Chevy Small Sports Car Not a Priority: Exec

It doesn’t look like a small, lightweight rear-wheel drive Chevy sports car is in the cards, at least for now. 

Chevy hinted at a possible small sports car with the Code 130R Concept which was revealed at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, but the company can’t currently justify bringing a model like that to production.

“Capital is not a black hole,” GM product chief Mark Reuss told Automotive News. “On those cars, the price point begins to approach the segment of the next car up. We would spend a lot of money and resources, and what are we really doing?” Small sports cars tend to see a sales spike in the beginning followed by a large drop off in sales, as evidenced by the Scion FR-S. Year-to-date, FR-S sales are down 27 percent.

SEE ALSO: Scion FR-S Rival Still on Wish List for GM Boss

Currently, the sportiest small car Chevy offers is the Sonic RS, essentially an appearance package with retuned suspension. It keeps the stock engine, which makes just 138 hp, a far cry from the 200 plus horsepower made by the other cars in the segment.

Reuss personally likes the idea for a small sports car that would compete in the mid-$20,000 arena against the likes of the Scion FR-S and wouldn’t rule it out entirely.”The real question is: Is that a big priority? For now, no,” he said. “Forever? I wouldn’t say that.”

[Source: Automotive News]

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