Chevrolet showcases its newcomers

Sep 19 2008 Steve Hughes

Chevrolet showcases its newcomers

AMERICAN car giant Chevrolet will be displaying its commitment to the European market by showing four new models that will eventually come to the UK at next month's Paris Motor Show.

Chevrolet is one of the UK's fastest growing brands, with a rise of almost 30 per cent last year and a further rise of more than ten per cent so far this year despite the overall decline of the UK market.

The company could sell as many as half a million cars in Europe this year, of which almost 20,000 will be in the UK.

To be shown at Paris will be the Cruze saloon, the Volt midi MPV model, the seven-seat Orlando and the European version of the Camaro sports coupe.

On sale in the UK from next spring, the Cruze is the first of Chevrolet's new wave of global products, boasting a four door coupe-like body of Ford Focus compact car proportions.

Models for the UK market will include 1.6 and 1.8-litre petrol engines plus a common-rail 2.0-litre diesel.

Chevrolet's first entry into the European seven-seat compact MPV market is the Orlando, which will go on sale in Europe next spring and will be a sister model for the new Vauxhall Zafira in the UK.

The Chevrolet Volt is described as an Extended-Range Electric Vehicle and is powered at all times by an electric motor although there is a petrol engine to operate as a generator when the battery is depleted.

The Volt is a four-seat saloon car destined for production from 2010 and can travel for up to 40 miles with zero emissions.

At the opposite end of the performance scale is the new European Camaro, which will boast a 400bhp, 6.2-litre V8 engine.

Again, European production starts in two years - 43 years after the original.