I was doing some research, and discovered that there is yet another "exclusive" assembly plant agreement that GM has.

Oshawa has the exclusive mandate to assemble Impala, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, and the former Regal & Century.

Drawing on Ste. Therese's exclusive mandate to make Camaro & Firebird, I think I can safely conclude that when Hamtramck begins large car RWD production in about 2 years or so, we can exclude Grand Prix, Impala, and Monte Carlo from Zeta till Oshawa switches over late this decade.

Based on this, Pontiac & Chevrolet will not be using Grand Prix, Impala, or Monte Carlo names on any RWD cars in the near future (GM plans to continue making volume FWD cars after Zeta comes out).

 

What research has led you to this?

 

Exclusivity doesn't mean that they couldn't "trade" the names of the cars being produced there though.

So the platform switches from FWD to RWD on the IMpy for example... the IMpy gets made in another plant under another name, and the "new replacement" FWD platform comes out of the same old plant - no big deal.

Given the conditions of St Therese shut down, I'd think the uAW and CAW would negotiate model "shifts" in a heartbeat if it could avoid a plant closing - especially a plant with serious tooling value yet to be depreciated.

Just my .02 though... because I have seen the UAW do some DUMB things lately. I liken it to cutting off your nose to spite your own face.

 

Can't tell.

 

I am hearing the Pontiac RWD car may be the calle the G8 and teh RWD Chevy may be a Caprice...

 

with Impalla sales getting higher and higher every year, I dont think GM is gunna do away with the FWD model, just keep refreshing it and sooner then 6+ years.
I belive that a Caprice will take the large RWD/AWD model. As for Pontiac, the Bonnie name should be ready for Zeta.
and the MC is on its way out, is it not?
I dont see Zeta cars taking a huge chunk out of the sales, FWD will still be the money maker. Zeta can offer a luxury car with high quality for a low price, and major flexablity.

Will there be a V6 sports coupe for Pontiac to supply the high volume end of the GTO like the Bird was, or will the GTO be V8 only?

 

I think this is a very good thing. Now MC won't be competing for the 08 Chevy coupe. One more thing to help us get the name we desire.

 

G8 would be a good name for the Pontiac Sedan. I don't know about Caprice, I don't think that name has a good rep. I think Impala would be the best name. Maybe they could do a Malibu/Classic type thing with the FWD Impala and the Zeta car.

 

the new sedan should be called the Caprice

 

I think I am with Z28x on the Caprice name thing... not a lot of 'good' value there, and it makes me think of an old foggies car...

I think a fresh name would work here if Impala is not available.

Sounds like Chevy dealers are going to have a ton more cars on their lots than I can remember... seems liek there are additions to the lineup coming in, and fewer subtractions.

 

I can't see GM being in a hurry to move the Impala to Zeta - not right away that is. I imagine they are having fits over just restyling the car for next year - let alone a major platform change. On that one they seem to me to be a little gunshy given the success they are having with the current car.

Personally I don't have a problem with the Caprice name but I can appreciate the stodgy image the name conjures up, so maybe a new name is in order. If Pontiac goes with G8, then they will have a mix of alphanumeric and traditional names - what then is their direction in the naming scheme of things? Vibe, Pursuit (in Canada), Sunfire, G6, Grand Prix, GTO, G8, Bonneville - where's the pattern?

Talk about a lot of product, up here in Canada, Chevy already added three new nameplates - Aveo, and two that aren't on the market down south - Optra and Epica - so Chevy lots are getting pretty crowded. When is too much choice a bad thing? I would think when it confuses your customers. For the average joe, going to Chevy dealership and just picking a car looks like it may become a real chore.

 

On a related note... Pursuit is called G4 in, I believe, Mexico, because "pursuit" doesn't mean anything in the language...

That would put G4, G6, and G8 in the stable...

For the record I am not crazy about the alpha-numerics on Pontiacs... especially the two charcter ones...

Think about upgrading the G6... you will have a G6 GT or a G6 GTP... not real impressive in my book, and it doesn't stick in your mind... adding G4 and G8 to the mix makes it even worse.

 

G4, I hadn't heard of that one. Pontiac tried this back in the early eighties only to flip-flop on it because of confusion and the fact that consumers didn't really warm to the new nomeclature. (At least I think that was why they backed off the alphanumerics) T1000, J2000, 6000 but wait... they still offered Fiero, Grand Prix, Bonneville/Parisienne and Firebird.

Personally I prefer real names for cars.

 

Totally agree...

 

Image can change with a single model. Impala suddenly changed from a budget-rental car to a muscle sedan as when the '94 to 97 models were out. Enough of a change that when Impala went back to it's old self, everyone felt cheated.