Pontiac moves up production of 2009 Vibe to Q1 2008

[Flybrian]

GM Speeds ’09 Vibe to Meet Matrix Timetable

By James M. Amend | Link to Original Article @ WardsAuto

General Motors Corp. will accelerate production of its redesigned ’09 Pontiac Vibe by at least two months, a move meant to satisfy an advanced timetable for the ’09 Toyota Matrix and growing consumer demand for choices in the upper-small car segment.

The 6-year-old Vibe and Matrix share a common platform. The Vibe is built at New United Motor Mfg. Inc., a Fremont, CA-based facility operated jointly by GM and Toyota Motor Corp. The Matrix is produced at Toyota’s Cambridge, ON, Canada, plant.

Toyota wants to update the Matrix because it has attracted families, rather than younger buyers the auto maker originally sought.

“The styling does not have the sense of motion about it,” says Mike O’Brien, head of product planning for Toyota Motor Co. USA, during a recent industry event in Michigan. “It’s a bit boxy. And it just does not have the appeal to young people that we had hoped for.”

In speeding the Matrix redo, production of the ’09 Vibe now will begin in first-quarter 2008, ahead of a typical NUMMI production turnover in mid-second quarter.

“They are sister vehicles, so the timing that would affect one vehicle would affect the other,” a GM spokesman tells Ward’s.

In GM’s case, the earlier the redesigned hatchback arrives the better. More fresh choices in its fuel-sipping small-car portfolio could help diversify its mix.

Vincent Brown, a sales associate at Inland Valley Pontiac-GMC-Buick in San Bernardino, CA, likes the idea of a new Vibe arriving early but also hopes the redesign distances the Pontiac model from the Matrix.

“The Vibe and Matrix look way too similar,” he says.

While the current Vibe achieves a thrifty 33 mpg (7 L/100 km) on the highway, its model range also has shrunk to just a single variant after GM discontinued all-wheel-drive and GT variants with the ’07 edition.

GM says those models likely will return with the redesign, although given the Vibe’s fuel efficiency, plans do not include a hybrid.

[bowtie_dude]

I would be interested in an AWD, 200+hp model. But if they try to pawn off one of those lousy, gutless Toyota engines on us I'm going to be ticked.

[gm4life]

Don't worry they will give you a Toyota motor. I want a Turbo Ecotec GXP model!

[jbartley]

whoa, so when will they actually start selling it? march?

LA autoshow premiere?

[Oracle of Delphi]

Finally after two plus years of me whinning the AWD model is about to return. It will have a Toyota motor, that's why it's getting 33 mpg currently. I think it needs a diesel engine, but hey that's just me.

Now to resume my whinning about the HHR not having an AWD option.

[hyperv6]

Why bother?

The time and effort and money put into this thing could be spent on a much better model.

Adding AWD to this will never make it a WRX competitor.

I will be much happier when all of these space filling models go away to the new models that will replace them. The sooner the GP, G6, Vibe and G5 are replaced the better.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

This could be either a big hit or a major miss on GM's part... It's all about the execution and launch.

It be nice to see both the G8 and the Vibe give Pontiac a nice boost in credibility (with the greenies) and sales.

[K.C.]

<dream mode> A 260 hp Turbo Ecotec Vibe GXP AWD </dream mode>

[z28luvr01]

Why bother?

The time and effort and money put into this thing could be spent on a much better model.

Adding AWD to this will never make it a WRX competitor.

I will be much happier when all of these space filling models go away to the new models that will replace them. The sooner the GP, G6, Vibe and G5 are replaced the better.

Pontiac doesn't need the Vibe, and GM doesn't need Toyota.

[Intrepidation]

Pontiac doesn't need the Vibe, and GM doesn't need Toyota.

Maybe the fuel effiency of Toyota's engines though...

[Camino LS6]

Pontiac doesn't need the Vibe, and GM doesn't need Toyota.

QFT

[ponchoman49]

Sad that it's going to have a stinking Toyota motor and clone of matrix styling with the ever tiresome plain slab sided look that every manufacturer is forcing down our throats these days. Why can't GM use there own styling with a more rugged look like the current model and use there own Ecotec motors?

[Intrepidation]

Sad that it's going to have a stinking Toyota motor and clone of matrix styling with the ever tiresome plain slab sided look that every manufacturer is forcing down our throats these days. Why can't GM use there own styling with a more rugged look like the current model and use there own Ecotec motors?

Maybe because they want something that gets good fuel economy?

[Satty]

I got great mileage from my 2.2 EcoTec. The oil filter was rather expensive and the exhause manifold developed a crack, but it got very good mileage.

