Chevrolet Trucks Blog

In Vietnam, there is now a high demand for medium-priced vehicles and so Vidamco or what is also known as GM Daewoo Vietnam Co. is starting to promote Chevrolet’s multi-purpose van (MPV) which is the Chevrolet Vivant.

This vehicle has actually already been introduced in various auto markets such as North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe by General Motors. This vehicle is also part of the globally strategic products of the giant automaker. Thus, Vidamco wants to build on its success after it has successfully launched the in-demand Captiva more than a year ago.

During the product launch in Park Hyatt Hotel in downtown HCMC, Kung In Kim said, “The seven-seat car is an MPV already introduced by GM to many countries such as Australia, mainland China, Sweden, and Korea.” He added that this Chevrolet MPV is a vehicle of sporty, dynamic, and convenient styling and has been designed by non other than a famous deigning firm in Italy, Pininfarina.

The car has a lot of great features that are known of seven-seat MPVs to have such as a fuel efficient 2.0 DOHC engine which meets the Euro 2 European emission standard and for safety, anti-lock braking system (ABS) and air bags.

Price of the Chevrolet Vivant is said to be US$22,300 for a Chevrolet Vivant SE, US$25,300 for a Chevrolet Vivant CDX-AT, and US$23,900 for a Chevrolet Vivant CDX, all inclusive of VAT.

There seems to be no stopping the Chevrolet Malibu from getting an award as it is already its second consecutive year to receive recognition from the North American Car and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) awards.

It was during the opening of the North American International Auto Show that the announcement of the winners was made and General Motors has once again taken top honors. Its Chevrolet Malibu had been chosen to receive the award from among its competitors which are composed of 15 cars and 13 trucks. General Motors was able to get four out of the six spots for the awards. Just last year, two GM models emerged as winners – the Saturn Aura and the Chevrolet Silverado.

The Vice Chairman of General Motors, Bob Lutz, commented on GM’s receipt of the awards saying, “’This award is the result of our intensive efforts to put a renewed emphasis on design, execution and craftsmanship into our cars and trucks.”

He added, “We’re honored that both automotive journalists and consumers are recognizing our efforts. The fact we had four of the six finalist vehicles is more than we could have hoped for.”

Prominent automotive journalists are the ones who observe and evaluate the vehicles on the following factors – innovation, handling, value for the dollar, safety, driver satisfaction, performance, and safety. These NACTOY awards are given to deserving vehicle models every year, ones which earned the highest scores in the factors the journalists are looking at. The jury which evaluated the cars and picked the winners for this year consisted of 45 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada.

The reasons that Chevrolet Malibu was named the 2008 North American Car of the Year are because of its having strong performance, and notable fuel economy and refinement.

Ed Peper, Chevrolet’s General Manager, said, “Our goal with the 2008 Malibu was to give customers a stylish, uncompromising package that can challenge even the most formidable competitors in the midsize segment.”

He added, “Customers are getting that message, because the new Malibus are selling faster than we can put them on dealers’ lots.”

Dubbed as the highest-performance Chevrolet Corvette in the automaker’s history, the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 has now made its debut in the Motor City. Because it is considered to have the highest performance ever, General Motors expect this model to be the first production Corvette to attain a top speed of 200 miles per hour. This should not be such a difficult thing to achieve considering that Chevrolet is under the great hands of capable people from general Motors.

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 has an extroverted exterior. Also, to achieve the high-performance description, Chevy made use of only weight-saving carbon fiber for the model’s hood, front air splitter, roof, and front fenders. The carbon weave has also been made a design element and was elegantly covered in clear-coat paint. And perhaps to impress people, the engine intercooler has been exposed through the hood’s polycarbonate window.

Although the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 made use of the aluminum-intensive chassis similar with the Z06, it has been tuned for higher-performance application. It also makes use of the same front and rear aluminum suspension which had been adjusted so that it can harmoniously work with the large 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels.

For improved safety, the braking system has been equipped with vented and cross-drilled disc brakes which measure about 15 inches front and 15.5 inches rear. These disc brakes have been perfectly place behind the 20-spoke wheels.

To enjoy better handling, the automaker installed and made standard the dynamic shock system which automatically adjusts itself according to driving needs. It can shift quickly from road compliance to track firmness.

As the ZR1 is the same with the Z06 in many aspects, Chevrolet has enhanced the interior to make it distinguishable against the Z06. The ZR1 has stitched logos, sill plates, and a unique instrument panel which have an extra boost gauge and 220-mph speedometer.

So, what really makes this model the highest-performance Chevrolet Corvette ever? Its hand-built 6.2-liters V8 engine is capable of producing at least 620 horsepower and 595 pound-feet of torque. Take not – “at least.” This is then mated to a six-speed manual transmission to give drivers better control over the car.