Chevy Volt Visits Moraine Valley Community College

Today,  product specialist Daniel Bachert of Phillips Chevrolet  presented the new Chevrolet Volt to a class at Moraine Valley Community College. In the Center for Contemporary Technology, the students of the advanced auto tech class had the opportunity to sit inside and operate the many features the Chevy Volt has to offer. Professor Ira Siegel, gave his class a chance to take a look at the future of automobiles...in the Chevy Volt!

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at http://www.phillipschevy.com/. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Chevrolet Sonic priced at $14,495

Prices for the Chevrolet Sonic small car will start at $14,495, including shipping, when sales begin this fall, General Motors said today.
The Sonic will be priced below the Honda Fit, which stickers at $15,870, including shipping.
The Sonic will be offered as a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback. It replaces the Chevy Aveo, which was priced $2,249 below the new Sonic's sticker.
GM says the Sonic will come with the most standard safety equipment among subcompacts, including electronic stability control and 10 airbags. Keyless entry and 15-inch alloy wheels also are standard.
"Today's customers have high expectations for small cars," Rick Scheidt, vice president of Chevrolet marketing, said in a statement. "Sonic comes with an unexpected level of standard equipment so that every customer will have comforts and amenities they desire."
The car, which comes with a base 1.8-liter Ecotec engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission, will come in three models. The lineup, with prices that include shipping, includes:
* LS: Sedan starts at $14,495; hatchback at $15,395. In addition to the safety features, the package includes traction control and antilock brakes.
* LT: Sedan starts at $15,695; hatchback at $16,495. The package adds a six-speaker premium sound system, heated front seats and side mirrors, 17-inch alloy wheels and cruise control.
* LTZ: Sedan starts at $17,295; hatchback at $17,995. It gets all the features on the LT plus a connectivity package that includes a USB port, Bluetooth and steering-wheel-mounted audio controls.
Buyers can upgrade to a six-speed automatic transmission for $1,070. The LT and LTZ models offer and optional 1.4-liter turbo with a six-speed transmission for an additional $700.
GM will build the Sonic at its Orion assembly plant in suburban Detroit. It will be the only U.S.-made subcompact, the result of a 2009 agreement with the UAW that will allow GM to hold down costs by paying an entry-level wage to 40 percent of workers at the plant.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Chevy boosts mpg, adds equipment on 2012 Cruze

General Motors is looking to add to the momentum of its hot-selling Chevrolet Cruze by making more features standard for the 2012 model year. The company said today that it also will boost the fuel economy of turbo versions.

The two most popular six-speed automatic versions of Cruze models with the 1.4-liter turbo engine -- the LT and LTZ versions -- will get 38 mpg on the highway in 2012, compared to 36 mpg on the 2011 model.

The automatic version of the Cruze Eco, a pricier version of the turbo that is more aerodynamic, will get 39 mpg highway, up from 37 mpg.

GM credits the fuel-economy improvements to a lower axle ratio.

GM also is making the $525 “Connectivity Plus Cruise” option package, which includes Bluetooth phone connectivity, a USB port, cruise control, steering wheel-mounted audio controls and leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, standard on more trim levels.

Those features will be standard on the 1LT and Eco versions; it already came standard on the 2LT and LTZ. Buyers of the base model LS will be able to get the package for $275.

Adding those features “streamlines the ordering process and answers the call of what our customers told us should be standard,” Rick Scheidt, vice president of Chevrolet marketing, said in a statement.

The 2012 Cruze goes on sale next month.

The Eco model accounted for about 15 percent of Cruze sales so far this year. The Eco with a six-speed manual gearbox is the most fuel-efficient nonhybrid vehicle in America, GM says, with an EPA highway rating of 42 mpg.