[91z4me]

Dump the Vibe. Make a Pontiac hatch from a modified HHR. Give it the 1.8 from the Astra and an economy geared transmission and it will meet or beat the Toyota 1.8 in economy.

[regfootball]

what y'all forget is that the vibe is in a lot of cases, one fo the very few GM cars that gets shopped by mainstream car buyers. the folks i have talked to that have either owned one or dirven one really liked them. it sells good for GM and gets people into otherwise not visited pontiac showrooms.

I would prefer the vibe be more GM in style and engine, however, the vibe is a bright spot in GM's lineup and doing something absurd like a 'modified HHR' would not work.

bottom line, vibe is almost the one car that brings in the ani-GM crowd. and its prob because its a toyota. ask yourself why that is.

[pow]

what y'all forget is that the vibe is in a lot of cases, one fo the very few GM cars that gets shopped by mainstream car buyers. the folks i have talked to that have either owned one or dirven one really liked them. it sells good for GM and gets people into otherwise not visited pontiac showrooms.

I would prefer the vibe be more GM in style and engine, however, the vibe is a bright spot in GM's lineup and doing something absurd like a 'modified HHR' would not work.

bottom line, vibe is almost the one car that brings in the ani-GM crowd. and its prob because its a toyota. ask yourself why that is.

Agreed. I dare say it's more significant to Pontiac than the G8.

The Vibe is a lot more space efficient than the HHR.

Edited September 13, 2007 by empowah

[K.C.]

<dream mode> A 260 hp Turbo Ecotec Vibe GXP AWD </dream mode>

I forgot to mention Kappa based.

[Paolino]

Well, if they're going to ramp up the production... let's hope they keep quality up.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I forgot to mention Kappa based.

MMMMMMM! K A P P A S !

[hyperv6]

Agreed. I dare say it's more significant to Pontiac than the G8.

The Vibe is a lot more space efficient than the HHR.

The problem is this is not a car that Pontiac needs to represent them as a performance division. THis car would be much better suited to Saturn and should be 100% GM as there is no reason to build cars with Toyota. GM could get great milage too if they put under powered engines in their cars.

If this is the most significant car at Pontiac it tells me the GP is long in the tooth and only a fool or fleet buyer would want it now. This shows the G6 missed the mark to claim import buyers. It also says the G5 came too late and to much like a Chevy.

The Solstice and G8 represent the new direction and they are are not the car that define the final destination of Pontiac. They both are steping stones.

As for the Vibe is is the most non Pontiac of any offered and is only a blip on the screen.

Finish the deal with Toyota and move on as GM has the ability to make a better car that fits Pontiac's true image better than a under powered odd wagon. Pontiac is image and performanc not economy and practical. The niche postion should be used for it's strength and not wasted on a car for the average driver.

Pontiac was a car for people who wanted to be noticed and stand out when they pulled into to a parking lot.

[regfootball]

Pontiac dealers want something that sells. They are gushing because the Torrent is lighting up the sales charts. Image and brand purity are great, but they don't always pay the lights and payroll.

Vibe sells enough consistently to be a contributor in that area. If no Vibe or torrent, you may not even have a pontiac dealer to sell those G8's in.

[z28luvr01]

If Buick really is getting a Delta II compact as has been rumored, they can just make a hatch/wagon variant off of that. Again - Pontiac does not need the Vibe, and GM does not need Toyota.

[haypops]

Vibe sells enough consistently to be a contributor in that area.

Year to dte sales for the Vibe are less than 25,000 units, hardly a consistent seller. ON the other hand it has been around for a long time and the refresh will help out its poor sales.

[haypops]

and GM does not need Toyota.

Perhaps they do for the production overcapacity and to pay the union workers and their retirees.

[hyperv6]

Pontiac dealers want something that sells. They are gushing because the Torrent is lighting up the sales charts. Image and brand purity are great, but they don't always pay the lights and payroll.

Vibe sells enough consistently to be a contributor in that area. If no Vibe or torrent, you may not even have a pontiac dealer to sell those G8's in.

As pointed out the Vibe is not a big seller nor a profit center. If a dealer is living off of Vibes he is hurting.

Pontiac needs to do a car more in the image of a Mini or some kind of shooting brake off a G6 platform. There are many things they can sell that would do better than what is a under powered crossover.

Pontiac could have done a car somewhat like the Nomad but in a more modern Pontiac style. Even based on a FWD with would make a much bigger impact than putting more money into the Vibe.

The redo of the Vibe is like renaming the Ford 500 a Taurus little gain for the cash spent. That money could go to a morte worth while venture on a future product.

The Shame is Pontiac is selling the cars Satun should have and Saturn is getting the cars Pontiac should have.

