smk4565

I actually think Pontiac should become fleet central, the Vibe, G6, G5 are priced the same or less than the Chevy counterparts, at least then the fleet sales would be from one brand, not multiple brands like it is now. Then only one brand has poor resale value. I thought when the UAW contract was ironed out it said the G6 was getting an update for 2012-2013. I think this car has 4 more years in it's current form, so I can't see it being anymore than a rental car as times goes on. It is already uncompetitive.

It doesn't offer any benefit, but it is cheap to build, and Pontiac and Buick are both rely on incentives and low prices to move cars, so they need cheap engines like the 3500 and 3800. Same reason the 3400 is in the Equinox and Torrent, it s a cheap engine and it is built in China and is even cheaper. The G6 is priced below the Malibu, it isn't a sports sedan, it is an economy/rental sedan.

Ok, my mistake, the 1987 3800 only had 170 hp, the 2008 Lucerne's 197 hp is a quantum leap forward, although it is 8 hp behind the 1994 LeSabre/Park Avenue. And the Northstar was revamped to run on regular gas in 2000, so that is impressive, no horsepower or fuel economy gains in 15 years though. But isn't like other automakers have gone from 190 hp V6s to 300 h V6s or 250 hp V8s to 400+ hp V8s over that same time period.

I agree, GM renames cars and models too much, same with base, LS, LT at chevy and then base is LS and there is LT1, LT2, LT3, etc. I think they change car names a lot because cars like the Grand Prix get dated and fleeted out so the reputation is trashed and they have to give a car a new name, vs Accord/Camry which have been around forever and people are familiar with it. Buick is cheap, that is why they have the 3800, and most of their customers drive slow and don't know the difference anyway. The Northstar powered Lucerne is slower than a V6 Malibu or Camry and the 6-speed doesn't fit on their ancient chassis. The Lucerne won't be competitive until it has a new chassis, new styling, new engine, new interior, new transmission, new marketing and new customer base. Once they take care of that, Buick is on the comeback trail.

Maybe GM could buy Duesenberg and try to bring them back. They had awesome cars. Since GM paid off all the Olds dealers, maybe one way to reduce the sales channel and dealer problem is kill 3-4 brands and bring back Olds but sell the license fee at a premium price to offset the dealer payoffs to dump dead weight like Saab, Hummer, Buick, and so-so Saturn.

I would suspect minimal changes in the sedans, they haven't upgraded the engine/transmission since 1987, why start now.

They sold 261,000 cars in 2000 with 5 models. Buick, Hummer and Saab this year combined won't sell that many cars and they have 8 models. I agree that Olds had the right idea, they just weren't allowed to see it through. They were going DOHC and trying to improve interiors 8 years ago. Just now Buick-Chevy are getting DOHC V6s to compete with Honda and Toyota.

Oldsmobile should return, their cars were better than any Buick, Pontiac or Saturn offerings.

Motortrend isn't always reliable, but 300 hp is probably doable with a DI turbo version of the 2.4 liter. Would be a good engine for the Camaro also.

I thought of 2 more, the side bolsters each move 2 ways. When you go into a sharp left turn, the right side bolster pushes forward so you don't slide in the seat. The Mercedes S-class does this also.

The seat cushion extends out, lumbar is 4 way, head rest is either 2 or 4 way, I don't know what all 20 ways are, but the car has 20 way seats. The lower part of the headrest also pulls out on both side to wrap around your neck like an airplane pillow. The G8's competitors are Charger, 300, Genesis. Perhaps a Maxima if you don't care about fwd vs rwd and maybe some people that don't use their back seat more than once a month will consider a Mustang or Camaro.

Toyota is upping Prius production to 480,000 in 2009. I think the car is ugly inside and out and would never buy one, but that is pretty good sales number for a car that deep into it's life cycle. Domestically, the Prius sells about 270,000 a year. There is a market for 40+ mpg vehicles, that GM is missing. Plus GM needs them to offset the Silverado on CAFE regs. I do like the idea of diesels. No market is shrinking faster than full size SUVs and GM seems to have a lot of vehicles there. The Honda Odyssey outsells the Lambda trio, the minivan market isn't that bad.

Person B should buy a 3 year old 550i. Or there are some 06 STS-Vs for $40 grand around here, $45-48k for 07s. Cadillac does make a great used car buy. Which is great for people like me that like to buy a 2 year old car, but not good for GM or a new car buyer.

It is good to see retail sales of the key cars like the Malibu up, they need to get away from the fleet cars that kill resale values. Hummer down 23%, they aren't even on pace to sell 40,000 units this year. This brand can be dumped, it is going to be a big CAFE liability and the money would be better spent on Cadillac. Buick down 18.2%, on pace for under 150,000 sales this year. This brand is dying faster than it's customer base. Chevy was down 16.9%, that can't all be due to less Malibus to Avis, they need an all new Cobalt, all new Impala, and a hybrid that gets 40+ mpg city like the Prius. (The Volt could be huge, but they need a low cost hybrid also) A minivan and a better Aveo wouldn't hurt either. They should make Pontiac a fleet brand and give Chevy the product it needs. Chevy should get 2 products per year (10-12 products 5-6 year cycle) as good as the 08 Malibu.

