With more than a decade on its back, the current Chevrolet Impala is well overdue for a replacement. Introduced in 1999, the eighth generation of the Chevy’s full-size sedan switched to a front-wheel drive layout with GM redesigning the large sedan in 2005.
According to the Automotive News Data Center, Chevy has sold more than 2.8 million units of current model since 1999, with 2007 proving to be the vehicle’s best year with a little over 311,000 deliveries. This year, through the end of November, GM has sold close to 161,000 Impalas.
But as we said, it’s time for the current Impala to give its place to a new model. Last week, GM confirmed plans for the development of the 10th generation Impala, which will be produced at both its Oshawa Assembly Plant in Canada and the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant.
While the Detroit-based carmaker did not release any further information on the new Impala, Autonews learned that the car will share its platform and mechanical hardware with the upcoming 2013 Cadillac XTS, with a scheduled release in North America for 2013 as a 2014 model year.
The platform used by the two cars has been developed from GM’s Epsilon architecture. Both the 2013 XTS and 2014 Impala will be available with front- and all-wheel-drive, which will be a first for the Chevrolet model.
The news site added that an inside source who had the opportunity to see an early clay model of the 2014 Impala at GM’s design studio claimed that it sported “some design cues similar to the previous generation Audi A6”.
The new Impala is also said to be more upscale than the current model, which is more popular with fleet customers, while also offering a better ride and handling.
Story References: Autonews
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