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UPDATE: GM has contacted Motor Trend and refuted its report. Loose lips sink ships — or at the very least, they occasionally reveal future product plans. It appears official confirmation that the GMC Granite is destined for production may have emerged this afternoon at General Motors’ official business meeting.
Motor Trend says GM North America Vice President Tom Stephens indicated today that the Granite will indeed make the jump from show car to production vehicle. We aren’t stunned by the news (rumors of an unusually small GMC offering have been floating around for quite some time now), but we’re encouraged to hear it, seeing as the Granite was one of our favorite vehicles at the 2010 Detroit auto show.
Expect a production Granite to be built upon a modified form of GM’s Delta II platform, which also underpins the Chevrolet Volt and Cruze. Power will likely come from the Cruze’s 1.4-liter turbocharged I-4, albeit it’s suggested the blown four-cylinder may be paired with a new six-speed dual clutch transmission.
The biggest question, however, lies with those rear-hinged side doors, which do without a fixed B-pillar. GM engineers are still working on how to affordably incorporate such a design into a small vehicle and still meet crash standards. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Granite launch without the trick doors.
Source: Motor Trend
I think its cute. But i dont see it going far in the US in sales.
I hope this thing sees production under one of GM’s brands. Preferably Chevy or GMC just to make sure its reasonably affordable. It looks cool, has an awesome interior, gets good fuel economy, and hauls cargo. I’d look at buying next time I go car shopping.
Have the GM guys learned nothing from Jeep’s experience with econoboxes (Patriot/Compass) masquerading as something more than what they are? A 1.4L front drive subcompact is far from “professional grade”, and anyone who knows what a GMC dealer is ain’t gonna go for this. Keep those trick doors, send it over to Chevy, position it against the Kia Soul, and then they may have something.