Chevrolet To Market Two Impala Designs Throughout 2013

It's an unusual situation, but it's not without precedent: when the 2014 Chevrolet Impala goes on sale next year, the previous-generation edition will continue on alongside it.  The catch is, the old-platform Impala will only be available to fleet buyers.

The rationale for this type of move is not always easy to understand.  Typically, keeping an old model on is done because it is cheap to produce, or there is extra inventory lying around that needs to be liquidated to make room for the new car.  The trouble is, when potential customers head on over to a rental agency and drive off in a 'new' Chevrolet Impala for a weekend, they are likely to return the vehicle with a false impression of the current state of the art for the brand.  This can lead to negative comments made to others interested in the full-size sedan whenever discussion of the car comes up.

The matter is compounded by the fact that the 2014 Chevrolet Impala is a significant improvement on the previous model, and one that the brand hopes will allow it to pursue a more upscale large car customer.  Styling and content are dramatically different when compared to the outgoing edition of the Impala, and it comes with a healthy dose of new technologies such as Chevrolet MyLink.

Unfortunately, at General Motors as at many large companies, old habits die hard.  The 2013 Chevrolet Impala was a cash cow for the domestic automaker, with about three-quarters of all vehicles produced sold into fleet service.  Chevrolet claims that it wants to reverse this practice and see only a quarter of all Impalas end up pulling taxi or rental car duty, but that particular sea change will be difficult to bring about with a pair of sedans sharing the same nameplate, yet targeted at different markets.