Why wouldn't Chevrolet get the Solstice?

[GMman]

I don't understand why Chevrolet wouldn't get the solstice. It's more understandable that they wouldn't get the sky, since they're being sold to an outside company. But by GM doing away with Pontiac, it makes sense for other divisions to absorb the newer models of Pontiac, doesn't it?? My mother-in-law just bought a solstice gxp and mother of pearl does that thing haul butt!!! Wasn't that a Lutz deal?? He's a friggin' genius.

[Drew Dowdell]

Cost.

The Kappas weren't money makers under any brand.

[Camino LS6]

Cost.

The Kappas weren't money makers under any brand.

Actually, I believe that they did turn a small profit (at least for a while).

But yeah, cost.

The way that Kappa was built made them expensive to produce due to lots of hand assembly.

[A Horse With No Name]

Reapeating what we've already said here...but I'd still love to see a Buick Bengal.

Chris

[CSpec]

Aren't they closing the Wilmington plant? Production there is far below capacity I believe, and a Chevy Kappa would not alleviate that.

[A Horse With No Name]

Yes, they are.

Would be nice to have them leave it open just a touch longer, as they could build more Solstice Targas.

Chris

[GMman]

Wow. What a huge disappointment. What a huge waste of a great car. Well..... GM gets hammered by the greenies, or whoever finds it fashionable at the time, for building the Suburban and can't continue to build the Solstice because it's not profitable then what the heck is the "new" GM gonna be about? Is the volt it? Does anybody think the G8 will become a Chevrolet or a Buick?

[regfootball]

one rumor at one time was kappas went to the same plant as corvette.

and chevy became the kappa.

and the chevy kappa might be a 'sting ray'

Edited June 6, 2009 by regfootball

[Croc]

That rendering looks like a Popular Mechanics rendering, and I learned a looooooong time ago to just flat-out ignore everything they report automotive-wise. Their "scoops" are so divorced from reality it's like taking a grain of truth, translating it through three languages, sending it through a game of telephone with 14 ADHD teen girls and a nursing home full of alzheimer's patients before finally making it to print.

[Satty]

I think that Sting Ray sketch was from Motor Trend. Either way, rumors from magazines are usually flat out wrong.

[CSpec]

I think that Sting Ray sketch was from Motor Trend. Either way, rumors from magazines are usually flat out wrong.

True, but there was a rendering in Popular Mechanics that was very close to the Sky, and they actually mislabeled it as a baby Corvette. Does anyone have that picture? It's from the back.

[regfootball]

True, but there was a rendering in Popular Mechanics that was very close to the Sky, and they actually mislabeled it as a baby Corvette. Does anyone have that picture? It's from the back.

I know EXACTLY which one you are talking about. I've tried to find that thing 3 or 4 times now on the internet and can't.

[hyperv6]

Ah because Chevy needs a to make the new Cruze a winning car, they need to replace the Malibu soon, they need to replace the HHR, They needs to worry about cars that pay the bills more than an limited market car that will show little profit and steal sales from the base Chevy.

Remember that the Vette will be smaller in the future. So with this in mind I don't think many in Chevy let alone the Vette team would want another roadster. The base Vette is not that much more than a GXP right now and you get a lot more for what little more you pay.

Just a bad business idea. The bottom line is GM and Chevy have a lot better things to do than worry about converting a small low profit car entering the end of its life cycle to a Chevy.

If the Alpha and when appears I wouls assume the Vette will share in this.

[mark-petz.com]

I disagree with the "Glorious GXP" comment. Although if you look at a spec sheet this might appear to have some truth but once you drive a C6 vette and feel how light and agile it moves I think you would change your opinion.

It is a waste not to give the solstice or sky new life as a Chevrolet.

[Intrepidation]

Well if any Kappa would go to Chevy it should be the Sky, it already looks like a baby Corvette. Won't happen though.

[PurdueGuy]

I had the opportunity to drive a base Sky down the street & back at a Saturn meet a couple weeks back. Nice car, but it needed more power (RedLine trim would be a must for me), and I didn't get a chance to put it through twisties, but I would imagine it's a blast. An older couple brought it to the meet, and drove I believe it was about 9 hours in the car to get there, and they loved it. 'Course they love the Saturn brand in general too. He apparently has a '91 SC that just needs a clutch. Well over 200k miles, and everything other than tune up items is all original including the bulbs. I can't fathom light bulbs lasting that long...

[!!!TED!!!]

Wilmington is closed, and all Kappas have ended production.

All future Kappas are cancelled.

Sorry.

[regfootball]

if kappa comes back. give it a real trunk FCOL and some leg room

[hyperv6]

Your best bet is if they make the next Kappa and Vette on the new Alpha platform and built in the same plant.

Make a smaller 4 Cylinder Turbo and then offer a little larger V8 Vette based on the same platform. This way they could share cost and support each other. Also this would eliminate the need for the based cheap Vettes they still offer.

But with what GM has on their plate right now the 2 seater cars I would say are not on the top of the to do list. They have some more important things to address right now.

I may be wrong but Kappa as it is now will be dead and gone from this point on.

[cavalier36]

there was a rumor at one time that the kappa's production would be shifted to bowling green. id like to see a smaller cheaper version of the Vette built using a modified Vette platform. put in 3.6L DOHC V6 and sell the thing for 25 grand. or just put in the V6 in a base Vette, put in cloth seats and lower the price by 10 grand. you would sell a whole lot more of them.

[PurdueGuy]

or just put in the V6 in a base Vette, put in cloth seats and lower the price by 10 grand. you would sell a whole lot more of them.

But would GM profit as well from them? Watering down the base waters down the car's whole image. The least expensive model is probably going to sell the most volume, but the lower you take the base model, the lower the profit margin likely is, and if those base model sales erode the upper model sales as well, you shoot yourself in the foot. I'm not against a lower level car on the same platform, but IMO it should be a distinct model. If the name Chevette wasn't already tainted, it'd be a cool name for an entry level corvette platform based performance car.

[Cadillacfan]

Hey, we're going to have the Alpha platform so I wouldn't count out a small RWD coupe or roadster from a sub-Cadillac brand in a few years. GM's going to want to reduce the cost of the platform somehow so it makes sense that they'd try to make as many variants on the platform as they can.

[hyperv6]

Hey, we're going to have the Alpha platform so I wouldn't count out a small RWD coupe or roadster from a sub-Cadillac brand in a few years. GM's going to want to reduce the cost of the platform somehow so it makes sense that they'd try to make as many variants on the platform as they can.

I would watch Buick as they are in the right place for a coupe and roadster based on the Alpha. The 2+2 coupe they showed that kind of had a little Solstice targa in it was a big fat clue to what they are thinking.

If it was sold as a Chevy they would have to price it too low and besides they have one two seater already does a company who is fighting back from chapter 11 need two roadsters in the same value division.

Buick could sell this in the 30K-40K range make some money with that price at low volume and build it on the same line as any of the other Alpha's. They also could sell it in China and share it with Opel. This would be a prime 350 fighter or what ever Nissan has at the time. 370 I would guess? The top Buick roadter would top out just over what a stripped Vete would be.

The key here is pricing, sharing of parts and sharing with several markets. Just don't make the Crossfire mistake and make it not a real performance car. The Opel V6 Turbo would be sweet at 325 HP and keep the weight under 3,000 pounds.