V8 Camaro on the way, Lacetti on hold says Chevrolet

Date: 14 March 2007

However, fleet buyers will be denied the retro HHR and could wait until the end of this year to sample the more relevant and significant 2.0-litre diesel Lacetti.

The Geneva show was as much about what General Motors' "foundation" brand would not be offering as what it will be with the Mondeo-sized Epica and its diesel variant also out of bounds for the time being.

Preferring to use the Korean-built Captiva 4x4, due to market in May, as "our first serious step towards gaining acceptance among business users" that includes a fleet-specific launch, Wayne Brannon, Chevrolet Europe's executive director, said: "The Lacetti diesel will have to wait in line."

The 120PS 2.0-litre diesel hatchback and estate car were initially due last January, but right-hand-drive engineering problems, believed to involve installing air-conditioning units, put it back to May.

A Chevrolet UK spokesman said: "It is impossible to say when it will arrive, hopefully by the end of the year. We want to fill the boat up with Captivas. The diesel Lacetti is on hold - we were only talking about 424 units this year."

The larger six-speed Epica, fitted with a 150PS version of the diesel, is also in Chevrolet's "pending tray" and GM insiders concede that its exclusion is a happy coincidence that avoids potentially detracting from run-out special offers on the Vauxhall Vectra.

The Camaro, said Brannon, is unlikely to appear on user chooser lists much before 2010 "in relatively low volumes."

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