One trillion dollars; that is what's driving GM's North American President Mark Reuss. It's the spending power of America's 80 million consumers approaching 30, and this Code 130R is one of a pair of concepts Chevrolet hopes will tap into that mighty buying power.
More than a mere licked finger in the air guess at what consumers want, the Code 130R is said to be based on feedback from young people across the USA. If that's the case then it's apparent they want a pseudo BMW 1 Series Coupé with some Chevy DNA. It's not startling to look at (Chevrolet struggling to come up with anything more descriptive than 'a four-seat coupé with a simple upright profile'), but rear-wheel drive and a 150hp turbocharged 1.4-litre engine do deliver some promise.
That turbocharged engine will be blown as much for economy as it is performance; Chevrolet claims it has been tuned to work with 'eAssist' technology. GM suggests nearly 50mpg (5.6 litres/100km). Stop-start, regenerative energy scavenging and electrical torque smoothing assistance all feature in the Code 130R new, as does wifi connectivity via your smartphone and a head-up display.
Whether it proves to be a devilish, hooked pinkie, customer winning master plan remains to be seen, but with a possible production price range in the region of $20,000 (€15,750) it might well be.