Geo (make of car)
Geo is a former US - American automotive brand from the period from 1988 to 1998. In the house of General Motors Corporation Geo was the Chevrolet subordinated Division until 1991 the US market reserved.
history
The Geo brand, launched in 1988, exclusively sold small cars and lower middle-class vehicles through the North American Chevrolet dealers, from model year 1989 in the USA and from 1992 also in Canada. The brand existed until 1997, after which the models were marketed as Chevrolet. In Canada, GM operated the Asüna brand as a Geo counterpart for the Pontiac , Buick and GMC dealers there from 1993 to 1995 .
The Geo models were mostly manufactured in joint ventures between GM and Japanese manufacturers. The Prizm was manufactured at the NUMMI plant in California, jointly operated by GM and Toyota, and Metro and Tracker at the GM / Suzuki plant in Canada. However, Spectrum and Storm were built by Isuzu in Japan.
Joint venture overview
model | partner | Paver | Place of manufacture |
---|---|---|---|
Prizm | Toyota | NUMMI | Fremont (California) |
metro | Suzuki | CAMI Automotive | Ingersoll |
tracker | Suzuki | CAMI Automotive | Ingersoll |
Spectrum | Isuzu | ISUZU Motors | Tokyo |
Storm | Isuzu | ISUZU Motors | Fujisawa (Kanagawa) |
Models
Timeline
« Previous - timeline of Chevrolet and geo-car models in the United States 1980 to 2009 - next » | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Geo as its own brand for Japanese imports / JV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | |
Small car | sprint | Geo Metro | Geo Metro | metro | Aveo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Compact class | Chevette | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spectrum | Geo Spectrum | Geo Storm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
nova | Geo Prizm | Geo Prizm | Prizm | Cobalt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Citation | HHR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monza | Cavalier | Cavalier | Cavalier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Middle class | Malibu | Corsica / Beretta | Malibu | Malibu | Malibu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monte Carlo | Monte Carlo | Monte Carlo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Celebrity | Lumina | Lumina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full-size cars | Caprice | Caprice | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
impala | Impala SS | impala | impala | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sports car | Camaro | Camaro | Camaro | Camaro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corvette C3 | Corvette C4 | Corvette C5 | Corvette C6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Compact SUV | Geo tracker | tracker | tracker | Equinox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Geo Metro
As Geo Metro (1988 to 2001; from 1998 as Chevrolet Metro ) GM presented the first model of the new brand as the successor to the Chevrolet Sprint . The small car available with three and five doors was derived from Cultus (In Europe: Suzuki Swift) . In the USA the Metro was offered as a five-door "station wagon" and from 1991 to 1994 as a convertible with 1.0 and 1.3 liter engines.
In Canada there was also a notchback sedan imported from Japan. In 1994 the metro received a facelift.
A sister model sold only in Canada was the Pontiac Firefly .
The Geo Metro was not officially offered in Germany, but the Cabriolet was available as a gray import from the Auto-Fox company in Mainz .
Geo Prizm
As the successor to the 5th generation Chevrolet Nova (a variant of the Toyota Corolla E80 ) also built by NUMMI from 1985 to 1988 , Geo sold a sedan based on the Corolla E90 . The Geo Prizm (1988 to 2002; from 1998 as Chevrolet Prizm ) was offered as a four-door sedan and (until 1991) as a five-door station wagon. There was a choice of two engine variants, each with a displacement of 1.6 liters (103/132 hp and 76/97 kW).
A Prizm with a new body appeared in 1992. This time the Prizm was available with engines of 1.6 l displacement and 104 hp (76 kW) or 1.8 l displacement and 117 hp (86 kW).
Another model change took place in 1998. The new Chevrolet Prizm was again based on the Toyota Corolla and had a 128 PS (94 kW) Toyota engine with a displacement of 1.8 liters.
The internal GM designation of this Toyota development was GM S platform ; it was also used for the Pontiac Vibe and its sister models Toyota Voltz / Matrix .
Geo Spectrum
The Geo Spectrum (1984 to 1989; until 1988 as Chevrolet Spectrum ) was a small model of the lower middle class that was derived from the Isuzu Gemini . He had a 1.5 liter four-cylinder (71 HP / 52 kW). The Spectrum produced in Japan was also sold in Canada under the name Pontiac Sunburst .
Geo Storm
The Geo Storm (1989 to 1993), a small 2 + 2-seater coupe with front-wheel drive, was based on the last generation of Isuzu Piazza . A hatchback coupé and a shooting brake variant with a hatchback were offered . The top version of the model series was the GSi . In North America, only a 1.6-liter engine with 71 kW (96 PS) or the GSi 97 kW (132 PS) was available.
In 1992 the Storm underwent a minor facelift . The pop-up headlights previously used were no longer required . The GSi received a 1.8-liter DOHC four-cylinder with 142 hp (104 kW).
Geo tracker
The Geo Tracker (1989 to 2004; from 1998 Chevrolet Tracker and GMC Tracker ) was the brand's only off-road vehicle.
It was an offshoot of the Suzuki Vitara and enjoyed great popularity. It was offered as a closed version (five-door) and as a convertible (two-door). Both models were available exclusively with 1.6-liter four-cylinder units with 96 hp (70 kW) or 82 hp (60 kW).
CDN / USA / MEX model overview
- Geo Metro (1989–1994) = Chevrolet Sprint (1989–1991) = Pontiac Firefly (1989–1991; 1994) = Suzuki Swift (1989–1994)
- Geo Metro (1994–1998) = Chevrolet Metro (1998–2001) = Pontiac Firefly (1995–2001) = Suzuki Swift (1994–1997)
- Geo Prizm (1989-1998)
- Chevrolet Prizm (1998-2002)
- Geo Spectrum (1989) = Chevrolet Spectrum (1986–1989) = ISUZU I-Mark (1989–1992)
- Geo Storm (1989–1993) = Isuzu Piazza (1989–1994)
- Geo Tracker (1989–1998) = Chevrolet Vitara (MEX since 1989) = Suzuki Sidekick (1989–1999) = Asüna Sunrunner (CDN 1992–1995) = Pontiac Sunrunner (CDN 1995–2004) = Chevrolet Tracker (USA 1998–2004) = GMC Tracker (CDN 1998-2004)
- Chevrolet Grand Vitara (1998-2004)
Web links
literature
- David Vivian: Encyclopedia of American Cars , Crescent Books, Brompton Books Corporation, Greenwich CT (1994), ISBN 0-517-10329-X