FUTURE_OF_GM

KUDOS!!! About the interior! This is one of GM's best vehicles and they need to fine tune it enough to sell it well and let the public experience it. I certainly hope the "sport" model doesn't look like the cheap ass Sema show vehicle of a couple years ago.. It was HORRIBLE looking and had a Target store sheap personna.

The new nose (on the C6) does seem a little taller, so would hood clearance NOT be an issue now?

I think it's pretty cool... A bit too much? Sure, but then again, look at the market we're dealing with.

AH-HA also religiously said that there was no Camaro concept... Now, keep in mind that I never doubt what AH-HA says, especially pertaining to this particular subject and he is probably THE best source we have. I'm merely playing devil's advocate.

GREAT!!!! The dealers bitched enough to get a damn Cobalt clone that'll do nothing but STEAL sales away from the Cobalt while slowing it's overall momentum and deteriorating Pontiac's image just a bit more. If it's going to be priced near the Cobalt SS (Not SC/SS) then the performance quotient isn't there. Now THAT would be FREAKIN' SWEET!!! as long as it didn't LOOK just like the Cobalt that is. OH!!! COME ON NOW!!! We all know that NATURALLY the Civic would STILL be better because it's bolts are double plated stainless... Just like in C&D's cheap speed shoot out, the SRT-4 Cobalt SS/SC and Ion RL were ALL cheaper and ALL mopped the damn floor with the RSX, yet weren't good enough to claim first over it. (The reader backlash was GREAT BTW!!!)

Hey... No joke guys, this month's Motor Trend asserts that Toyota's "Goodwill" in opening a facility in Michigan will 1) reduce animosity toward the company (a.k.a. screw detroit some more) and 2) Persuade the "Motown Insiders" to give the new Tundra glowing press. No joke... It's actually printed in there this month!

EXCELLENT ARTICLE!!! GM NEEDS TO; HAS TO realign it's divisions to where EVERY ONE is relevant... AND THEY CAN. The question is; WILL THEY or will they waste time and watch one or two other storied and priceless franchises go under? I have put a lot of thought into it and I think GM should modify the Sloan model to look like this: Chevrolet/Buick: These are the cars for the common people. Chevrolet, the volume division would do the exact same thing it does now, sell to everyone. Buick would become the common man's luxury car, not as luxurious as a Cadillac and not really sporty, just a nice, VALUABLE offering that conveys success and style. Pontiac/Cadillac: These are the car companies for ENTHUSIASTS. Pontiac would sell in LOWER volume than Chevrolet and appeal to people more enthusiastic about style and performance. BUT, it would still hve to remain affordable. Cadillac would be the PINNACLE of GM and cater to the enthusiast (I'm using that term broadly: as in; a person who is more interested in a car as what it is, not an appliance) Cadillac would obviously be higher priced, more exclusive and lower volume than Buick. Saturn/Saab: This would be the european arm of the operation. While the true draw of an asian car is quality, something that ALL GM cars should have, ask ANYONE with a pulse and they'll prefer the driving experience of a European car. Therefore, those style concious, technology loving people would go through this channel. Saturn would be the affordable mas market offering and Saab could be the techy, upper level offering. It would be three DIFFERENT, MORE FOCUSED channels for consumers to go into. This would result in a greater variety of offerings, would enable GM to react more quickly to market needs and would hopefully keep the brands from fighting/getting confused over where they are among MANY other advantages. The OLD sloan structure can NEVER be realized in todays market.. It's just too much, the competition is TOO fierce and the divisions are too muddled. Personally, as it stands now, I'm not a fan of eliminating divisions as I think that's not wise... GM's divisions ARE NOT AS STRONG as divisions from Toyota or Honda. Therefore cutting 5 of 8 divisions is SUICIDE. What GM needs to do is define a direction for all of their brands... Cadillac needs to go UP MARKET, even if it forsakes volume. That would then give Buick room to breath and thrive. Cadillac should be GM's margin over volume division while Buick can be the volume luxury division... For example; there is NO WAY that a Lucerne and a DTS should EVER be cross shopped. Chevrolet is THE volume division, so why not make Pontiac TRUE TO IT'S MISSION as the EXCITEMENT DIVISION by limiting volume yet producing AWESOME performane cars. Then Saturn can have a moderate to large line up to go after hard core import conquests and Saab can sell to euro intenders. GMC is fine... It's sells fine and makes plenty of money and Hummer is so limited that it is nothing more than a profit maker. But, alas, if GM were to ONLY offer 2 to 3 divisions, then I and many others wouldn't really have a reason to buy GM. I don't WANT to have the same, GENERIC, BASIC '15 billion sold--and in the same color' car as everyone else. That's one of the whole reasons I haven't been an asian car fan. And I think relinquishing gained ground without even putting up a fight (a.k.a. ground that you'll never see again) is a very dumb business move that has been constructed by those without GM's best interest at heart.

According to everything I've read the MKS will in fact replace the LS in about a year (Well, toned down naturally)

Absolutely... Any POSITIVE news is needed right now... The Camaro will generate good PR and excitement and the Blue Devil will be a shining example of Gm's commitment to PUSH TO BE THE VERY BEST. If you take the Supercharged N* scenario into account, this would make A LOT of sense... Both of those cars lost displacement due to durability issues.

I love that interior! Not bad!

YAY!!!! Another Quest rip off!!!

GM: New 3-door Aveo!!! STAT!!!

Still LOVE the car... It's only gotten better. I think the interior is probably one of the best I've ever seen. And the new name SUCKS!!! But I LOVED the Zephyr name.

OMG!!!! WTF were they smoking??? The interior is gorgeuos though (as usual)

WTF???? I didn't think they could make it any more hideous... Guess I was wrong.

