Chevrolet offers just a subtle peak at the new Impala coming to New York next month.
The folks at Chevrolet will be busy squeezing in two significant new product updates at the New York Auto Show next month, the maker pulling the wraps off both an all-new version of the aging Impala line, as well as revealing an updated version of the big Chevy Traverse SUV.
The Traverse will reach showrooms for the 2013 model-year, but Chevrolet planners apparently want to build buzz more slowly for the big Impala sedan, which will be designated a 2014 model when it reaches showrooms.
The Impala nameplate is one of the General Motors division’s oldest, first bolting onto a sedan back in 1958. The 2014 reincarnation will be the Impala’s tenth-generation remake – and, Chevy clearly hopes, will help add momentum to a brand that set a global sales record last year, topping 5 million vehicles – dealers around the world selling one new Chevrolet car, truck or crossover, on average, every six seconds.
“The new Impala further strengthens Chevrolet’s passenger car lineup by giving consumers a full-size sedan that balances the desire for distinction with engaging driving dynamics,” said Chris Perry, the vice president of Global Chevrolet Marketing.
The teaser image doesn’t reveal much, though it does hint that Chevy designers opted for a classic luxury cue, with a long and sweeping C-pillar and what appears to be a more coupe-like roofline than the current Impala. It also boasts plenty of chrome trim.
The most significant changes to the 2013 Chevrolet Traverse will come inside.
Expect a more roomy interior, even if the overall footprint isn’t any bigger than before. The underpinnings of the 2014 Impala, incidentally, will be shared with the newest version of the midsize Chevrolet Malibu.
Under the hood? Most likely a 3.6-liter V-6, though the eAssist mild hybrid system from the Malibu Eco may very well be in the cards, as well as a sportier 4-cylinder turbo.
Intriguingly, the Impala nameplate will no longer be tagged onto Chevy’s NASCAR entry. The new model – and its design – will be announced a bit later this year. There is speculation, our friends at AutoBlog note, that Chevrolet may soon get another full-size entry, this one sharing the Australian Holden-developed Zeta platform that is now being used in Chevy’s new police pursuit offering, the Caprice PPV. Could this mean the return of the Caprice badge?
While the Impala is likely to dominate the news from the Chevy press conference there’ll be plenty of interest in an updated Traverse, the big SUV getting some of the same refinements as its sibling Buick Enclave for 2013.
Among other things, it will be fitted with a first-ever front-center-mounted airbag designed to minimize driver and passenger injuries in a side-impact collision.
(For a closer look at the new Buick Enclave, Click Here.)
“The new Traverse builds on the success of the current model offering a wide variety of improvements to ride and handling, interior materials and exterior styling without compromising the functionality and capability families need to support their busy lives,” said Chevy marketing boss Perry.