Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinjlm
They are NOT the same. Epsilon started as a GM Europe (Opel / Vauxhall) platform. Epsilon II was the US adaptation of that platform that produced the Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac G6, and Saturn (I forget the nameplate). The program codes for those initial Epsilon products followed a different “decoder ring” and I think the brain cell that stored that information died at a party long long ago. The programs on the upgrade to that platform were the first to get the E1XX designations.
The easiest way I can put this is in the framework of a sports league:
A platform is like a Conference. So let’s call Epsilon AFC.
Sometimes there are variations on a platform, like Divisions in a Conference like AFC East, AFC South, AFC West, and AFC North. So, let’s call E1 AFC East and let’s call P1 AFC South.
A program is like a franchise, so within the AFC East (E1) you have the Buffalo Bills (E1SC - Malibu), New England Patriots (Regal -E1SB), et cetera. And in AFC South you have the Houston Texans (Cadillac XTS - P1LL), Indy Colts (Lacrosse - E1LB), Jax Jaguars (Impala - E1LC or P1LC), et cetera.
The platform refresh would then be E2 with the same body style and brand descriptors. So current Malibu is E2SC, Regal was E2SB, et cetera.
Product Planning, where I spent the last 20 years of my career at GM, owns the development of and the assignment of program codes. Why XTS is P1LL and Lacrosse is E1LB, built in the same plant on the same platform was probably an arbitrary choice and/or an attempt to make Cadillac feel special (P = Premium?). I can only guess.
All I can say is GMA does their best to consolidate a lot of information into something meaningful and useful for non-insiders. There is a lot in the link that is supposition. For example, I’ve never heard anyone inside GM refer to a “Super Epsilon”.
Impala is also a bit more complicated in that when the last version of Impala was rolled out in 2014, the previous version remained in market as “Impala Limited” and was sold primarily to rental car fleets. That version of Impala was always a popular car in rental car fleets, so shifting the nameplate to Impala Limited allowed GM to continue to draw revenue from selling to rental car fleets while also keeping the new Impala out of the rental car fleets (high volume rental reduces residual rates that are used to calculate lease terms). Same thing was done with Malibu a couple times with overlapping product cycles. Remember Malibu Classic?
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Thanks. Those are a lot of codes to remember, however I think I can remember the eras of certain cars. The epsilon chassis debuted in the US at around '04 with the ugly duckling Malibu (I may be wrong, I remember the rear suspension difference). GM took a hard look at the malibu's design and really put their foot into the re-design for '07. The 7th gen Malibu remains as one of the most significant generations of Malibu, as its good looks made everyone take notice. The 8th generation, to some people's surprise, was significant as it was a major improvement in technology and fit and finish. It took a bad rap for its rear seat legroom, as during this period there was still healthy competition in the midsized sedan market.
Impala ended up being worn down IMO by GM. For one, the Impala line started with an uninspired design (similar to '04 Malibu). The re-design for '06 provided a bit of a bright spot, with the Impala SS. Unfortunately it seemed that by '11 that design was going stale as well. Chevy continued to use the design as rental and fleet units, and while it made profit for the company IMO it continued to promote the impala as an out of date or out of touch automobile. The re-design for '14 was fresh and ambitious, but by then a lot of the damage to the name plate was done by the previous generations. Add to it, the large car segment receded and there may have been at best one or two players left in the genre. Crossovers were emerging in the market and pushed out many of the sedan and coupes left on the market.
Alas; Whether it was good or bad, to my eyes the car market has suffered and has become an uneventful arena. The car market is now an arena where it almost doesn't matter which car you buy new, as most people will keep them a few years and or until the warranty runs out, and then move on to another model. I do not see the allegiance to a brand as I once did, and the designs IMO are uninspiring and generic.