US will not get a next-gen Pontiac G8

[3.0L V6]

If GM does a chapter 11, it can reorganize cheaply. Voiding contracts without penalty and the like. Otherwise, they're pretty much pinned in a corner right now regarding brands/contacts, etc.

Maybe that's why they want to buy Chrysler. Buy Chrysler, go chap. 11, shed 60-70% of the whole mess and come out a new company.

[Vinsanity]

Maybe that's why they want to buy Chrysler. Buy Chrysler, go chap. 11, shed 60-70% of the whole mess and come out a new company.

I like your thinking. Very Gordon Gekko-ish

[Eye of the Tiger]

I've floored a Civic and it still didn't upshift.

You have to let off the gas, depress the clutch, and move the shift lever to the next highest numerical gear.

[the Teuton]

I like your thinking. Very Gordon Gekko-ish

But in doing that in an alliance with an ailing Ford, it could help to wipe out the UAW altogether.  It's a really smart idea.

[Cookie Monster]

I've floored a Civic and it still didn't upshift.

I've floored the Accord trying to get to highway speeds and it wouldn't downshift for a few seconds, then dropped too many gears and redlined instead.

[Raza]

Add Buick and GMC to that statement.  And GM needs to sell off HUMMER and Saab.

GMC could easily be absorbed into other brands, but Buick could stick around.

At this point, who would buy Hummer? 

[280Z Turbo]

How are you supposed to make more money with fewer brands?

You need to sell cars to make money.

[2o6]

GMC could easily be absorbed into other brands, but Buick could stick around.

At this point, who would buy Hummer? 

GMC holds down a lot of GM's truck/fleet sales. GMC is way too profitable to destroy. Buick is too old, and has too strong of clientele to be killed off. You'd be surprised at the amount of old people who think the CTS is too sporty, and they don't want a Lexus. Buick is supposed to provide boring luxury.

[Raza]

GMC holds down a lot of GM's truck/fleet sales. GMC is way too profitable to destroy. Buick is too old, and has too strong of clientele to be killed off. You'd be surprised at the amount of old people who think the CTS is too sporty, and they don't want a Lexus. Buick is supposed to provide boring luxury.

I'm saying that GMC models could easily be dispersed into other brands. 

[68_427]

There are also alot people who will ONLY buy GMC trucks and suv's, even though they are the same as their Chevy counterparts.  GMC needs to stick around as it's own brand.

[Raza]

There are also alot people who will ONLY buy GMC trucks and suv's, even though they are the same as their Chevy counterparts.  GMC needs to stick around as it's own brand.

Those people are weird.

[565]

I've been bored recently and been watching Top Gear australia while real Top Gear and Fifth Gear are off.

Apparently the next Commodore may be FWD.  Supposedly the Toyota Camry (this thing is everywhere) and the Commodore are locked in a sales battle, and in the recent crisis, the FWD economical Toyota has surged ahead.  The Australian priority in cars are changing with the times (as with everywhere else) and Holden has to adapt.  As the G8 is only a tiny slice of Commodore production, and GM has to consider the mainstream market first.  Basically if the next Commodore is FWD, there is no point in importing it as GM has plently of midsize FWD sedans already.

As for the Solstice and Sky, it's really not that surprising. The Miata has that market locked down pretty tight, and even Toyota didn't manage to crack it with a direct competitor.  Most automakers have made more upscale roadsters to try to skim away the top market (Z4, S2000, few ever try to go after the Miata with a direct assault.

[Raza]

I've been bored recently and been watching Top Gear australia while real Top Gear and Fifth Gear are off.

Apparently the next Commodore may be FWD.  Supposedly the Toyota Camry (this thing is everywhere) and the Commodore are locked in a sales battle, and in the recent crisis, the FWD economical Toyota has surged ahead.  The Australian priority in cars are changing with the times (as with everywhere else) and Holden has to adapt.  As the G8 is only a tiny slice of Commodore production, and GM has to consider the mainstream market first.  Basically if the next Commodore is FWD, there is no point in importing it as GM has plently of midsize FWD sedans already.

As for the Solstice and Sky, it's really not that surprising. The Miata has that market locked down pretty tight, and even Toyota didn't manage to crack it with a direct competitor.  Most automakers have made more upscale roadsters to try to skim away the top market (Z4, S2000, few ever try to go after the Miata with a direct assault.

Why!!!!!???????

And as far as the MR-2, I'm almost entirely certain it was a better car than the NB.  It's better than the NC, I know that for sure.  But it was mid-engined (a turn-off for many that remember snap oversteer), ugly (a turn-off for people with eyes), entirely impractical (a turn-off for anyone who wants to do even light travelling in their sports car), and wasn't available with an automatic until near the end of its run (the SMT; a turn off for many who would buy an MX-5 because it's cute, but not an MR-2). 

It brought a scalpel when it needed a hatchet.  Boy, has Toyota learned from that.  When excellence is punished and mediocrity rewarded, what are we to do?

[2o6]

Those people are weird.

That's why GMC is never listed in the chopping block. Pretty much everything is pure profit.

[280Z Turbo]

Those people are weird.

People may prefer the styling of the GMC. If you have 2 styling choices, isn't that a good thing?

What's the big deal with having 16 divisions anyway? How much could it cost to make a different grille for the GMC anyway?

[Raza]

People may prefer the styling of the GMC. If you have 2 styling choices, isn't that a good thing?

What's the big deal with having 16 divisions anyway? How much could it cost to make a different grille for the GMC anyway?

