Chevrolet Strobe?

So a long time ago I reported on the possibility of Chevrolet getting a version of Buick’s Encore, perhaps called the Strobe, and now L'Automobile Magazine has obtained Patent renderings of this Vehicle. The car shares absolutely no sheet metal with the Encore; even the door skins are unique.

The Strobe has a more upright front end, blockier fender flares, a more traditional crossover DLO,

a more Captiva like rear end,

and a front fascia that looks like a Cruze and an Equinox had a love child. So because it shares no styling, why does it still look like an Encore? Well I think this can be attributed to two things, 1: one the Proportions, and 2: the fact that it’s a patent rendering does the car no justice, I think it will look allot better, and less like the Encore when it’s in production, but it doesn’t look too bad now. I might try to “Paint” the car in Photoshop to give us a better Idea of what it will look like if I get the time. It’s unclear whether or not this will come to America, as reports have both confirmed and denied it, but if it does, we can probably expect at least some lighting changes, but judging by spy shots, I’d be willing to bet it gets a more Sonic like face if it makes our shores. I hope it does come here though because Chevrolet needs something to go up against the other small SUVs like the CRV and Rav4, But I’d like to pose a question to you guys, would you rather Chevrolet get this or the Meriva?

Sibling Rivalry: Ampera Vs. Volt

Thingsare looking up for the 2012 European Car of the year, Despite Delays theChevrolet Volt’s Sister Car the Opel Ampera is selling pretty well, themajority of current owners have traded in higher end cars like BMWs, Audis andBenzes, and this year’s Ampera orders have already come very close the numberof Volts sold in America last year, with over 7,000. And with 8 months left inthe year it seems very likely that the Ampera will at least meet the new salesgoal of 10,000 units. This could be because Europeans are more open to the Ideaof an electric car, but I think styling could play a bigger factor in thesales. The Volt and the Ampera are somewhat pricey, and rightfully so, they areboth engineering masterpieces, but the Ampera’s styling is considerably bolder,a further departure from the ICE cars, which is a very good thing in myopinion, because the people with money to spare who are looking into, say anAudi, might find the bolder look more appealing and may be more inclined topurchase an Ampera, than say a Volt, because it has the distinctive look of a car that doesn’t use gasoline. So bring on the ELR!

Just thought I’d put thatout there, It could also be that they don’t have politicians attacking it, anddestroying their own industry, but Volt sales here are slowly picking up aswell, what do you all think? Let me know in the comments.

Citroen DS9

The Metropolis will officially be using the DS9 Moniker, conspicuously leaving room between it and the DS5 nameplate. The Model will be China Only and the rest of the DS range will accompany it overseas. The first live photo of the DS9 was captured the other day during a photoshoot, and though it is mostly covered, we can tell that the car keeps allot of the Metropolis’s lines, but there are also quite a few borrowed from the GQ Concept.

The Original concept was 17 feet long, but thanks to this photo we can tell that the DS9 is a fair amount shorter, the average height for a man in France is 5’ 8.5” so I took this man’s height, which is represented by the red bar and rotated it to line up next to the car, now because this is not a complete profile, and the car itself is at an angle, we cannot make anywhere near exact measurements, but it is obvious that the car is not 17’