wildcat

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

Rush Limbaugh sweating

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?

Happy birthday! May we see a picture of your in your birthday suit?

Those sound like upscale elements, but I thought the Riviera Concept foreshadowed what the new LaCrosse will look like, and that the Riviera Concept had Buick's future worldwide face. While the name Invicta has a sentimental appeal to me, that doesn't make sense. Doing so would mean too many similar models in Buick's China line-up. What would become of the Chinese LaCrosse? What would become of the Chinese Regal?

Shown as part of its website, Buick has a new promotion which involves discovering one's heritage and marking 105 years of Buick heritage. Seems like a good fit. For details click here.

I may not have always liked what he was hinting at, but I read his informative and entertaining posts with great interest. R.I.P., PCS! (That stands for Revive Interest in Pontiac)

During its all-brand meeting February 10, 2008, GM said that it would share the technology used in the Chevrolet Volt with its other brands. To view the entire story, as reported by Automotive News, click here. I think this would be the perfect opportunity to call a new Buick "Electra"!

Thank you very much for doing this! We'll see precisely how close it is, but what you've done seems to work.

< sarcasm switch "ON" > Naw, let GM cut all the cherished brands they like. Let 'em get down to just Chevrolet, Saturn, and Cadillac. Then when their sales go nowhere fast with those three, what'll be left to cut? Each others throats Besides, I'd love to see Ren Center fall like the House of Usher and crush 'em all inside And then somebody ( your choice ), while laying in the smoldering rubble, says, "Wow! I could've had a V-8!"

Someone once said it takes no talent or ability to cut something. What does show knowledge and power is how to find a way to make something work. GM has, at the moment, 8 brands. Do the right thing and find a way for them to co-exist. Play on their strengths and heritage. (If there really are plans to get rid of one or more, then GM and big business talk out of both sides of their... uh, mouth... and I have no interest in them.) Maybe there are a lot of options which GM is now considering. (Since GM can't seem to decide something and stick with it or figure out how to make anything work. What? Itsy-Bitsy Motors is planning a new RWD model, but GM is still "studying it" or has canceled plans. Yeah, right.) "Everything's on the table," as we so often hear in corporate-speak today. Well, GM's customers have options they can consider, too... like Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chrysler, et al.

43 in Chicago - I saw the temp display while riding home on the CTA train.

I don't know what your job is. But use your position to be a voice of reason with GM. Why doesn't anybody stand up for what is right anymore? Everywhere, it's all about greed and big corporations screwing the American middle and lower class. GM can have all its 8 brands if it uses some smarts in differentiating them. Nobody says Buicks have to be big. Make a small, CAFE-friendly Buick. (I still say the Mini looks like it could have a shunrken '54 Buick Special grille.) Chevy isn't the beginning and end-all of cars. What did GM waste time with the Riviera Concept if Buick isn't in the picture, long-term? Oh, i guess Buick is good enough to rape it for whatever profit it's making in China, then we'll switch all badging to Chevies. F*** GM! Where was anyone to speak up for Oldsmobile? GM has to look in the mirror and realize they're idiots. How else do you run a car company that sold a million or so in the 80s out of operation? By being greedy, complacent, stupid, arrogant.

Then GM loses me as a customer, and I will do everything I can to convince others to buy a Toyota. Is that what reaction GM wants from a loyal customer? If GM truly thinks that the Camaro is its most important product, even to the elimination of others, Heaven help them. Buick was the cornerstone and heart of GM and if that counts for nothing, then GM has its collective head up its ass. As was said, if GM can't save Buick (its heart), it can't save anything. I would agree with that, until I saw this latest series of posts. What is very unappealing right now is the mean-spirited way you are saying things in this thread. Make up your mind - is Pontiac at risk of being closed? Is Buick? I know that many keep saying all that GM needs are Chevy, Saturn, and Cadillac. All that I can tell you is if GM cuts / loses / shutters one more brand (whatever it is), it will be perceived as irrelevant and a loser - not that it already isn't by the majority of people. They already mismanaged the great legacy of the historic brand Oldsmobile and despite their "knowledge," couldn't save it. The people on this board, particularly the choppers and artists, have shown they can clean GM's clock with superior ideas for products. Too bad that GM, with all its resources (in NA, China, Europe, and... for all i care right now... in Hell) can't seem to do as well.

Not very long ago, GM announced that they would be expanding Buick's line-up. Whether that meant with the Chinese Park Avenue, a Delta small car, a production Riviera, or ???... that remains to be seen.

Absolutely. But I didn't know if the administrators here were aware of the things he says elsewhere, or whether they wanted to lodge a polite but official complaint against such comments there. I enjoy this website and disagree about his comment.

Thank you, BigPontiac.

I was disappointed (though not surprised) when I read a post by Josh Oliver on camaroz28.com which, referring to C&G, stated, "That website is garbage." Here is a direct link to the topic; scroll down to Josh's post, which is #22. I realize that there's been "bad blood" between Josh and C&G for a long time, but the reason I'm now pointing out his post is that I can't seem to view his own website, thegmsource.com. Is it still active? Lately, Josh has started several topics on camaroz28.com, so perhaps that has become his new outlet.

Essentially the same. So to me, this should at least mean that GM -- through it all -- is competitive with Toyota and, hopefully with the new GM products like the NG Buick LaCrosse, will improve upon their future totals.

Isn't the NG LaCrosse on EpII capable of hybrid and AWD?

CNW Marketing Research has released figures showing the average ages of auto buyers in 2007, with evidence that the down US economy has moved car buyers ages up. For me, it was interesting to learn the latest about Buick buyers [ I added the bold ]: "And while Buick is typically the butt of jokes about buyers who are somewhere between retired and deceased, the average age of a Buick shopper last year was 55.2 years old, considerably younger than the average 63.6-year-old Mercedes-Benz shopper." To read the story, click here.

K.C.: Well, no point in waiting 6 to 8 weeks to tell you CONGRATULATIONS! The GMC Acadia looks to be a very nice vehicle.

< Danny Thomas spit-take >

So does that mean TICK-TOCK! is called off?

Pontiac Custom-S: Thank you for sharing this. I was happy to see who Dave Lyon is (I've read his name before); at last, a young person who seems to understand and have some enthusiasm for Buick. Between Dave Lyon and Rick Kranz, they literally admitted that the Riviera previews the NG LaCrosse, so I guess GM had to first parade the Riviera Concept around the U.S., then they can reveal and produce the LaCrosse. And afterwards? Anyone who knows anything about Buick recognizes what an important product name Riviera is, so....