[regfootball]

As pointed out the Vibe is not a big seller nor a profit center. If a dealer is living off of Vibes he is hurting.

Pontiac needs to do a car more in the image of a Mini or some kind of shooting brake off a G6 platform. There are many things they can sell that would do better than what is a under powered crossover.

Pontiac could have done a car somewhat like the Nomad but in a more modern Pontiac style. Even based on a FWD with would make a much bigger impact than putting more money into the Vibe.

The redo of the Vibe is like renaming the Ford 500 a Taurus little gain for the cash spent. That money could go to a morte worth while venture on a future product.

The Shame is Pontiac is selling the cars Satun should have and Saturn is getting the cars Pontiac should have.

its 6 years old and they killed two models so duh sales are down. over its 6 year run, the vibe has sold a lot......i am not able to find numbers but it would not surprise me if they have moved 40-50k a year of these things since inception. that would be a big percentage of pontiacs volume in this span.

like GM needs something lame like the Mini.

it costs hardly anything to rebadge the vibe and in the process GM learns a few different things about how others build their cars. the vibe brings in more people than just graying haired guys who used to bo burnouts in the highschool parking lots in the late 60's and early 70's in their musclecar. vibe helps widen the pontiac demogrpahic. sure, it might be better suited as a saturn, but i don't see toyota agreeing to that, plus we already have the vue. toyota would never agree to it being a chevy. GM seems to not want to spend money to create a 'shooting brake' as you call it.

fact is, since 2000, the vibe has been one of GM's most consistently popular and praised cars. sounds lame sure, but the vibe ushered in the crossover era. it deserves to continue in some form.

Edited September 14, 2007 by regfootball

[Intrepidation]

its 6 years old and they killed two models so duh sales are down. over its 6 year run, the vibe has sold a lot......i am not able to find numbers but it would not surprise me if they have moved 40-50k a year of these things since inception. that would be a big percentage of pontiacs volume in this span.

like GM needs something lame like the Mini.

it costs hardly anything to rebadge the vibe and in the process GM learns a few different things about how others build their cars. the vibe brings in more people than just graying haired guys who used to bo burnouts in the highschool parking lots in the late 60's and early 70's in their musclecar. vibe helps widen the pontiac demogrpahic. sure, it might be better suited as a saturn, but i don't see toyota agreeing to that, plus we already have the vue. toyota would never agree to it being a chevy. GM seems to not want to spend money to create a 'shooting brake' as you call it.

fact is, since 2000, the vibe has been one of GM's most consistently popular and praised cars. sounds lame sure, but the vibe ushered in the crossover era. it deserves to continue in some form.

Oh really?

[CMG]

Is that a Nova/Toyota, or another Chevy/Toyota?

Edit- it's a different Chevota. The Nova wasn't around at that time.....

1987 Chevy Nova. Where's the SS stripes? LOL

Edited September 14, 2007 by CMG

[Intrepidation]

It's a `98 Chevrolet Prizm...when Geo was discontinued the redesigned Prizm was rebadged as a Chevy.

[haypops]

i am not able to find numbers but it would not surprise me if they have moved 40-50k a year of these things since inception. that would be a big percentage of Pontiac's volume in this span.

Your sales guess is actually pretty good. Vibe sales for 2005 were 64K and in 2006 it was 45,000 units. This is NOT a big percentage of Pontiac sales but barely gets into double digits (14 and 11%).

I suspect that a few people buy the Vibe because its a Toyota and end up staying for the better service most Pontiac dealers provide. Still the biggest benefit to GM is getting Toyota to use its factory and pay its retirees and other workers benefits.

[Cory Wolfe]

I liked the original Vibe, Toyota or not.

[regfootball]

Your sales guess is actually pretty good. Vibe sales for 2005 were 64K and in 2006 it was 45,000 units. This is NOT a big percentage of Pontiac sales but barely gets into double digits (14 and 11%).

I suspect that a few people buy the Vibe because its a Toyota and end up staying for the better service most Pontiac dealers provide. Still the biggest benefit to GM is getting Toyota to use its factory and pay its retirees and other workers benefits.

a- i had a 99 prizm. ok car...but it felt flimsy and well assembled at the same time. i didn't think it would feel buttoned down real long time. i got rid of it after 3 years and 20k miles. the blandness and flimsiness of it wore thin and left me wanting more...it really did not even satisfy in an appliance sort of sense.

secondly.........so, vibe sales in 2005 when it was a fairly new model were 64,000 units....most if not all retail i bet. by the way, show me the 2003 and 2004 numbers.

how many retail (non fleet units) does pontiac as a brand sell a year now?

09 vibe would no doubt rebound and sell at that number because it is a new design.

