click above for more images of the Chevy Beat Concept
Business Week reporter David Welch revealed a few days ago that General Motors may be developing a premium small car that targets the same type of customers who might consider a MINI. Dubbed the "micro-premium car", it would be positioned against the aforementioned MINI in the marketplace, as well as the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series. Under what brand it would be sold wasn't mentioned, and honestly we don't have the foggiest idea what brand besides Cadillac could match up against those heavyweights. At the same time, we have a difficult time imagining Cadillac following the same path downmarket that it did with the ill-fated
Cimarron.
GM's Korean Daewoo subsidiary has a number of small platforms that could be used for such a car, but do any offer the dynamics required for a premium small car? Rear-wheel-drive is practically a must for such a car, so then we're looking at the Kappa platform that underpins the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky as a candidate. At the moment, it's the smallest RWD platform in GM's stable.
