The Chevrolet of the 21st Century

Chevrolet has had several popular cars on the market earning strong sales in the past few years. Specifically, Chevrolet is a well-rounded company whose top sellers reflect a diversity of good automobile design. For example, three of the Chevrolet's best seller in recent years include a pickup truck, a full-size family sedan, and a sporty little compact car--the Chevy Silverado, the Chevy Impala, and the Chevy Cobalt, respectively.

Chevrolet's most popular half-ton pickup truck, the Silverado, is second only to the Ford F Series in sales and popularity. Long known for its reliability and durability, the Chevy Silverado offers strong power and performance, a smooth, quiet ride, and a high degree of customization. With three cab styles, four engines, and trim levels ranging from the no-frills work truck to a luxury model, the Chevy Silverado can server as either a solid work truck, a sporty off-road adventurer, or a family hauler. The downsides are few and far between, but there are some. The four-speed automatic transmission is a little fussy when downshifting. Chevrolet has long been known poor cabin interior quality, and the Silverado is no exception. The Chevy Silverado interior is known for an over-abundance of hard plastic, uneven panel gas, and an awkward or uncomfortable ergonomic design (although most of these interior issues were addressed starting with the 2007 model). Overall, the Chevy Silverado is a solid, reliable, flexible vehicle whose ability to be tailored to the specific needs of its buyers and won it a popular place in the pickup market.

Finally, the Chevy Impala continues to be a popular seller. The Chevy Impala has a long and distinguished history going back fifty years, and continues to be Chevrolet's mainstay full-size sedan. Clearly, however, it has gone through some changes since 1958. Today's Chevy Impala has a small, more efficient V6 engine that provides plenty of power and performance while still offering decent gas mileage (traditionally a weak point of the classic Impalas). Although it provides sporty performance, the Chevy Impala remains essentially a family vehicle for those reluctant to buy a minivan. With a front bench seat, the Chevy Impala can fit up to six passengers. On the downside, although the Chevy Impala provides a smooth, comfortable ride, the handling is far from the best on the market. Overall, the modern Chevy Impala continues its long tradition of being an affordable, quality family vehicle that are still fun to drive.

The Chevy Cobalt first entered the market in 2005, as both a successor and improvement upon the Chevy Cavalier. Lager, higher quality, and fuel-efficient, the Chevy Cobalt sold well and quickly climbed its way onto the Top Ten Bestselling Cars list. Unlike foreign, imported compact cars, the Chevy Cobalt is highly customizable. Customers can choose form four trim levels, three engines, and two transmissions, and is available as either a coupe or a sedan. At 34 miles per gallon (55 kpg) on the highway, it gets great gas mileage. On the down side, although the Chevy Cobalt earned very good safety marks for frontal and read crash tests, many of its safety features are not standard. Antilock Brake Systems, rear disc brakes, and side curtain air bags are all optional on the lower trim levels (although side curtain airbags became standard in 2008). Overall, the Chevy Cobalt proves that American car manufacturers can still go toe-to-toe with foreign competitors in the compact car market.

About the Author

Ed Terran is the pen name for the editor of a auto parts directory USA auto salvage UK auto salvage