Delaying the Cruze really hurts, as this tweener could have brought 200-250k sales annually
DrFill

The Mayan calendar predicts that the world will end in 2011, so GM should release these sonner if they want to sell a few.

Delaying new models is not the way to increase sales.

I don’t see the 9-5 or 9-4x making much of a difference, noone buys saabs anyways… but delaying Cruze and CTS will only hurt GM more.

GM can’t seem to get out of its own way to stop from running themselves over. It’s hard to imagine what other catastrophy needs to occur, to get them to start making smart decisions and save this company. There’s too much at stake to let it go sneakers-up.

CTS coupe is a pointless car…SAAB…well…I don’t know they still sell cars….Cruze is ugly…but the low selling price will save it.

elviososa, if I had to pick one CTS to cancel- either the coupe or the wagon- I’d almost be leaning the other way. There is absolutely no evidence that the love for wagons has dramatically increased. Coupes, on the other hand, are on the rise and Cadillac (discounting the XLR) hasn’t had a proper two door coupe since the Eldorado. Now it may be a case that they’re just that much further along with the wagon than the coupe, but if their is still a choice to be made I think I’d rather have the latter.

Uh, no. I’ve been hunting around the web trying to find confirmation, but there is nothing official out there about ANY of those programs being delayed (although there had been rumors of a Cruze delay earlier). None of the other automotive news outlets are reporting this, so I’d love to see the alleged press release that confirms this.

Reports of people here with their head buried firmly up their toilets have been confirmed!
The latest tonight at 5!
DrFill

SAABs are great cars!

@pavlindrom, i think you’re joking but, just in case. Okay, we all feel bad about GM and want them to get beyond these tough times but, let’s not have our emotions drive us to say crazy things.

I’m not sure why LLN keeps reporting that the cruze has been delayed. It was NEVER going to come out in 09. Reference this report from July when the car was first announced:

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat/archives/2008/07/chevy_cruze_is.html

GM is actually making money on the Cobalt, so delaying the Cruze isn’t the worst idea in the world if they’re on a crash cash diet.

The CTS coupe won’t be a high-volume product, so delaying its launch costs can happen without too much of a problem.

Saabs are selling pretty poorly right now. Especially the current hoary 9-5. But for most of their history, they’ve gotten along just fine with only 2 models. So once the 9-7x dies, they’ll be back to a pretty standard lineup. The only times Saab’s US line were more than 2 models were 1967-73 and 2005-09. But since the 9-4x and new 9-5 are replacing very, very low-volume models, it makes some sense that they’ll be delaying these, too.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And if GM can burn through less cash now, we’ll actually get to see these cars.

WTF, its hard to support gm when by the time they come out these will all be old looking. DAMN IT

Delaying models make perfect sense. No one has credit to buy new. You could launch the perfect car right now, but there is nobody to buy it.

It has been a year of loads of new vehicles, people still can compare these with cheaper 5 months old vehicles instead of buying these that doesn’t look so much newer, If you know what I mean.

The paragraph from the relevant release is as follows:

“Although the timing of several vehicle programs will be revised, key product and technology programs remain on track. GM has a robust pipeline of competitive new vehicles over the next two years. In GM’s largest markets, U.S., China and Europe, 22 new vehicles will be launched in 2009, and 19 in 2010. In the U.S. alone, GM will launch 15 new vehicles through year-end 2010, 14 of which will be fuel-efficient cars or crossovers, including the Cadillac CTS wagon and SRX crossover, Chevrolet Camaro Coupe and Equinox crossover in 2009, and Saab 9-4x crossover, Chevrolet Cruze small car in 2010. Spending levels for the extended range electric Chevrolet Volt and other fuel-economy improvement initiatives to meet increasingly aggressive global fuel economy standards have been increased.”

None of the listed programs have been delayed, and there is no mention of the CTS coupe or 9-5 anywhere in the release. GM mentions the listed vehicles specifically to counter such reports. As Rob says, the Cruze was always going to be a 2011 MY car in the USA. Delays to development projects will have no effect on the Cruze because it is a finished program. Sales of the Daewoo Lacetti-badged versions have already begun, exports of Chevrolet-badged models begin early next year, and Russian production follows later in 2009.

The 9-4X doesn’t really matter, that segment is niche-ish.

The CTS Coupe is a huge blow, I was really looking forward to that, it’s the easiest way to expand Caddy’s lineup and its highest selling vehicle.

The 9-5 can’t be redesigned soon enough, this delay is bad for Saab, as the 9-3 is only okay, and the 9-5 is totally outperformed and outdesigned in every category.

The Cruze might save Chevy, but pushing it back isn’t going to help much. Really doesn’t make sense since the Daewoo version is being released in Korea as we speak.

I like the CTS coupe, I just wish the rear wasn’t so stuck up like a horny cat.

GM doesn’t need that many car division. Cadillac to compete with Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Infiniti, BMW. Chevrolet to compete with Toyota, Honda, Hyundai. The other car division should be as follows:

Buick to be made exclusively in China

Ponitac, Saturn, Hummer, Saab to join Oldsmobile in extinct list.

Hopefully, with two car division they should be competitive as anybody else.

Saturn is a good idea, that GM has mismanaged
Saturn could’ve been Scion.
A place for fresh ideas, for Americans who DON”T want a knock-off from another division.
Saturn can still be out of this world, if someone would show some leadership
DrFill

The CTS wagon is a waste of time and money, except for the European market, and they hate American cars anyway. How many CTS wagons are they going to sell a year? maybe 3,000? Cadillac would sell far more CTS Coupes than wagons. They should delay or kill the wagon, not the coupe.