GM launched the Cruze last September, and sold 98,076 in the United States in the first five months of this year. Its 22,711 sales was tops among compact cars in May.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at http://www.phillipschevy.com/. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Tweet
http://twitter.com/phillipschevy

Make A Wish

(From left to Right): Hope, Deborah, Danielle, Ozzie Guillen and Joseph

Ozzie Guillen greets Make-a-Wish family at a Phillips Chevrolet event. Danielle made a White Sox scrapbook to show Ozzie.

Ozzie Guillen, stopped by Phillips Chevrolet located at 9700 W. Lincoln Hwy in Frankfort, IL on Saturday, June 11, 2011 to sign autographs for his fans.

Prizes were given away, including future White Sox game tickets, hats and bags. Go White Sox!

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Tweet

Follow @PhillipsChevy

Ozzie Guillen Signs Autographs at Phillips Chevrolet

Chicago White Sox Manager, Ozzie Guillen, stopped by Phillips Chevrolet located at 9700 W. Lincoln Hwy in Frankfort, IL on Saturday, June 11, 2011 to sign autographs for his fans.

Prizes were given away, including future White Sox game tickets, hats and bags. Go White Sox!

To see more pictures, click here.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Tweet

Follow @PhillipsChevy

GM expands Chevrolet Volt orders to all 50 states, lowers price

General Motors opened up orders for the Chevrolet Volt to all 50 states today, lowering the base price for the 2012 model by about $1,000 and adding four option packages.

The 2012 Volt will start at $39,995, including delivery, and customers may be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit. GM was able to lower the base price because the car has more optional content now that it's available nationally, the automaker said today in a statement. The 2011 Volt had been available in eight states and Washington, D.C., and only had three option packages.

GM is expanding Volt ordering as it prepares to add two shifts worth 2,500 jobs to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that builds the car. Volt engineers are seeking to cut the car's cost through powertrain and production improvements, which will mostly be used to make the car profitable, rather than slash the price for consumers.

GM plans this year to build 16,000 of the Volt and its European version, the Opel Ampera. That includes about 3,500 for overseas delivery and 2,500 as demos at dealerships. Next year, GM plans to build 60,000 Volts at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, with 45,000 designated for the U.S.

Detroit-Hamtramck this spring discontinued its other two cars, the Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne, leaving it free to build just Volts until the 2013 Malibu starts production next year. The factory will also assemble the next-generation Chevrolet Impala, expected to start production by 2013.

The plant is in a four-week shutdown to update for Volt and Malibu production. After it restarts, the factory will start adding the second shift of workers, with the third to start at an undisclosed future date.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Tweet

Follow @PhillipsChevy

Chevy Cruze Leads Compact Car Sales For May

For the first time in five years, an American car is the best selling compact car in the United States. The Chevrolet Cruze recorded 22,711 segment-topping sales in May, and achieved its second consecutive appearance on the Top 10 across all U.S. auto segments.

The Cruze also has helped Chevrolet gain share in the compact segment – which represented 16 percent of total U.S. sales in May – and accelerated the brand’s shift to fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines.

In May, fuel-efficient models four-cylinder vehicles – including Cruze, Equinox and Malibu – accounted for 51 percent of Chevrolet retail sales. That is up from 36 percent in May a year ago, and doubles the rate of four-cylinder sales five years ago.

“The launch of the Cruze has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Alan Batey, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Sales and Service. “Cruze launched as a brand-new vehicle, with a brand-new name, in one of the most competitive segments in the industry.

“Today, Consumer consideration for the Cruze has increased to the point that it is on many of the same shopping lists as established compact cars, like Civic and Corolla,” he said. “This is an incredible accomplishment, even considering the industry’s disruptions caused by the tragedy in Japan.”

The Cruze has increased Chevrolet’s share of the compact car segment, even as the segment grew by 19 percent year to date. For 2011, Chevrolet accounted for 11.9 percent of the compact car market, up from 9.5 percent a year ago.

Much of the success of the Cruze can be attributed to its exterior styling and fuel efficiency, which were ranked as the top reasons for purchase in an internal survey of more than 500 Cruze buyers.

