“I hope they don’t give up on performance because they don’t have to. You can use four-cylinder engines to achieve incredible power.”
Ol’ Lynn’s idea of “incredible power” sure is different from mine.

This news might explain the great fraud about to befall us.

Knight Rider sunday nite! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,Boooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

There’s only one Burt reynolds …. for good or ill.

lga life: someone FINALLY figured out when the “mullet” reference is appropriate!

B-P-G dealers DO have a halo car of sorts. The Buick Enclave

mazdaman: Once again talkin’ sense.
“I’m starting to believe that GM is using the upcoming CAFE regulations as a smokescreen to hide the fact that they might not have a clear, cohesive product strategy for Pontiac.”

That could well be the case.
I agree with your Pontiac lineup, but would dump the G5

(I also hate the G-numeric model designations).

DrFill: “Does GM need 4 Lambda SUVs?” No. Two would have been enough.

441Zuke: “At least they won’t make another Sunbird.’” Hear, hear!

rsg if GM made the dealers Buick/ GMC/ Saturn, three lambdas would be under one roof!

johnnycanuck: I thought Double-double was pulling a DP, and changing places.

Personally, I hate the whole retro trend right now. What are we saying when the most popular design is from 1969? What do we do in a few years, buid a ’73?

next……….

You would think that a company with such a huge ad spend to prove to the world how green they are would be trying to actually design a product line that goes even further than the CAFE regs, rather than constantly blaming every future GM problem on it.

…next?

Folks, It will be OK in 2020. this country survived Arab embargo in ’73 and Jimmy Carter oil lunacy between ’77 and ’80. We will prevail and cars will be better and more fuel efficient.

Can’t the “Great Minds” at GM, Ford and Chrysler use alternative power plants in these revered namesakes. If the future points to fuel efficient cars, why can’t you capitalize on the marketing promise these nameplates offer and let the public not only have the style these cars offer, but the fuel effieciency too.

Imagine a Challenger with a Bluetec diesel, or a Camaro with flex fuel capability. As the technology moves forward, I am most sure that, so too will performance increase and still give you the benefits of a car with style, fuel efficiency and “muscle” performance.

We as customers must also adjust to the changing climate occuring in the industry and give these new ideas a fair shake. To me, it seems like these big board room meetings overreact to the changes and yet again, miss the potential opportunities that lie in front of them…and that is a shame!

And as a side note, $200 million was the projected cost it would take to accomplish a successful “Trans Am Model Launch” Not doing it because of this absurd estimate sounds like a quick excuse to shoot down a program someone did not want anyway.Given that the research and development of the camaro have been nearly completed, honestly how much more would it have cost, to “badge engineer” (something Detroit knows how to do very well!) a trans am counterpart? Closed minded thinking will lead to the extinction of the brand(s)! Someone needs to take some chances. Give the public what they want; Style, Quality and Value and they will come! Words to live by!

Just my .02 Cents.

I KNOW! I thought I was the only one who saw how badass the transam pic looked Frankly, I didn’t think that bringing down the tip of the nose would have such a drastic effect on the design.

GM has invested more in other badge-engineering jobs that aren’t as potentially productive.

Does GM need 4 Lambda SUVs?

Pontia should be able to make another 50% of sales vs the Camaro, and that should make a profit, plus proliferating a Sure Bet like the Camaro isn’t a bad idea.

Doing it 4 times (Lambda SUVs)…..not so much.

DrFill

Why not? It’s been done before. Remember the 25th Anniversary Trans Am? It had the 3.8L turbo V-6 from the Buick Grand National. And it was fast.

Pontiac doesn’t need a large, mainstream lineup to define its brand image. I can see them existing with the following lineup:
1) Solstice roadster.
2) Compact sedan and maybe 5 door hatchback (G6).
3) Compact coupe and convertible (G5).
4) Midsize sedan and maybe wagon (G8).
5) Midsize coupe and convertible (G7 or GTO).
(I personally hate the G-numeric model designations, but it seems as though Pontiac is adamant about utiilizing them).
That’s it. No trucklets, crossovers, SUVs, or minivans. Just cars. Design them on the proper rear wheel drive platforms. Give them turbocharged, supercharged, or hybrid engines if you need to in order to give them some extra boost. Just quit giving us excuses why this can’t be done.

I think Pontiac could be cast as Cadillac’s affordable, rear wheel drive little brother. I think Pontiac’s products should receive sleek, modern, sporty designs that carry some traditional Pontiac styling cues without being retro. This would give Pontiac a relevant position in GM’s brand hierarchy and the auto market in general.

Comment by EclipsedStar53, posted on February12 at 1:36 pm”

WHAT?! You want Aussie designers in Pontiac studios but then you don’t want them designing a car for a gto/ta replacement.