Chevy Impala likely to remain on front-drive platform: The whole world isn’t moving to rear-wheel-drive, after all. The Sleuth hears that Chevrolet parent General Motors is thinking of keeping the Impala as a front-driver for its 2010 redesign. The Sleuth once told you that it might move to a rear-drive platform, but the word is that government legislation around mandating better fuel economy in the United States might mean keeping front-wheel-drive. The Sleuth hears that using a rear-drive setup would increase weight due to a larger drivetrain and make the car less efficient, which would mean higher fuel consumption. Will other manufacturers remain with or go back to front-wheel-drive for the same reasons? Stay tuned.
Good luck finding a new Dodge Challenger: Plenty of auto enthusiasts became excited when Dodge said it was going to build the retro Challenger in 2008. Well, not that many will actually get their hands on one. The Challenger will begin its new life as a low-volume car. Chrysler, which operates the Dodge division, will likely only build about 5,000 units in the first year for the entire North American market. In contrast, General Motors is looking to build about 100,000 of the new Camaros — considered a direct challenger to the Challenger — next year, possibly learning from its Pontiac Solstice launch where delays and partial production caused as much buyer angst as delight. The reason for the low Challenger numbers? The Sleuth hears its because Dodge will only offer the high-performance 6.1-liter SRT version in 2008. Also, expect only an automatic transmission for the first year of production. More powertrain diversity and more units (possibly as many as 30,000) will follow in 2009.
