The Auto Writer

I like to get a feel for what is happening behind the scenes of a car company and Dave Lyon, Executive Director of International Design for North America, was more than willing to share with me what is going on with GM, particularly overseas. Before my interview with Dave, I learned that he had a hand in the design of the Chevrolet Malibu, a car that had won the North American Car of the Year Award just a few hours earlier. I shot this photo of Dave standing by this year’s winning entry.

Q. What are some of the projects you have worked on for GM?
A. I was involved with GM’s Korean subsidiary (GM Daewoo) in designing several concepts including the Beat, Groove, and the Traxx which are on display at this year’s show. Most recently I developed the Buick Riveria concept for the Chinese market.

Q. The smaller vehicles, if brought into production, will they replace existing GM products?
A. The concepts have been designed for Chevrolet and will not replace the Aveo, the current entry level car for the brand.

Q. What about the Aveo — will a new model be produced?
A. Yes, and I designed that car too. We’ll have a whole family of Aveos to sell including 2,4 and 5-door models.

Q. It sounds like GM is taking a page out of the Scion playbook in the direction they are going — is that what you had in mind when designing these cars?
A. Yes. Scion has succeeded for Toyota and I have nothing but praise for how well these cars have done with attracting younger buyers. We hope to do the same with cars that are affordable, fun and what people want.

Dave willingly shared some off-the-record comments which was refreshing as some automotive executives just won’t step outside of a narrowly defined box. I’ll be sharing some pictures of the Fab 3 — the Beat, Groove, and Traxx — in an upcoming post. In the meantime, I’m heading off to bed because its nearly 2 a.m.!