Chevy VP Confirms Next-Generation Impala Sedan

Following the news of the fleet-only return of the Chevrolet Caprice, many were left wondering what remains of Chevy’s big car lineup. In a discussion regarding the future of the Camaro convertible and the Volt, Chevrolet’s vice president Brent Dewar confirmed a replacement for the aging full-size Chevy Impala sedan. Although GM has repeatedly stated that there will be no retail availability for the Caprice, this should be taken with a grain of salt as the automaker previously stated that there would be no new Chevy Caprice in the first place. Since the current Impala has been on the market since 2005, expect to see the redesigned sedan in 2012.

Taking all of Chevy’s recent statements into account, the automaker could also be looking to replace the Impala with a vehicle derived from the Zeta platform that underpins vehicles like the Camaro and the new Caprice. Given the recent statements against the Caprice being available to retail customers, it is likely that the future Impala would be more similar to the defunct Pontiac G8 (pictured near right) rather than the stretched wheelbase Holden Statesman that is used for the company’s latest police cruiser.

“The announcement for the Caprice is currently only as a police patrol cruiser,” Dewar said. “It will be rear-wheel drive with a 6.0-liter V-8. We have not made any firm plans yet on a retail version of the Caprice. That said, we are working on a next-gen Impala that comes in above the Malibu. More to come.”

Currently, the Impala’s dimensions are only slightly larger than the Malibu in most categories, although the Malibu rides a longer wheelbase. In terms of classification, the Malibu is still a midsize sedan with its 112.8 cubic feet of interior volume, while the Impala gets a large sedan rating from the EPA with 123.1 cubic feet of passenger volume. Comparatively speaking, the 2008-2009 Pontiac G8 had an interior volume of 124.5.

The current-generation Impala is the only vehicle left using GM’s W platform that dates back to 2004. After the Pontiac Grand Prix and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo were killed off, the only other vehicle sharing its platform with the Impala was the LaCrosse. For the 2010 model year, the Buick LaCrosse switched to the Epsilon II platform leaving just the Impala and the Zeta-platform Camaro as the only products of GM’s Oshawa Car Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. This lends further credence to the fact that the Impala will switch to the more modern, rear-wheel drive Zeta platform, which could help give the full-size sedan a distinct performance advantage over the front-wheel drive Malibu.