A rant in E minor.

[Blake Noble]

Beyond the Camaro and the Volt, there seems to be very little to be excited about in the future anymore regarding GM.

When you sit down and look at all of the facts and rumors, well, it does look quite depressing over at GM. The Insignia will not be coming to North America unchanged from its Opel form (even though it has been stated that Saturn and Opel will become one and the same); the Beat will not be coming to North America either, only the Trax, despite the concept's popularity here; there has been no back-up plan for Zeta; the W-Body Impala and Cobalt will live on past the end of the decade; Alpha has been delayed six months; future product plans for Pontiac are beyond undesirable; the Cruze has been delayed.

And could we please do something about the compact pickups, please?

It's all a little off-putting. And even though you cannot place the blame squarely on one individual's shoulders in this case, I am starting to single out a few people who I feel should have done more in their positions, and that does include Bob Lutz since he is the Vice President of Global Product Development after all.

Someone needs to walk into GM and turn the company over on its head. And keep it there.

However, I know it's not all gloom and doom. GM has been making huge strides in the feel and fit and finish of their cars and the Design Department has been placed in a rightful position of power. However, considering all of the information out there regarding what GM is cooking up, and perhaps I have been getting quite lazy in my snooping lately, but I have to wonder, where's the beef?

Edited August 10, 2008 by YellowJacket894

[Chevy Nick]

CTS coupe is worth getting excited about, especially the v-series version.

[mustang84]

I hear ya, YellowJacket.

I don't understand why there are all these delays/cancellations and why GM is suddenly behind the curve, why they can't be nimble and quick with their decision-making and stick to a plan. For the longest time, GM looked like it was far beyond Ford in terms of health and product development, and now it seems to be unraveling. Granted, they couldn't really have seen the sudden spike in gas, but some of the recent decisions like the Beat and delaying the Cruze launch are just baffling.

Now with Cadillac losing the STS/DTS replacement, it just seems like that 5 billion that was thrown into rejuvenating the brand has been all for nothing. The CTS is a great car, but alone it is not enough to sustain Cadillac as a world-class luxury brand.

GM's handling of the Pontiac brand is downright criminal. God help us if a G3 comes to showrooms.

More than ever, I think GM needs leadership from outside the company, somebody like Mulally that will come in and rustle some corporate feathers. I don't think the good old boy mentality has been totally erased from the ranks.

[Drew Dowdell]

Cadillac is losing the zeta platform, not the DTS/STS replacement.

[Robert Hall]

Cadillac is losing the zeta platform, not the DTS/STS replacement.

Without the platform, though, what would the replacement use? A revised Sigma?

[wildcat]

Beyond the Camaro and the Volt, there seems to be very little to be excited about in the future anymore regarding GM.

It would give me hope if they would say that the Volt's technology will be available across all of their brands, but, so far, it's been all about the Volt... a single car. (I'm not saying to rebadge the Volt for all of their brands, but offer the same technical system with all of their brands.)

When you sit down and look at all of the facts and rumors, well, it does look quite depressing over at GM. The Insignia will not be coming to North America unchanged from its Opel form (even though it has been stated that Saturn and Opel will become one and the same); the Beat will not be coming to North America either, only the Trax, despite the concept's popularity here; there has been no back-up plan for Zeta; the W-Body Impala and Cobalt will live on past the end of the decade; Alpha has been delayed six months; future product plans for Pontiac are beyond undesirable; the Cruze has been delayed.

And to that I'd add that Buick has been shrunk down to next-to-nothing, despite all the talk of making Buick NA = Buick China. Guess the answer is no money. Remember when Lutz said that Wagoner told him they had to put the money where they had some momentum? Things seem to have only gotten worse since that time. Imagine my frustration when they said about the Buick Velite (or something like it) "We have no platform and no money." And now that Bob Lutz has said no niche vehicles, I presume there goes the Buick Riviera.