64,000 units + this years retail sales (- current vibe) = volume goal......64,000 % volume goal would be more like 20-25% of pontiac retail sales. maybe higher. lets say 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 pontiacs were vibes. pretty strong case to keep the model if you ask me. just like it would be suicide to cut the G6.

new vibe + torrent selling at a big clip makes it a hell of a lot easier for pontiac to exist as a brand and be able to provide that rear drive you want, as opposed to folding under lack of volume.

vibe=matrix w/ new front clip. not a lot of effort for a good amount of sales.

face it, crossovers are hot, and this is a way for GM to get market share on that segment.

chevy has HHR and saturn has vue so this is the only option left for this.

Edited September 14, 2007 by regfootball

[Camino LS6]

I'm with Z. and Hyper here, all of these half-baked apology mobiles need to vacate the Pontiac lineup ASAP. If Pontiac is to have any value, it has to genuinely be the performance division - that's its reason to be. G5,G6,Vibe,Torrent, GP, all need to become memories, and the sooner the better.

[haypops]

If Pontiac is to have any value, it has to genuinely be the performance division - that's its reason to be. G5,G6,Vibe,Torrent, GP, all need to become memories, and the sooner the better.

You mean that you don't buy the arguement that a Corolla wagon is a crossover? :AH-HA_wink:

[cire]

I'm with Z. and Hyper here, all of these half-baked apology mobiles need to vacate the Pontiac lineup ASAP. If Pontiac is to have any value, it has to genuinely be the performance division - that's its reason to be. G5,G6,Vibe,Torrent, GP, all need to become memories, and the sooner the better.

I also agree. Pontiac will never be relevant in the car market again if GM does not redefine its purpose. This will never happen if they keep up the endless parade of stopgap measures to fill in the lineup. I don't dislike the Vibe, but I think it was assigned to the wrong division. At least it had its own appearance and did not resemble any other GM division's products (unlike the truly pitiful Chevy badge engineered clones; G5 and Torrent). They hung the poor Solstice (one of the few products sitting on a Pontiac lot that has a right to be there) out to dry by putting it out there without any other products that represent a new and improved performance division. The G8 is on the way (I hate the alpha-numeric nomenclature), but so far that's the only definite product on the way. Pontiac needs its rear wheel drive product portfolio and it needs it A.S.A.P.

Stop the talk and start the product flow!

[91z4me]

I'm with Z. and Hyper here, all of these half-baked apology mobiles need to vacate the Pontiac lineup ASAP. If Pontiac is to have any value, it has to genuinely be the performance division - that's its reason to be. G5,G6,Vibe,Torrent, GP, all need to become memories, and the sooner the better.

Am I 'Z'?

[Cory Wolfe]

I'm with Z. and Hyper here, all of these half-baked apology mobiles need to vacate the Pontiac lineup ASAP. If Pontiac is to have any value, it has to genuinely be the performance division - that's its reason to be. G5,G6,Vibe,Torrent, GP, all need to become memories, and the sooner the better.

I agree as well. I don't like the notions that the Vibe was an inferior vehicle, though.

[Flybrian]

The Vibe was inferior in powertrain quality and optioning. GT with a stick only? AWD with as much power as a Yaris?

[regfootball]

The Vibe was inferior in powertrain quality and optioning. GT with a stick only? AWD with as much power as a Yaris?

even the GT was a slug in real driving. i hope a 2.4 is available on the new one.

[LosAngeles]

Dump the Vibe. Make a Pontiac hatch from a modified HHR. Give it the 1.8 from the Astra and an economy geared transmission and it will meet or beat the Toyota 1.8 in economy.

Pontiac should have gotten the Astra in the first place.

And yes, the Vibe should be a Delta.

Folks also don't know that the Matrix body is basically a North American thing. Toyota sells the Vibe look in Japan, under the name Voltz (complete with twin-kidney grille)

[Chicagoland]

GM has a CONTRACT with Toyota and owns part of NUMMI, so quit yer belly aching. And, with gas prices staying high, don't expect 'all RWD' ever again.

[loki]

even the GT was a slug in real driving. i hope a 2.4 is available on the new one.

or at least a 2.2L LAP engine that's scheduled for delta in MY09...

[gm4life]

So long as it sells right? I just wish they had GM engines.

[LosAngeles]

Yo, Fly.....there's nothing inferior about offering a stick.

I'd argue cars only offering or emphasizing conventional automatics are inferior.

[Camino LS6]

GM has a CONTRACT with Toyota and owns part of NUMMI, so quit yer belly aching. And, with gas prices staying high, don't expect 'all RWD' ever again.

Contracts expire.

An all-RWD Pontiac is exactly what I expect within a few years.

[K.C.]

Again, make it KAPPA based.