They should actually compare the G8 to the STS, they are the same length and weight. The G8 is 5 inches longer than the 550i. The STS flopped because it wasn't as good as a 5-series (bland styling too) and was too big to handle like the smaller German cars, the same size car with a rubbermaid interior isn't a competitor to the 5-series when the STS isn't even a legit competitor. When the G8 gets 7.1 surround 14 speaker stereo, night vision, active steering, lasar cruise control, blind spot monitor, auto on/off high beams, 20-way seats, power sunshades, free maintenance, 12 year rust warranty, heated and power tilt/telescoping steering wheel, etc, etc then the discussion can begin. I would love to see GM make a 5-series competitor, but right now they don't have one. The 5-series is great to drive, but I don't care for the styling. If they finally do challenge the 5-series and E-class Cadillac will be the brand to do it. I don't think GM has the resources or guts though to make a CTS that bases at $52,000 like the E-class.

The Mustang GT vs XLR comparison is no worse than a G8 vs 550i comparison. BMW 550i drivers are probably not even considering cars under $55,000 let alone $33,000. The G8 is as fast as a 550i at less cost, a Mustang GT or is faster than an XLR at much less the cost. The 550i has more luxury features than an XLR or STS-V so to compare it to a car with an interior worse than the Malibu is not a valid comparison. Interior room does not equal luxury either, otherwise the G8 is more luxurious than a CTS, plus it is faster 0-60 so I guess the G8 is better than a CTS using Pontiac logic. Pontiac should compare the G8 to the Charger, 300, Genesis, maybe a G35 sedan.

A couple parts of it are funny, but I am not sure GM made that ad either, it seems too tacky. I don't like comparisons with cars that are not the same class, like Hyundai Genesis vs 7-series and A8 comparos. A Mustang GT is faster 0-60 than an $80,000 XLR and has more interior room, does that make the Mustang a better and more luxurious car? The 550i does 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, so the G8 isn't faster. The 550i has a nice twin turbo V8 and 8-speed automatic coming soon.

I never knew that, but Sigma is old anyway, it came out in 2002, the 5-series will have had 2 new chassis (E60 in 2004 and F10 in 2010) during Sigma's lifetime. If Sigma can't do convertibles, then they need to engineer that into SigmaII, along with some weight saving materials.

While I doubt anyone shopping for a $95,000 SL550 is considering anything from Cadillac, there has been a CTS convertible rumor for a while. I remember the dealer telling me that it was in the works a couple years ago, they also said awd and a coupe were coming, so they got 2 of those. But GM changes their minds a lot, so who knows if we'll see a convertible. They might as well built it since the XLR is supposed to get canned in a couple years. Unless they are planning on doing a BTS convertible . But they should have one in their lineup.

A Tahoe or Yukon isn't any more useful than an Acadia (aside from towing), although a better comparison is the Mercedes GL320. The Mercedes is heavy at 5300 pounds, but a Tahoe/Escalade is heavier, and both vehicles are the same length and have the same number of seats and the Benz tows over 7000 lbs and gets better mileage than the Tahoe Hybrid. 3200 pounds for a Jetta isn't bad, a Cobalt is the same and the Cobalt is all plastic. The M5 is just over 4000 lbs, a CTS-V is 4300 lbs with an automatic. The next M5 has the front part of the chassis made of aluminum (50/50 balance and cut weight) and they will use carbon fiber as well, so it should be under 4000 pounds.

The 135i does 0-60 in 4.7 seconds. Personally I find it too small and a little ugly, but the G8 with it's big 6 liter engine can't do that, the GXP version won't either. Here are the weights what you call heavy Germans (each car with an automatic, rear drive) 535i: 3703 pounds E350: 3740 pounds 550i: 3803 pounds CTS: 3874 pounds G8 V6: 3885 pounds E550: 3885 pounds Looks like the CTS is 134 lbs more than the Benz and 171 lbs more than the BMW. A Jaguar XJ which is over 200 inches long is only 3770 pounds, ah the benefits of aluminum. The G8 with 260 hp is equal or more weight than the 360 and 382 hp Germans, how sporting is the G8? GM needs to get cars on a diet. Especially the Vue and Lambdas.

I think I am on the right side more than 40%. The Vue is built on the Theta platform that launched in 2002. The 9-4X and BRX are rumored to be more midsize on Theta premium (sounds like GM marketing at work), which incorporates Epsilon 2 with the Theta platform. At the end of the day it is still a front drive geared platform based off the Vue/Equinox. That's not good enough for a Cadillac, especially if a 180 inch long Vue is 4325 pounds. What will the BRX be if it is 190 inches long and has more sound deadening and luxury features, 4600 lbs? The SRX is lighter than the Vue despite being 14 inches longer and have more equipment on board, and it is rear drive as a Cadillac should be. They are killing a good chassis for the low cost option.

The AWD Vue is 4325 pounds, the AWD SRX V6 is 4320 pounds, despite being much larger, the SRX weighs less. The SRX chassis is superior to what the BRX will ride on, and is rear drive. The front drive BRX won't ever handle like the SRX does. The SRX also has the best interior of any current Cadillac including the CTS. The SRX suffers from dated looking exterior and it looks like a station wagon. Most cars have plastic grilles, but BMW and Mercedes do not.

According to Car and Driver Cadillac really is killing the SRX, STS, DTS and XLR in the 2010-2011 time frame. 3 of the 4 renaissance cars will be gone. I am actually glad to see the DTS go, although replacing it with a Holden Caprice style car isn't much better. I was really optimistic about Cadillac in 2003-2004, it seemed like they were on the comeback, now they have just leveled off and seem to be giving up almost, and content to be like Lincoln and Acura.

Killing the STS, SRX, XLR, and DTS and replacing them with a dressed up Vue and dressed up, long wheel base G8 with V6 only power is a new beginning of greatness?