thegriffon

1.8 I 4s Lada 1.774 8V SOHC 80.5 hp 102 lb-ft Chery 1.845 16V DOHC 130 hp 125 lb-ft BYD 1.839 16V DOHC 120 hp 118 lb-ft (Mazda design) Chrysler 1.798 16V DOHC D-VVT 148 hp 125 lb-ft (GEMA) Mercedes 1.796 16V DOHC D-VVT 122 hp 140 lb-ft FAW 1.765 16V DOHC 118 hp 118 lb-ft (in development) FAW 1.796 16V DOHC VVT 134 hp 125 lb-ft Haima 1.839 16V DOHC 121 hp 118 lb-ft (Mazda design) Haima 1.839 16V DOHC VVT 134 hp 133 lb-ft (in development, different bore x stroke) Fiat 1.747 16V DOHC VVT 130 hp 121 lb-ft Ford 1.796 16V DOHC 113 hp 118 lb-ft Mazda 1.798 16V DOHC VVT 124 hp 123 lb-ft Mazda 1.789 8V SOHC 94 hp 100 lb-ft (archaic, but still in use) Geely 1.762 16V DOHC 111 hp 116 lb-ft (ancient Toyota engine) Geely 1.792 16V DOHC VVT 137 hp 127 lb-ft GM Daewoo 1.796 16V DOHC 119 hp 125 lb-ft (GM Europe design) GM Brasil 1.796 8V SOHC 107 hp 119 lb-ft GM Brasil 1.796 8V SOHC 110 hp 128 lb-ft FlexFuel GME 1.796 16V DOHC 123 hp 122 lb-ft GME 1.796 16V DOHC D-VVT 138 hp 129 lb-ft GMH 1.799 16V DOHC 120 hp 122 lb-ft (big block) Honda 1.799 16V DOHC VVT 136 hp 127 lb-ft Hyundai 1.795 16V DOHC 128 hp 120 lb-ft Mitsubishi 1.834 16V DOHC 138 hp 123 lb-ft Peugeot 1.749 16V DOHC 123 hp 125 lb-ft Nissan 1.797 16V DOHC 126 hp 130 lb-ft Renault 1.784 16V DOHC 118 hp 122 lb-ft (for Proton) SAIC (MG) 1.795 16V DOHC 133 hp 122 lb-ft Suzuki 1.796 16V DOHC 123 hp 125 lb-ft Toyota 1.797 16V DOHC D-VVT 132 hp 128 lb-ft VW 1.781 8V SOHC 102 hp 112 lb-ft The only NA 1.8 producing more power, currently in production, is the World Engine 1.8 in the Caliber. The latest GM engine is a smaller, cast-iron block. Both are DOHC Dual-VVT engines, still rare (the Mercedes and new Toyota are the only other 1.8s). High-output or turbocharged 1.6s and 1.4s are the preferred option in new vehicles (BMW/Peugeot, GM, VW, Ford etc.)

Well, that certainly explains why the 128 hp Corolla and 138 hp Civic are so very popular. It must be all that extra power.

This model (J300): AutoReport (third paragraph). The Aveo replaces the NA Cobalt at Lordstown in 2010, so sometime in 2009 in NA I would expect.

Anything taxed people will try and get tax-free. What do you think the Secret Service does all day? It is a unit of the IRS.

Getting stoned on alcohol may be worse, at least in the sort term, but not drinking. With marijuana though, there is no point taking it unless you're trying to get stoned. If the loss of control in getting stoned is not bad enough then the long-term health consequences from abuse are just as bad, and usually worse in terms of mental health. This is not propaganda from "the man", it is real. Like other hallucinogens, marijuana damages your ability to tell fantasy from reality, causing paranoia and schizophrenia long after you stop using. Alcohol may have a more immediate effect, and cause other long-term health problems from over-indulgence, but long-term metal health issues from acute vitamin-b deficiency requires a severity of abuse that most people can't manage, even as alcoholics.

I'm sorry, but besides having four doors, how does this look like a Malibu? Some people are clutching at straws in their hate of GM. The company has an uphill battle in NA. You gotta wonder if it will ever pay off. At some point you gotta cut your losses and shut everything down to focus on export production like the Chevy MPV.

You forget Skoda and Seat, which do overlap with VW, and in Europe, even Audi (for the same size models).

Alpha doesn't arrive till c2013, a generation after the EPII sedans.

There is no such thing anymore. There used to be an old, old J100 Daewoo Nubira, which was replaced by the J200 Daewoo Lacetti. Only in the UK was that car briefly known as the Nubira, and it is now Chevrolet Lacetti throughout Western Europe. Outside Europe the J200 is most commonly known as the Buick Excelle (which recently received a major MCE so that it is now much different to the standard J200), and most widely as the Chevrolet Optra (Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America). The next generation J300 will probably be universally known as the Chevrolet Cobalt (global trademark filings by GM back this up). A distinct Buick version for Chinese markets is also in development. The Daewoo version (the only one which may keep the Lacetti name) will be unveiled in Korea later this year with a Korean-built version of the new 1.8 Dual-VVT engine from the Astra and a Hydramatic 6-speed auto. Nowhere will it be called the Nubira except in the minds of senile autowriters still living in the '90s.

