The Crank: Changing Aveo to Sonic could cost GM up to $100 M

By John LeBlanc Two thousand and eleven is shaping up to be a big year for little cars. New car buyers will not only get a fresh Ford Fiesta, Mazda2, and Fiat 500 , Nissan Versa, and Hyundai Accent to choose from, debuting next week at the Detroit auto show, General Motors’ Chevrolet will be […]

The Crank: The General’s naming games

By John LeBlanc As part of Chevrolet’s recent small car religion— that includes the 2011 compact Cruze, next year’s Orlando compact tall wagon and a future Spark city car—an all-new subcompact  2011 Aveo, left and below, is on the way as well. We saw the production version last month in Paris, initially, next spring it […]

Bailout Blues: Will Fiat ever deliver on its promise of new Chryslers?

By John LeBlanc With U.S. lawmakers taking Toyota to the wood shed this week, let’s take a look at another automaker with some, ahem, challenges: Fiat-run Chrysler.

2010 Detroit: Chevy gets small

By John LeBlanc DETROIT – Like Ford’s presentation at this year’s show, General Motors’ mainstream Chevrolet has got small car religion—bad.