Due to slower-than-expected sales and the expense of recertifying the vehicle for 2007 emissions and safety standards, GM has told dealers that this year will be the last for the Pontiac GTO, with the last vehicles hitting US shores in September. Having sold 13,500 units in '04 and 11,600 last year, the GTO never quite lived up to expectations.
Huh? This is one GM product I would have bought, had it just been a little more affordable. IMHO it should have been the basis for all their mid-size passenger cars in the US as opposed to whatever FWD POS chassis they're using for the Malibu/Impala.
And BTW it's Australian not Japanese. That's a Good Thing; Australians, both Ford and GM (Holden,) make better traditional American cars than any American company has in their current product lineup.
Just checked the LS1.Com. Yes, Pontiac is pulling the GTO. New Fed. regulations make it too costly to retool. In light of the fact Holden is changing platforms there is no business case to retool.
Per the GM news release, there is a need for a RWD V-8 from Pontiac. But, nothing what could be coming in 08. Maybe an LS Soltise?
I can't believe you fell for that news release. The reason they're not building a 2007 is they don't sell very well. The exchange rate is disadvantageous, and the cars cost more than folks will pay. The comments on the cost to make another model were just a polite way of getting out of it.
Pontiac is apparently going to get some kind of rear drive car in 2008, but they seem to be struggling with just what that is. Rumors are flying now. Canceling the GTO seems to suggest they don't need continuity to a future
2008 GTO. You'd think that means the Camaro will have a sister car, and it may not be a GTO. but that's no guarantee. I suppose that they've figured out that as bad as Firebird sales were, the new GTO makes that look like a best seller.
I predicted a 2 year run before it was cancelled back in this newsgroup back in 2003...I agree that you most definitley have to give the consumer what they want..Ford gets it, Chrysler gets it...The new Challenger will fly out of the showrooms...Mustangs are selling faster than they could build them...But GM STILL won't go retro..Use a retro name, you better have a car with retro styling or it won't work...Oddly enough, I'm willing to bet that the GTO would have sold MUCH better had they called it something other than GTO and would probably never have gotten cancelled.....They're doing it again with the Camaro..The original design looked much like the 69' Camaro..It was beautiful!!!...GM then stated that the car "looks too much like the original" and butchered it to what we see in the auto shows today....They must be smoking some strange shit over there at GM....I'm convinced that GM will be selling nothing but trucks in 10 years...They've gone brain dead, completely unaware of what their target market wants...Sometimes I wonder if they even have a target market!!!!.....If they don't do something soon, GM is doomed....
The new Goat wasn't put into the same market as the original -- hot-rod sedan -- they tried to make it an American-style grand touring coupe. The car might have made it if the price was better and the body didn't look so much like a Cavalier coupe. First impressions aren't just important in this market, they're VITAL !!
I suspect the Camaro will do alright if its priced right in the low to high $20s depending on options. Just like in the first Camaros people were getting value for there dollar. Basically they were buying race cars from the dealer that many 18 and 19 year olds could afford just by working a job at a gas station and living at home. The GTO was the same way but a little more expensive than the camaro. But the new GTO was too over priced for a car that didnt even have a street appealing look. The old GTO/Tempest/LeManns you could tell what it was a block away just buy the admirable body style. So if GM make the Camaro very affordable so young and old can afford it should do well.
Agreed.....Would have sold every one of them if they marketed it as a Cavalier on steroids rather than call it a GTO..When you bring a car back to life, It doesn't matter if it's GTO, Road Runner, 442....There will be expectations from the buying public as to what this car should look like...They will, just by the name, have visions of the originals in their head when they finally see the new model..then they're shocked!! First impressions are indeed vital...GM execs can't see what sells today??? How can this be?? Its mind boggling..Never thought they would be this clueless....
If GM was smart they'd dump all the Chevy/Pontiac cars, retool the entire Holden line for left-hand drive and give them to Chevy/Pontiac to sell. Would be one hell of an improvement.
Go take a look at the Holden cars on their web site and you'll see what I mean (I'd KILL for a UTE or a Commodore {which would be a nice way to bring back the Impala SS).
Regards,
Bill Bowen Sacramento, CA
P.S. and Yes, my UTE would have to have "roo bars"
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