U.S. Getting Updated Chevrolet Spark

From GMInside News: Way back in January 2009 General Motors confirmed that the Chevrolet Spark mini-car would ultimately be sold in North America. After an extended period of time outside of the media’s limelight, recent spy shots have confirmed that the Spark will receive a mild update prior to arriving on North American shores.

Earlier this year GMI confirmed that the Spark, despite its absence from corporate communications at GM, was still slated to arrive in 2012 as a 2013 model. According to the newest information from GMI’s product development sources, that timing is still accurate.

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Two-Door GM Compact Coming, But It’s Not A Cruze

From GMInside News: Late last week rumors surfaced (for the second time in a year) that Chevrolet is prepping a coupe variant of the new Cruze compact sedan. While we hate to be the bearers of bad news, we can confidently say that there is no Cruze Coupe in the product plans. There is, however, a two-door (err...three?) GM compact car in the plans for North America.

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Life following art? Thoughts on the new Nissan Murano CrossCabrolet

Personal File: So I was finally going back through my brochures from our annual Chicago Auto Show trip and came back upon the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. Having done an early look at what it might have looked like for InsideLine, I was very impressed with what Nissan had actually done with the vehicle.

It seemed to be a hit with the ladies at the show, especially the younger female demographic. This got me thinking, since women influence over 3/4 of all vehicle sales, what if this vehicle concoction takes off? Would other manufacturers take note and start to offer SUV convertibles?

As I was pondering that question, I couldn't help but feel I've already seen this done before in the past. After a bit of digging around, I stumbled upon this old chop I did for a monthly design contest on GMInsideNews about 5 years ago. We were asked that month to chop the 2003 Centieme Concept and I went hog wild with a 2-door retractable hardtop convertible.

Funny how things work out ... I can now compare a 5 year old chop to a real life convertible SUV. Life imitates art or something like that ... ha ha ha

What do you think - should other manufacturers hop on the bandwagon? Would you consider buying a convertible SUV from Nissan, Buick, or any other brand if one was offered? Has Nissan just found their own BMW X6 niche? Time will tell :)

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