Re: GM dumps GTO

Sad to see the GTO depart, especially since Mustang & Charger sales are doing so well. I guess you got to give then consumer what they want.

Makes one wonder if the new " Camaro " be another 3 year wonder.

G'day mate!

Harryface

05 Park Avenue 34,255 91 Bonneville LE 306,010
Reply to
Harry Face
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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?

Here is the link to the press release:

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Reply to
brxsep

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.

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Reply to
Joe

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....

Jeff Foglietta

Harry Face wrote:

Reply to
Jeff

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.

Reply to
Drum maker for Justice

I suspect you are right.

Reply to
Shoe Shine Boy

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"

Reply to
William H. Bowen

I agree with you that the new "GTO" would have sold better as a mildly exotic Holden. Get Paul Hogan to do some commercials and sales would have been healthy. They also needed to do something about trunk space loss to the gas tank relocation.

I drove one the first year it came out (6-sp) and it was an excellent sports coupe...even with only 350 hp. With the 2nd year 400hp -- Holy Cow! Go visit the English Top Gear web site and see what a blast they had with the Brit version of the 400 hp version Holden.

Would have bought one except for the poor rear seta access and tiny trunk (plus fear of bad resale). Bought a BMW 330i instead. Fellow at the local Home Depot owns one and I see it in their lot frequently and every time I admire how tasteful and subtle its design is - that alone precludes it EVER being a GTO.

It never was nor could it ever be a Goat. GM demonstrated total misunderstanding of marketing in trying to pretend it was one. Just stupid. Nothing less. Someone should be fired for that level of dumb.

- nopcbs

Reply to
GRL

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Remember when importing the Monaro and calling it a GTO was hailed as a brilliant Lutz move????? Lutz has turned out to be 90% sizzle, 10% steak.

John

Reply to
John Horner

Remember the Schwab ad of a couple of years ago in which an unnamed competing broker exhorts the salespeople to "Put some lipstick on this pig and sell it!" ??????

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The GTO wasn't really a pig, but it certainly wasn't the car it pretended to be. It was an obscure Australian Holden with Pontiac lipstick on it.

John

Reply to
John Horner

tasteful ? You 've got to be kidding me man. This thing looks like an oversized cavalier. Nothing tasteful about it.

nah, they'll just go out of business.

Reply to
RT

Well, that's the thing about taste... everybody has a different type.

Reply to
SgtSilicon

Well, I have to put in my .02, since it appears that none of you that are replying own a '04-'06 GTO. Well, I do own one, and while flames will be gladly accepted, please read before anonymously calling me everything under the sun.

First, as to the looks, my PBM '05 gets MORE than its fair share of admiring glances. It does NOT and never did look like a Cavalier on steriods. Inane analogy that some car mag "guru" coined because they had to criticize it due to the low advertising revenue paid by Pontiac which, of course, didn't warrant a more positive writeup. Unfortunately the stupid lemmings that read and follow those rags took that as gospel and ignorantly carried the banner for them. I say ignorantly simply because until you have driven one, you are ignorant as to the car and its performance. Additionally, what's up with Ford and Chrysler using retro styling? Seems to me that perhaps they have run out of original ideas. I believe that once these cars have run the table on buyers that wish to relive their youth, then both automakers will be stuck with 90 day supplies on their lots. It happened with the retro T'Bird. Unfortunately, history seems to be ready to repeat itself. Secondly, I will agree that GM dropped the ball on this car. Poor to no advertising was certainly a factor in its slow sales. However, slow is a relative thing. For example, in So. Cal' this car is at a ten day supply rate on dealer lots. The same cannot be said for many so called "performance" vehicles from Germany or Japan. Finally, find me a car from either of the aforementioned countries that has

400 HP, (a conservative rating BTW), and the build quality that this car has at $33K. Quite frankly, you won't. And don't tell me about the BMW M series, as they are way overpriced in addition to being rolling junk. Don't believe me, check the latest ratings from JD Power on German cars, and for that matter Nissan as well. I think you'll get the picture. This car is top-notch. From its world class interior to the previously touted performance, the GTO is an exceptional vehicle. GM is making a mistake in letting it go. It certainly needs a followup with the new Camaro coming. And at the risk of repeating myself, don't knock it until you try it.

Tom A PROUD '05 GTO owner!

