how many with this new one or is this a reskinned/badged Lambda also. Don’t forget to give Pontiac and Saab a new CUV. GM’s branding is a nightmare, how can customers possibly keep track with so many overlapping products.
An interesting side-note:
I believe that the prototype XLR’s were known on the autoshow circuit as the Evoq. I wonder what we’ll end up knowing this one as?
Is this based on the Theta platform like the Equinox fuel cell prototype, or is this something else?
Regarding this and the Volt:
Would you buy a GM-first generation hybrid?
Should anyone buy a GM-first generation hybrid?
On this note:
I have friends that are beginning to get problems with their -00 Prius’ battery. It’s 7 years and 100 000 km.
Redbarchetta,
Judging from the looks and proportions of the Provoq and the Saab 9-4x, they look like they’re both from the Theta platform (Vue/Antara).
When the two production models appear, they need to make sure of one thing, that is that the Caddy version is AWD ONLY. To offer FWD on a Caddy would be a step backward considering their migration to RWD. The Saab could probably get away with FWD, seeing as the 9-3 and 9-5 start as FWD.