GM Cuts Midsize Car Lineup to 10

General Motors Corp. plans to reduce its number of midsize market entries from 15 to 10 nameplates in the next four years, but improve its performance and profits with several all-new products, says Gene Stefanyshyn, vehicle line executive for GM's midsize vehicles.

Over a 3-year period, GM's global front-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive Epsilon platform team will churn out six products and four body styles for three brands in North America, including Chevy Malibu, due August 2003; Pontiac Grand Prix, due second quarter 2003; and a Saturn sedan (likely the L-Series replacement).

Chevy Malibu and Pontiac Grand Am are among the first North American Epsilon products. The next-generation Malibu features include “a crisp, clean exterior,” says Stefanyshyn, adding more than half of focus group participants thought it was a European vehicle when it was shown without its Chevy badge.