The Virtual Side Of Me

The Cobalt was always intended to be a three-car program, and with the styling flavor of the Cobalt sedan and coupe fixed on vanilla, product planners decided to get playful with the third car. GM hopes this five-door wagonoid configuration will also be popular in Canada and Mexico, but it’s holding annual volume forecasts at a conservative 60,000, about half of PT Cruiser sales.

Built in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, from which Azteks and Rendezvous once sallied forth to make GM ridiculous, the HHR’s vintage-vogue steel body proved difficult to stamp. GM leaned heavily on Japanese stamping giant Fuji Dietec to get it done. The HHR’s hood with its deep concavity and delicate accent lines requires five separate “hits” from the presses and ranks as one of the most complicated sheetmetal parts GM has ever produced, says small-car vehicle line executive Lori Queen. The holes for the HHR’s taillights are carefully punched out of the quarter-panels in a ballet of robotic tooling.