Reply to
<TB>

Well... that's the thing about taste. Everyone's is different; and I think that *most* people looking for a car with the performance of the GTO want to have a car that will have an immediate visual impact. In other words, they buy the car because they want to be noticed in it. The GTO does not have that impact; it's a very subtle car. Good looking, but subtle. It also shares a lot of styling cues with some pretty cheap, crappy GM cars. Personally I don't have a problem with that; I want a car for how it drives and if it's a Q-ship, so much the better. But most people don't share that opinion.

I concur that GM is pulling a big bonehead move (bigger than they already did by not promoting the GTO in the first place) by pulling the plug on one of their finest vehicles. The only issue I have with it, other than the lack of promotion, is the price. It's simply out of reach for me to consider buying one new, and my salary is significantly higher than the national average. If they could have brought it in about $10K cheaper I bet it would have sold like mad (and I might be driving one.) Now what that would have done to its performance, I don't know. But in high cost of living areas like DC, unless you are making a buttload of money, $35-40K is too much to pay for a car. (now that doesn't stop some people from spending that much, but I prefer to not have those big monthly bills...)

I wonder if it wouldn't have made sense instead of just bringing over the GTO as a "special" if it wouldn't have been more economical to offer a six-cylinder version of the same chassis as a regular mid-sized car and the GTO as a higher trim level, then it might have been economically feasible to produce it here, GM would have better offerings, and economies of scale on the common parts would have brought the price down. But of course what do I know, people bought Tauruses for years... I'm just a car guy, not a product planner

nate

Reply to
N8N

JD powers, isn't that the same place that took into account people's complaint about the hummer's fuel thirst ?

no, they have to. 4 billion dollar in losses is why. The GTO doesn't bring in any money.. cutting it is the ONLY solution. no matter how nice or good a car is or is perceived to be, if it doesn't bring in money it's not much good. The niche market cars (think Ford GT) are just marketing tricks. "hey look at what we can build, now go buy a fusion"

Reply to
RT

I don't recall anybody saying that trying to sell the Holden coupe as a GTO was a good idea. Everyone (outside of GM, anyway) was pretty darned negative to dead set against the idea.

They were right, of course, and GM was wrong, of course.

GM desparately needs some ex-Toyota managers. Desparately.

John Horner wrote:

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Reply to
nopcbs

I don't own one (often wish I did), but did test drive one the first year they were out (6-sp) and I completely agree with you that it is a fine car and looks nothing like a Cavalier. I cannot imagine anyone who has actually driven one not liking it. The styling is tasteful and inobrusive (a good thing with 400 hp on tap), but way too tasteful to bear a GTO name-plate. And there is the rub; if GM had fixed the small trunk problem and sold it as what it is with a bit of advertising it would be a successful, low volume, M3-eater. The people at Top Gear in England just love the thing and they have plenty more cars to compare it with than are sold here. It's failure here is just total GM management stupidy caused.

Now, having said that, you should not bad mouth the M3. It is not the most reliable thing on the road, but it is the best ultra-high performance coupe out there and held in high by anyone who knows anything about high performance cars. Dissing the M3 just degrades your own credibility. I personally wish that M3's were not held in such high regrad as I would be driving one if the used ones would just depreciate like a normal car. They hold their value like crazy and you can't touch evn a good early 2000's one for less than $35,000...and it may have sold for $45,000 new.

- nopcbs

TB wrote:

Reply to
nopcbs

I own a 2005 and I love it!!!!. Red with red interior. I got the "sport appearance package" which helped the appearance tremendously, plus the mufflers they put on as a part of the package really help the sound - not that it really needed any help in the first place. The interior is a dream and the fit and finish inside and outside is excellent.

And 400hp? Until you have experienced it, you really can't imagine what it is like. Turn off the Traction Control and floor it. Feel your self being pushed back into the seat and watch the front end come up. Check the rear view mirror and watch the guy driving the Mustang in the next lane piss his pants as you leave him behind like he was tied to a stump. ((^:

I would have liked to see it retro to the 66/67 style - the best looking GTO ever- but this one is not bad. I bought my Firebird Formula Convertible new in '97 and traded it in on this one. Maybe Pontiac will have come to their senses and fielded a decent replacement in 6 or 7 years when I will probably start thinking about trading in this one.

Tom

Reply to
Tom S

I am in complete agreement Tom!

Reply to
Cool Jet

We drove one and loved it. The interior is sumptious and very comfortable for the front passengers and it's enormous fun to drive. The tiny trunk and the near-useless back seats, though, ultimately lead us to get another car. If we weren't ever planning to take a trip with luggage in it, a GTO would be in the driveway now! If we were in the market for 2 brand-new cars, a GTO would be a perfect second car.

Reply to
REP

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