Scheduled for production late this year as part of a $400 million investment, the Agile will replace the aging Corsa, which was last updated in 2002.
The Corsa platform (code name: GM4300 or Gamma) has been used for a number of GM products in Europe and South America, including the Chevrolet/Opel Meriva microvan launched here in August 2002 (and six months later in Europe). Yet the Gamma platform is not dead; the current Corsa hatchback and sedan will co-exist alongside the Agile for some time, as is customary here.
Meanwhile, GM do Brasil reworked the Gamma architecture to create what it calls the Viva platform, which underpins the new Agile hatchback and at least two more models that will be launched over the next two to three years: a replacement for the Corsa-derived Montana pickup as well as a small crossover vehicle based on the GPiX concept showcased last October at the 2008 São Paulo Auto Show and aimed at the successful Ford Ecosport.
While the Agile will be assembled at GM's Rosario plant in Argentina, the new pickup and crossover will be built in Brazil. Eventually, replacements for the Corsa sedan and Meriva MPV could follow.
There is no official word about powertrains, but it is expected that GM will offer updated versions of the current 1.4- and 1.8-liter four-cylinder flex-fuel units matched to manual and automatic transaxles.
GM sources suggest that versions of the Agile could wind up in emerging markets outside Latin America such as China and India, although the automaker's GM Daewoo affiliate in South Korea is also preparing several subcompact entries for Asia off the updated Gamma architecture, including the Chevrolet Spark.
GM has also indicated that a new Chevrolet subcompact — potentially a version of the Agile — could wind up in production in 2011 at its Orion Township plant outside Detroit, as a replacement for the Korea-built Chevrolet Aveo and a competitor to the U.S.-built Ford Fiesta and Mexico-built VW Polo.
Inside Line says: The new Agile, as the smaller sibling of the Chevy Cruze, has the potential to be a world beater in its segment. — Bob Sharp and Paul Lienert, Correspondents
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