What guionM said about Buick and Pontiac

[wildcat]

If you read the camaroZ28.com forum, you'll recognize the screen name "guionM," a knowledgeable poster who also contributes here. He made some interesting comments about the B-P-G channel today, and they should be of interest to Buick and Pontiac fans:

"There are a number of cars headed for, and these are the key words: 'Buick-Pontiac-GMC'. Between this summer and 3 years from now, Buick is getting a Zeta-based sedan which will be a little longer than the G8. Pontiac is getting the G8 ST and a revised Solstice. The Lecrosse will be redone on Espilon and will probally be called Regal. Pontiac as a stand alone brand (as well as Buick) is for all practical purposes over.

Finally, regarding the Trans Am. Pontiac wants a coupe, and GM is very aware that P-B needs a coupe. The issue isn't $200 million (which is more marketing costs than actual development costs) to create a 'Pontiac Camaro'. The issue is what return is that going to have on the investment, and how would it be different enough from Camaro without canabalizing it's sales. Although most all will swear otherwise, Camaro will infact pull most all potential Firebird enthusiasts since there will also be highly packaged Camaros (unlike last time when you chose between a stark base model and a relatively stark V8). If GM expects to be able to sell only a certain number of coupes (say 100K for instance), it's far cheaper for them to market a single vehicle than to spend money developing and even worse, marketing, two. It also frees up more money to put into that single model as well."

If guionM says that "GM is very aware that P-B needs a coupe," does that make a Buick Riviera more likely?

Edited February 12, 2008 by wildcat

[VenSeattle]

If guionM says that "GM is very aware that P-B needs a coupe," does that make a Buick Riviera more likely?

Don't know, but I can hope.

[thegriffon]

Read between the lines, what this means is, no G6 coupe next time (just the disguised Malibu sedan), and no NG Cobalt based G5.

Edited February 12, 2008 by thegriffon

[ZL-1]

Assuming he's not ruling out 2-seater coupes, maybe a Solstice coupe?...

[wildcat]

Are you in agreement with Pontiac_Custom-S's assertions about Pontiac's future or lack-thereof?

[balthazar]

>>"Pontiac as a stand alone brand (as well as Buick) is for all practical purposes over."<<

Not sure how what preceeded this quote supports that anymore than anything else we've seen, but OK.

>>"Although most all will swear otherwise, Camaro will infact pull most all potential Firebird enthusiasts"<<

Never saw or heard of a survey that assessed this, and I have no idea what quantities GM is putting on 'all potential Firebird enthusiasts', but whatever it is, I still believe it's overstated.

Of course, the more of a 'badge job' a Firebird may be due to budgetary constrictions, the more this will be self-fufilling.

[thegriffon]

Buick and Pontiac, in North America, will not be stand-alone brands. It is now and will be for the foreseable future managed as Pontiac-Buick-GMC. GM has been quite clear on that. If you don't have all three brands, you won't have a full lineup. Of course that still leaves a number of key vacancies in the lineup, especially when the Cobalt is redesigned and the G6 becomes a version of Malibu (not this Malibu, the next one, Malibu Lite?).

As you move forward you can expect them to reduce overlap, viz.

The G6 replacement (the real G6) must be smaller and cheaper than the LaCrosse, not simply cheaper (fuel economy will dictate this as well).

There will not be two upper-medium sedans (G8 and LaCrosse), but just one, the LaCrosse.

Pontiac's future lies in the gaps in the divisions' lineup:

A coupe of some kind. A large coupe (like the Riviera) will have problems under CAFE, so expect something lower-midsize or compact (post 2013, when the Pontiac Malibu has run its course).

A volume compact, critical under CAFE. A good model should do at least 10K a month, not much compared to Cobalt, but much better than the G5 or Vibe provide. A version of the AT1 would be choice, but as we know, certain people oppose a Pontiac version (just because).

For success as a performance division, handling is more important than power. The best option would be light rwd models, and thus as I have proposed, stripped down versions of the rwd Cadillacs. Take the weight and creature comforts out, and even with smaller, more economical powertrains performance goes up.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

I still don't get why the LaCrosse is getting renamed Regal....the last one sold quite poorly, I'm all for Century if they must change it back to something. I just don't know where Pontiac lies now with rear-drive cars in question cause of the whole CAFE crud.

[balthazar]

Regal, and by extension: Regal T-Type > Grand National at least has heritage connected with something sporty/performance oriented. Last Century was a rental car with very little positive image beyond 'dependable transportation'.

[turbo200]

regal is a much more emotive and much more memorable name than crap lacrosse name. yuk. speaks much better to buick as well. it just sounds like the right name for a product. not lacrosse, that is a nasty name. [maybe i wouldn't associate it in such a negative way if the product it was attached to weren't so bad]

Edited February 14, 2008 by turbo200