I think it's cool as hell... (If you we're into classic Chryslers, you'd understand) And it'll sell as many as they make just to classic fans.

A new grille? That's it right?!?!

A checkbook with 6 digit figures to the press??? But Nissan isn't Toyota. First of all; the 'baggage' is a non issue... The media will be SURE to take care of that... I mean, after all, it's not like TOYOTA gets mild failures from 30 years ago THROWN into thir faces nd over exaggerated like GM does. Secondly, the media will take care of the dependability too by hyping Consumer Reports. Not for long... The propaganda has already started to print. Who the hell knows honestly??? Snob status..... Owning a series of plastic chromw "T's"???? (Every american's dream) Looking cool in front of librarians and failed teachers???? Who knows? Certainly wont be mentioned though... And I'm sure it miraculously works with "more precision and smoothness" in the Toyota. Oh really?!?!?! You must be one of 3 people that know of it!!!! Not like the media tried to ruin it's sales (Like they did the Silverado/Sierra's a couple of years ago over this issue) I'm sure it'll be hush, hush... And I'm sure no one will sue. Gee golly, it's good 'ole innocent Toyota after all.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF BEING A GM FAN!!!!!!! SUCKS!!! Don't it???!?!?!?!? Doesn't matter.... We all know HOW the chips will fall. That's a cue to the media and analysts to turn up the propaganda war another notch... How do you sell to american-loyal truck buyers???? You TELL them that your an american company (Which has already began--the Toyota PR team began this 2-3 years ago) What's sad is; most of america is too STUPID to know the truth, just like they don't know that GM and Ford contribute MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more to this economy than Japan Inc. Get ready!!! Just like the Ford interior presence, this interior will be twisted in some way to where GM gets the $h! end of the stick and Toyota smells like a rose. Example: "Well, at least with Toyota, you don't get the same million other copies interior shared with SUVs treatment as in the Silverado."

What a surprise... (See my first post) Can't WAIT to hear the media JUSTIFY this after years of BELITTLING the domestics for "OLD TECH" pushrods... I'm sure it'll be all good in Toyota land... Oh and this truck "doesn't have to out do the 900's, just be competitive" What about all of those GM products that are BITCHED at for being "just competitive" with Toyota products?!?!?!?! Another double standard.

Not that it matters all that much... I mean, look at the HORRIBLE Civic and Ridgeline interiors, yet all we read is kudos.. Aparently interior quality or appearance doesn't count if it's a "transplant" Overall, the Tacoma has NOT been a success... Just like ALL of Toyota's truck efforts thus far. And they're probably up 30% for January because of RAMP UP of the new model this time last year. I'm sure Toyota didn't tell you that though.. And they probably threw in a few Scion sales somehow to make things look good. MY POINT EXACTLY!!!! (See my above post) It doesn't matter if the truck ACTUALLY sucks as bad as most Toyota trucks of the past. Perception is reality and Detroit is as good as dead. That's because Toyota has been trying to GROW in Canada for a couple years now. It's the PR machine at work... What's sad is; I bet all those GM employees will be right out there buying a new Rav4 as soon as GM cuts them their checks. Money talks... Doesn't matter that a lot of those readers are employed by GM... The people on top don't care about the little people, yet the little people still do as they're told. Of course, ALL of the media is (mostly voluntarily) at the side of Toyota, after all they have to displace evil GM and Ford with someone. Damn Ford and GM, made those people buy a starter for their 1970 domestics... HOW DARE THEY!!! IT'LL COST THEM DEARLY!!! Yeah.. whatever... You're LIEING to yourself if you don't think this piece of junk will be successful. DOESN'T MATTER if the merits are there or not.

LOL...GREAT! Well, I guess that means that GM truly is dead... I mean, afterall, evok LOVED the Ridgeline and so did 110% of the media apparently. Oh well, the truck is god aweful (Although I'm sure we'll be sold on it judging by responses like this) In fact, I'm sure the media was fainting all over themselves to hump the fender or something. And I'm sure it'll get MT, C&D, CR, NA, Automobile, Edmunds, Bob's, Tony's and Dewayne's truck of the year nods with a parade of press righteous and glorious enough to make us vomit harder than a kid that swallowed draino. Sell the lie, seal the fate. That's the motto.

I think I like the sedan version better. I like the roofline better.

You know... I actually REALLY like that interior in Empowah's post!

OF COURSE!!!! I forgot... Toyota quality is a given!!! We don't even need to measure it anymore... LOL... Yep, because we all know the CTS wasn't well received. Oh, and wait till you see the new CTS... If GM sticks with what I've seen, to hell with this L branded plebian Camry. LOL...Unbelievable... I guess the argument HAS moved to "MY import is better because it's newer now" BTW, isn't this V6 the same one that they've been boring out for 3 generations now??? (I could be very wrong--I seem to fall asleep when trying to get excited about Lexi.) LMMFAO!!!!!! Sounds like just as BIG of an excuse as being discriminatory against domestics because of FALSE pre-conceived notions of interior plastic and it's inferiority... Yeah... okay.... Let's all remember that the fresh supercharged V-Series N* isn't all that special or impressive... Yep, I'm from Mars personally. Gee, mostly GM fans on a GM fan website.. who'd of thunk it? LOL... Yep, not buying everything the media or Toyota puppet masters tell us for gospel and the end all be all is the mentality here. Yet, just because we won't subscribe to the "Toyota is better than GM and always has been/always will be and GM must suffer because of this" mentality, you guys find it cool to condescend to us all. No worries though... I'm a type A personality (as if it wasn't obvious) I LIVE to be challenged and argued with, in fact I enjoy it WAY too much.