I'm just going to build my own Firebird.

 

Capri
Cougar
Fairmont
Fox Zephyr
LTD
Marquis
xR4Ti

etc etc etc.

 

I remember somebody built a Chevelle SS out of a Monaro? GTO but i cant remember a link to it.

 

I'm certainly repeating what has already been mentioned here, so feel free to ignore me (but please don't ) but here is my shot at the gripe that most of us have.

I would love a Firebird, but understand the wish to avoid product overlap with an ever tightening market and an ever tightening budget. In fact, it's laudable. What makes this a slap in the face, especially to those who have a penchant for Pontiac, is that GM went and spends money on seemingly less deserving projects. he first that comes to mind is Solstice/Sky. Yes I've heard, it wasn't that much money, but I can't imagine it making any more of a return than would a Firebird. Yes, I've heard that GM wanted to increase volume, but the Solstice being sold out indicates that it could have made the volume by itself, and a doubling of a low volume car in any case does not constitute terribly much on the bottom line, and I in fact recall reading that the profit margin goes down once volume reaches a certain point.

I don't want to get caught up in a Solstice/Sky argument, because it is in fact just one example of GM's continued love affair with rebadging. The fact that GM will rebadge a Cobalt, a Trailblazer, a Subaru WRX, a Colorado, and an Uplander, but then say no to one "rebadge" that has a very distinct identity and following says to me that GM management still is going in 14 different directions in this regard. That is what frustrates me, and I beleive many others here.

Again, if GM is dedicated to brand differentiation and cutting overlap, by all means make a GTO and a Camaro and I'll buy one or the other and drool over both. But don't commit to this theory unless you're really going to commit to it. If not, then give us a Firebird to share the showroom with the G5, which looks really frightening in person, btw.

 

Trucks can overlap because trucks sell exponentially more than coupes. . You can sell two identical products when you've got half a million buyers and they're all willing to pay out of the ***.

G5 is NOTHING more than a cobalt with a Pontiac front. Im quite sure if the new Firebird shared everything save one body panel with Camaro you wouldn't be too satisfied.

 

There is no Firebird planned. But like Scott says, (not on this subject, but in general), never say never, 'cause never is a long time.

 

From Automotive News http://autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar.../1128&refsect=

That doesn't sound like a "dead issue that is totally out of the question" to me.

 

You can argue with me about individual products until you're blue in the face. The bottom line is that General Motors still has absolutely no policy against rebadging and still does many unwise ones, making the absolute prohibition on Firebird rather arbitrary.

 

They do have a policy on it.

They'll do it if they think it will sell enough. They dont think a Firebird will sell enough.

What else is there to say?

 

But that's just it - how can the 9-7 possibly sell more than the Firebird? How about the 9-2x? The projected totals for Sky and Solstice hover around 40,0000 - about equal to Firebird in its worst years.

Again, I'm not pointing this out to be one of those "hawk on the hood or else" people. It's just funny that people are saying Firebird doesn't make the cut on GM's rebadging policy when they very clearly don't have one (to their great detriment). It's like some fat guy saying that he can't eat that cake because he's watching his weight as he downs 4 ho-ho's.

 

Gotta start somewhere.

There are at least a few people who look twice at a Trailblazer but consider an "import" like a 9-7. They share most everything so it was also dirt cheap to make, like G5/Cobalt.

Again, you havent piped up and said you would be happy with a Firebird that was more of a clone than 4th gen.

 

Yup. It's good that we seem to have someone on the inside. I also maintain that a sleek and futuristic Firebird would be a great counterpoint to the more retro themed ponycars that are in the pipeline and avalable.

 

I'm gonna make a few points

A) Rick Wagner said himself that GM is going to reduce Pontiacs lineup over the next few years.

B) The redesigned GTO is going to fill most of the market that higher level firebirds would anyway.

C) Why would pontiac, a company this is going to be streamlined over the next few years, have 2 RWD performance coupes based on the Zeta platform in addition to the G6 and solstice? Its just not a legitimate business case!

I still vote that they make an aggressive appearance package that includes a hood, body, spoiler, interior trim, and a screaming chicken on the hood. And call it Camaro Phoenix Ed. or something similar.

GM is one company people!

 

See my post above. Rick Wagoner himself said he and John Larson have spoken about it in the last few days. In addition, since 2005 the Pontiac division has lost 1. Pontiac Bonneville, 2. Pontiac SV6, 3. Pontiac Aztek, and the Pontiac Sunfire all with no replacement until they realized that the P-B-G channel needs a small car to cultivate young buyers. (enter G5 for '07)

The GTO doesn't fill a Firebird anything anymore than the SSR filled a Camaro anything. The cars have two different missions and purposes in life. We know nothing abot the next generation GTO, but the current one is heavier and more expensive than the f-body, and I would expect the next to be the same. Six cylinder cars add cost reducing volume, and intoduce a younger, less affluent buyer to the brand.

Perhaps because it already HAS been streamlined and is now working to reclaim its title as GM's performance division, by selling performance cars.



You are correct, which is why GM should not starve its other divisions to boost Chevy's ego. Kill Buick, Pontiac, GMC Saab, Hummer and your new GM consting of Chevy and Cadilac has a 16% market share, more job cuts, and a structure that can not make money at those production levels

 

Mercury Capri