Confirmed: FWD Impala around through 2012

It has been rumored for the last few months that Chevrolet would be soldiering on with a front-wheel-drive Impala for at least the next few years. The recent contract agreement between the Canadian Auto Workers union and General Motors appears to cement this rumor as fact. According to the signed pact, GM promised to keep the Oshawa Assembly plant, where the current-generation Impala is made, open until 2012 -- two years longer than first planned. The Impala is a pretty good seller for the General, so we're not too surprised that upper-level management would want to leave it alone, but that doesn't stop us from wanting to see Chevy's bread-and-butter full-size sedan return to its roots by going rear-wheel-drive.

One thing is for certain: by the year 2012, the W-Body platform of the current Impala will be absolutely ancient. On the other hand, we've had nothing but good things to say about the new Zeta platform which underpins such enthusiast-friendly vehicles as the new Pontiac G8. Therefore, we can at least hold out some hope that GM will find a way to offer as many vehicles as possible using the new chassis architecture, whether they are named Impala or not. Anybody want to see a new Nova?