Lutz was all wrong

[Ghosthawk]

Somewhere Down Under, GM still builds the kind of attitude cars that made Pontiac famous here in the USA. If Bob Lutz wanted to rebadge cars, then throw his BMW-ized alpha-numeric guff out the window and slap some Pontiac arrowheads on a supercharged demon-beast like this...

http://evoshow.com/vauxhall/2011-vauxha ... -vxr8-rear

This is the G8 we never got...the Pontiac that should have been. I absolutely loved it when there was some obvious Trans Am DNA in every Pontiac.

[99BonnevilleSE]

My God, that is the sexiest sedan I have ever seen in my life. Deer GM, bring this to the USA. There's a reason you lost 50% of Pontiac buyers... Sincerely, angry/upset Pontiac lovers.

[RJolly87]

I like the interior better on this one, seems more modern, more adventurous.

The exterior? Can I have the old one back please?

[Jrs3800]

I'd like it more with some smoother lines... But love the 4 door( Should have made that a Bonneville )...... Grrrrrr at least my cars and Van have an arrowhead....

[2002BonnevilleSE]

Nice car. Looks fast just sitting there. Interior is real nice. I want one.

[Boreas]

I will not by another GM car again unless Pontiac is brought back. Im sorry, but im loyal to the brand. You want to increase sales? Bring back Pontiac. Doesn't matter if you only have 2 or 3 cars (Solstice, G8, G6 for the common folk), as long as you don't repeat the mistake and dilute the brand with needless product that simply doesn't belong. THATS why you lost money!

[wake]

[99BonnevilleSE]

Actually, he's not the only one who feel's that way. I recently read an article that did a whole investigation and survey. At this point GM already lost over 50% of their Pontiac buyers. Then they found almost 90% would not buy another GM vehcicle unless it was a pontiac. Their main reasonings. Their agressive stlying, at an affordable price. To be honest, all the body cladding on Pontiacs made me actually like the car more The few exceptions were the G8, GTO, and Bonneville GXP. Those look great even with their lack of body cladding.

[BonneMe]

Lutz brought the GTO and G8 here... Those were his babies to put life into the brand. Pushing the solstice to production was also his baby. Frankly that's what Pontiac needs, rear wheel drive, sportyish cars, and a cobalt SS variant. Trying to compare the 04+ GP to a 3 series was a joke...

Pontiac became very dated from the late 90's onwards, and had a nice spurt of life the last 5 years.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Agreed, "Driving Excitement" would be a lot better as a niche brand at select GM dealerships. Big V8-powered RWD sedan and a little convertible with gobs of power and good handling with a well-sorted shifter.

[1oldman]

I think all the above opinions are why we purchased a Pontiac, at least it is for me. And yes, that is one good lookin' Vauxhall/Holden. I want one too. - BC


EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_VXR8
http://www.holden.com.au/buildprice/sav ... 8458007159

[00Beast]

FWIW, Pontiac hadn't been in the black since the 70's....

That car is sweet, but would be much better if it didn't have so much going on externally, and didn't try looking like an Evo. The front fender cutouts are the only thing I'd keep, the rest would be smooth and one color, with some nice cutouts for the exhaust tips.

[Grapes]

i ONLY buy pontiac GM cars, the rest are junk to me.

i inherited my dads 79' Trans am, i WISH they could bring the T/A back so i could buy my own new one.

ass soon as they went under and i got the bonneville i have now, me and my whole family moved on, now that are cars need replacing and we really only bought pontiacs my mom ditched her grand prix and got an acura, my sister sold her even older grand prix and now has a sporty civic, and my younger bro sold my sunfire and got a 08' Rav4
so theres 4 people, 3 in one household that they lost as customers.
i dont look at chevy because i would buy ford, same with GMC, i'd just go ford,

[Ghosthawk]

I voiced my feeling about the demise of Pontiac last year in a blog post...

http://tobthebat.wordpress.com/2010/04/ ... the-chief/

I honestly think half of my disdain for the new Camaro is because of the death of the Firebird...and for those who claim in-house competition is the cause, then why bring the GTO? Especially since Lutz's original plan was the build both the Camaro and the GTO on the common platform.

Those in the automotive press have always panned the Pontiac style calling it "boy racer" and what not, but as long as there are outrageous cars like the Evo, WRX, GT-R, Shelbys, and other such bold hardware, I'll forever be conviced that the Pontiac "attitude" could have done well if marketed properly. Obviously the boys Down Under still appreciate a car with some shouty arrogance...and a supercharged V8 to back it up!

[1oldman]

FWIW, Pontiac hadn't been in the black since the 70's....

That car is sweet, but would be much better if it didn't have so much going on externally, and didn't try looking like an Evo. The front fender cutouts are the only thing I'd keep, the rest would be smooth and one color, with some nice cutouts for the exhaust tips.

I am curious what that says for Buick/Cadillac. Total units sold by PMD is almost 2x's the number of Buick Motor Division + Cadillac Motor Division in 2008 and again in 2009. Buick and Cadillac can't be profitable. It would have been easier to make PMD profitable than CMD and BMD, no? or is that an inaccurate guess? - BC

[00Beast]

Buick is huge in China, and Cadillac is a high profit-margin company. They can get away with reduced sales for Caddy, and they're not gonna kill Buick here and keep it in China. That would be even more confusing.

[Ghosthawk]

Actually they could, since Chinese law requires any foreign automaker to partner with a domestic Chinese company, they could build Buicks for the China market and still build Pontiac sister cars here. They already produce similar platforms and models in Europe under Opel and Vauxhall marques.

I think it came down to GM thinking that Pontiac was too much domestic competition for Chevrolet, especially in the performance car areas. Try as they may, i cant remember the last time I saw a Chevy that got my blood rolling. The SS Monte was OK, but it still suffered from a woefully drab interior.
The new Camaro convertible has a dash of spice, but I can never look at one without thinking of a GTO that might have been, or the Trans Am that should have been.