You will probably get the two compact SUVs as well (a Chevy and an Opel/Saturn, around Tiguan/Patriot/HHR-size). Other variants which may not make to the US include at least one 5-seat B/C-MPV (Meriva, growing to Scenic/PT Cruiser/xB size judging from the concept), a compact LCV (Combo, like the Transit Connect), a 2-seat roadster (Tigra), a compact pickup (Montana/Tornado), a Corsa sedan etc. There is also a wide range of rwd compact and subcompact minivans and commercial vehicles being developed in China under the Wuling brand.

Beat, Groove and TRax aren't Gamma, they sit the size class below Gamma.

Which only means that's what they've read elsewhere the same as you have. It's not an expert opinion based on facts you're not privy to.

The Astra is nearing there end of it's life cycle, and is an old product with an interior that shows it. The new one is already close to production ready and has been seen in testing. It should debut in early 2009 for sale in the US by 2010 IIRC (but no sedan in the US? Come on!).

And the Fusion and Taurus aren't being flogged like mad to Hertz and co? Of course they are. The comparison remains valid. Pontiac is still a major division, despite losing model after model. At the moment it is being starved of investment while they try and build profitability. They can't afford to cut it, and they can't afford to let it wither, hence the rebadged Cobalt and Chevy to replace the G6. GM needs the revenue Pontiac gives to fund the other divisions. You can't keep cutting divisions until your marketing costs match your revenue, because your revenue will just keep falling, and falling, and falling, until you can't even support one division. It's no solution. GM needs to build product margin so that that they can market each division adequately, but they can't do that while they persist in a moronic attempt to market everything one segment below where it should be, thus avoiding consideration by people looking for a product in that segment (because GM makes it invisible) and the one they are targeting (because it's too big). The higher pricing of the new Malibu and the cutting of the "Value" G6 is a step in the right direction, but they have a long way to go (once again the G8 was priced too low, by $3-5K), and it's unclear whether the market will return in time no matter how good the product and the reviews. Too many people still refuse to consider GM. Enzl, how is a stripped, rebadged Cadillac any less affordable to GM than a loaded, rebadged Chevy?

Actually if GM can't give Pontiac the product it needs they should sell it to the dealers and SAIC Motor—they may be fwd, but at least the Roewe 550 would make a better Pontiac than none at all.

The dealers know this already, why do you think the Solstice and G8 had $3K "market adjustments"? PCS won't become unemployed unless management realize they're being deliberately mislead—he's in GME remember, and that is making money and gaining share, with products that are correctly priced and targeted. Only GMNA and Holden are in danger.

Nope, there will continue to be rebadged Chevys and the Solstice after that, but it will be mostly Buick-GMC. Of course everything could change now that CAFE has breathed new life into rwd, but I don't think that will stop ideologues like PCS preaching the anti-rwd, anti-Holden, Anti-Pontiac propaganda to the leadership in GMNA or GME because of that. Sieg Heil!!!

It looks that way, but not because senior managers plan it but because lower ranks such as PCS are fighting their own shortsighted wars that will kill the company if they continue. Fire them all.

Alpha doesn't arrive till after the 2nd-gen G6 runs out, but will currently be a Buick, not a Pontiac (dumbasses—at least restyle and retune it as a Pontiac for NA).

The 2nd Gen G6 is a rebadged Chevy (not the current Malibu, but the Epislon 2 car).

It means one of two things: 1) Pontiac will eventually die (not on purpose, but through dumb-ass decisions, although there are people who are deliberately misleading management to arrange that). 2) Pontiac will offer a mix and continue to be a 'compromised' brand, not for the sake of CAFE, but because of the need for volume and the lack of money. GM doesn't have the money to support Pontiac, but without Pontiac's volume doesn't have the money for anything else either. The solution is rebadged Chevys and Toyotas, but it should be stripped, rebadged Cadillacs (at closer to current Cadillac prices). PCS has made it clear that there are people, such as himself, within GM who are dedicated to consistently misleading or outright lying to GM's senior management (including CPF) in order to undermine certain divisions or programs. Not surprisingly this is crippling the company's ability to adapt to market conditions. GM needs to realize this and conduct a ruthless purge of such people if it is to survive in NA at all. Stupid decisions such as marketing a midsize Cadillac as a rival for luxury compacts, large crossovers as midsize crossovers, midsize crossovers as compact crossovers (at midsize prices), abandoning midsize SUVs in favor of large SUVs etc., need to be corrected before the company considers cutting brands. For crying out loud, I can lay out a focused and targeted product plan for all of GM's brands without spending any more money than they will already.

Bull$h!. It's sad, even more so because it doesn't "have" to happen, but probably will.

If new products in the pipeline can't restore GM's finances, and improve market perceptions, then one brand is what you may very well wind up with in the long term, and that a dismal third in the US market, with three cars, two crossovers and one compact pickup.

Enzl—are you aware that the G6 still consistently outsells the Malibu, or that Pontiac's cars models have consistently beaten Ford's in retail sales (in a one-on-one match up, G6 v Fusion, Grand Prix v Taurus)? Unfortunately GM has not figured out that Pontiac does better when it offers less bang for the buck than Chevy. Prices need to be around $3K higher, with product to match, and in the midsize segment, with a smaller, sportier car to boot. The division needs a premium compact, not the Vibe or G5, a premium lower midsize model priced above the larger Chevy etc.. They don't need to be rwd, but it would help. There is plenty of room for Pontiac, and the brand better matches NA requirements than a conservative smaller Buick (which is what you'll probably get instead). Does GM have the money? Maybe not, but cutting the brand won't solve that problem and will only shrink GM's share further. Cutting brands to match market share only leads to less and less share until they can't support even one brand adequately in the US market.