64.2 billion dollars.

[the Teuton]

For a grille, it could cost in the tens of millions of dollars.  Really.

But that's like maybe $10 or $20 per grille.

[USA_Idol]

GMC could easily be absorbed into other brands, but Buick could stick around.

At this point, who would buy Hummer? 

The handful (relatively speaking) of vehicles Buick sells every year isn't enough to justify the continued existence of that brand.  Then again, maybe Buick can be saved.  Who knows?   

If they can't rid themselves of it...GM could always shut the retail side of HUMMER down, adjust the H1's production volume and sell it only to the military. 

[2o6]

The handful (relatively speaking) of vehicles Buick sells every year isn't enough to justify the continued existence of that brand.  Then again, maybe Buick can be saved.  Who knows?   

If they can't rid themselves of it...GM could always shut the retail side of HUMMER down, adjust the H1's production volume and sell it only to the military. 

One:

Buick sells well here, and sells excellently in China. China has a fascination with Buick, and many dollars come from it.

Two:

Hummer no longer sells the H1.

[FordSVT]

Mark my words, if the Camaro doesn't meet sales 100% of their sales goal, it will go this way as well. GM doesn't have the money to afford patience, especially when it comes to uneconomical vehicle platforms.

[USA_Idol]

One:

Buick sells well here, and sells excellently in China. China has a fascination with Buick, and many dollars come from it.

Two:

Hummer no longer sells the H1.

One:
Where is "here?"  If you're referring to the US market, post a link that shows the sales volume of Buick and how "well" it is doing in the US market.  Last time I checked---which was, admittedly, awhile ago---Buick wasn't doing so hot in the US market.  I haven't seen any significant turnaround at Buick yet, so I'm curious to see what their current status is.  And if the Chinese division of Buick can help float the American division...more power to GM.  (Of course, that assumes the Chinese version continues to do well...)

Two:
I was thinking "the big SUV" from HUMMER and forgot the H2 now fills that role.  How will I ever adequately apologize for my glaring mistake?  You should just take me outside now and flay me publicly. 

[Raza]

Mark my words, if the Camaro doesn't meet sales 100% of their sales goal, it will go this way as well. GM doesn't have the money to afford patience, especially when it comes to uneconomical vehicle platforms.

That's the wrong thinking.  It probably costs them more to kill a vehicle and start from scratch then to just keep producing.  The major money is in development, and the payback period is probably quite long.  And if you're talking about a vehicle from scratch instead of just a front clip and a boat ride, they'd be wasting billions of dollars on development and lost future sales. 

What we need to do is cut the weight of cars!  I'm so tired of people complaining about gas mileage and then wanting power everything and seating for 25 when all they do is drive alone.

We know how to make cars better and more fuel efficient.  The government just won't let us.   

[GoCougs]

GM brand management is a disaster, but it ain't because management doesn't get it. In no uncertain terms should Chevy and GMC exist side by side. The practical aspect however that allows this paradox is decades worth of inertia in contracts; suppliers, unions and dealers, primarily.

As to all the rest of it is mostly junk. GM should only exist as Chevy and Cadillac - 20 years or so late to the Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti strategy, but better late than never.

Selling lots of similar vehicles does little good if you're losing billions $$$ quarter after quarter. Focus. Focus. Focus. Buck up and realize that the days of being both the world's largest and actually profitable are gone forever.

[Vinsanity]

I had a thought; one thing that could have helped Pontiac, at least as far as the "sporty" image is concerned would be to have made the Cobalt SS the G5 GXP instead. The Cobalt SS is exactly what Pontiac needed, but instead they got stuck with just the boring old regular Cobalt. They also needed it to be exclusive to the brand. No use wasting the potential cachet the car may have by ruining it with badge engineering.

[FordSVT]

That's the wrong thinking.  It probably costs them more to kill a vehicle and start from scratch then to just keep producing.  The major money is in development, and the payback period is probably quite long.  And if you're talking about a vehicle from scratch instead of just a front clip and a boat ride, they'd be wasting billions of dollars on development and lost future sales. 

What we need to do is cut the weight of cars!  I'm so tired of people complaining about gas mileage and then wanting power everything and seating for 25 when all they do is drive alone.

We know how to make cars better and more fuel efficient.  The government just won't let us.  

It probably is the wrong thinking, but this is GM we're talking about here.

You're talking about two different things. One, people driving vehicles that are too large for what they need, is definitely an issue that is mostly about vanity. I think people in Europe and to a lesser extent my own country are much more practical when it comes to car than people in the US. Fuel prices will correct this over time, until we stop using internal combustion engines anyway.

The second, making the cars themselves lighter, is a matter of engineering and cost. Most of the additional weight in a modern car versus a car of similar dimensions is not from power equipment like seats and windows and AC, that stuff has been around for decades and not much of an excuse. It's due to chassis reinforcements and safety structures. A nav system isn't adding hundreds of pounds to a vehicle. So you can either build them less safe and less stiff (note the jiggly cars of yesterday and how much we complain today if a car's structure isn't sufficiently stiff) or we build them out of lighter materials or more advanced manufacturing processes. Both cost money and are evolutionary, not revolutionary. So now we're back to a money proposition: do you want to save a few bucks in gas offset by spending more on the car?

Don't despair; automotive companies are working in this direction. It just takes time to make these processes and materials commercially viable. The new Mazda 3 is supposed to be significantly lighter than the current model.