Think small

The giant takes small steps

The legendary Bob Lutz doesn't have much time. It's nothing to do with his tenure, but with General Motors' global plan to be back in the black, while fending off Toyota's bid to be the largest automaker in the world.

One rather critical plan revolves around small cars that attract large volumes in the emerging markets of Asia, Europe and South America. And GM's chief of product development believes that the answer lies in these three concepts on display at the ongoing New York Auto Show.

Designed at GM's design studio at Inchon, South Korea, the Beat, Trax and Groove might be labelled "concepts", but look closely and you will find the next Opel Corsa, Chevrolet Spark and a third one that we believe could very well hit Toyota's revolutionary Scion xB where it hurts most. The current Corsa has managed to stay in the top 10 in key

European and South American markets while the Spark has built on the Matiz's strong performance during its Daewoo days.

Like the new designs from Opel such as the Astra, the Beat is very trendy and signifies Opel's newfound design direction. Put together right here in our own country, the Beat concept appears like a tuned European hatchback.

The long eyelash like headlamps, deep airdam, skirting and rear spoiler are indicative of Corsa's success in the aftermarket scene in Europe and might lead GM into developing a performance Corsa in its next generation.

The Trax, or possibly the next Spark, dumps its monovolume design for a more conventional two-box approach. It could mean more space on the inside and a heavily revised instrument cluster and console. Heavy use of cladding, roof carrier and the spare wheel on the hatch might be design touches, but like the Fiat Panda 4x4, GM might be considering it for the European market.

The newest kid on the block though is the Groove, and like we said earlier, it could be GM's answer to the Scion range and even mark their presence in the vital 18-30 age bracket that has taken a serious liking to Toyota's funky brand.

Touted as another mini HHR, the Groove is powered by a small 1000cc diesel engine and might also be on GM's American plans as numbers suggest a 15 per cent marketshare for diesel-powered cars in the United States by 2015.

The new small car concepts might just be Lutz's new found motivation. As he put it in an interview when he turned 75 in February, "That's only 24 or 25 in celsius, which is closer to how I act."