Karen Peters of Hemet, Calif., traded in her 2005 Toyota Corolla for a Cruze after seeing the Cruze in a television ad.

“I just fell in love with the Cruze the first time I saw it,” she said. “There was nothing wrong with my Corolla, and I wasn’t even looking for a new car. But something about the Cruze just stuck with me. I finally had to go for a test drive, just to get it out of my system. All it took was a short test drive, and I fell in love with the Cruze.”

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Tweet

Follow @PhillipsChevy

Volt gets 5-star safety rating

The Chevrolet Volt electric car has won a five-star safety rating from the U.S. government.

The five-star rating is the top one given by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

General Motors says the Volt was judged under tougher standards for 2011 models that include a simulated 20 m.p.h. side crash into a pole.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Tweet

Follow @PhillipsChevy

Chevy to roll into poll position at Dream Cruise

The Woodward Dream Cruise and Chevrolet today are expected to announce the iconic brand's new role in the day-long event that somehow manages to stretch into more than a week.

Chevrolet, which celebrates its centennial this year, is expected to replace the MotorCity Casino as the top sponsor of the popular Cruise, according to published reports.

Officially, no one involved would say anything Wednesday, but the top sponsorship is open, and Chevrolet marketing chief Rick Scheidt and Dream Cruise President Greg Rassel are hosting an event today at the Renaissance Center in Detroit to talk about the biggest moving car show in the world. The event typically attracts more than 1 million people and 40,000 classic and muscle cars.

"No one is making any comment," said a spokeswoman with Woodward Dream Cruise. "We're declining comment," echoed GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson.

Last year, the Woodward Dream Cruise board hoped to raise $400,000 for the event through sponsorships, fundraisers and merchandise sales but fell short of that goal.

Cities along Woodward, from Ferndale to Pontiac, could use more money. Last year, Royal Oak City Manager Robert Bruner told The News that the city expected to spend about $100,000 on the event. Smaller cities along the route may spend less but have even less money to tap.

Last year, Pleasant Ridge pulled out of supporting the Cruise with police and other city workers because of budget cuts. The city had estimated it would need $25,000 to pay for its role.

In the past, when automakers were flush with cash, signing up sponsors for the Cruise was easy.

But when tough times overtook the auto industry, carmakers and suppliers folded up their tents — and their wallets.

Detroit's Big Three maintained displays in recent years. Last year, Ford Motor Co. set up a big display in Ferndale. Chrysler Group LLC took over the parking lot at 13 Mile, and GM set up at Old Woodward in Birmingham.

Taking the title role as top sponsor for a Cruise that features a slew of GM muscle cars and beautiful Chevy Camaros only makes sense.

GM sales have been rising — demand for Chevrolet models is up 21.6 percent through May — and last year the automaker made $4.7 billion.

And this year marks Chevrolet's 100th birthday. So why not splurge a little? It helps the Cruise, which seems to get bigger every year. It seems like good marketing, and it gives back to Metro Detroit.

"We're doing a lot to celebrate our centennial," GM's Wilkinson said, still declining comment about today's expected announcement. "This press conference is just good news."

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Tweet

GM China Visits Phillips Chevrolet

(Left to Right: Ben Zhang- BOD Member; Jim Nagy- Ally Director of Sales; Mark Smith- Ally Senior Account Executive; Michael Kanarios- VP & CFO Ally International Dealer Finance; Rick Livingood- General Manager-GMAC-SAIC China; Michael Maheras- General Manager-Phillips Chevrolet; Liu Rong- Board Chairman-GMAC-SAIC China; Zhu Xian-BOD Member; Shen Genwei-BOD Member; John Behnfeldt-BOD Member & VP & CFO of Shanghai General Motors; Julia Yue- Board Supervisor)

GM China visited Phillips Chevrolet last Wednesday, May 25, 2011. Michael Maheras, Phillips Chevy's General Manager, gave GM China a sneak peak of Phillips Chevrolet's daily operations, and walked them through the dealership telling of the future expansion.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!