An interesting point was brought up in another thread about the cars GM has.

"What about GM's bread & butter cars?"

GM is selling large numbers of cars (outside of Cadillac Corvettes and trucks) because of rebates. But as far as the non-enthusiast, non-luxury, non-truck buyer, what car does GM have that people actually want to buy?


In 1977, GM came out with their new downsized big cars. The Chevy Caprice was such a great looking car that it became one of the top sellers. Oldsmobile Cutlass was the best selling car in the US throughout the mid & late 70s, and GM didn't have to convince people to buy them. After something of a false start on the downsized G-body, the '81 redesign were some of the best looking midsize cars on the market at the time.

In the late 80s & turn of the decade, Chevy Berettas were selling extremely well. To show you how good these (and Corsicas) were, Chevy didn't really introduce these cars. They were 1st sold to rental and government agencies and GM employees (for real world testing as GM was trying to match the Japaneese in quality). The public became extremely intrested in the car, and it not only sold in large numbers on it's own merits, it's arguably the best made car from GM till Old's Aurora.

GM has things in the future planned for us performance types. But what's on the plate for the people who are going to be paying the bills for us enthusiasts? Outside of crossovers, what does GM have or plan to have?

The new Malibu is a well made car. But is it a car that people would buy without a bag of money on the hood? I drove & was impressed by the Impala last year, but it wouldn't be in the top 5 family cars I'd consider. The Monte Carlo has the entire big coupe market to itself, can fit a real family, has a very long standard equptment list, and by right should outselling the smaller and more limited utility Mustang into the ground (as midsized coupes have always done), but isn't by a long shot. Even when Ford killed off the better selling Thunderbird and the big Cougar, Monte Carlo sales didn't notibly increase.

The new management seems to be very much in tune with enthusiasts, but I feel they may be missing the general public. The Cobalt coupe looks great, and the interior is top notch. But the sedan's exterior leaves alot to be desired. The new G6 is a far better car, but I'm skeptical on it reaching the sales levels of the old Grand Am or people ever buying it because they like the looks. IMO, it would probally look alot better on if it was based on the same Epsilon wheelbase as the Malibu or Vectra instead of the streached "Maxx" version. The LeCrosse's design breaks no new "gotta have it" design ground. The upcoming Impala design seems smoother but at the same time more sedate.

The only regular GM car people seem to buy because of design instead of features is the Grand Prix. It has a hefty rebate like every other W body, but it seems to be the only family car GM makes that people seem to actually bought because they like them.

IMO, Saturn is the wild card in all this.

Chevrolet seems destined to sell on value (and rebates) over looks. Chevy has plenty of historic names, but what's the current value of them (Corvette aside)? Pontiac was trying to get away from the boy-racer look, but is looking more mundane instead (anyone notice the different grille on the Vibe?).

But Saturn not only seems poised to get the best looking of the Kappa roadsters, it may even end up with the best looking Epsilon car as well. The Ion is going to get an early redesign. I'm thinking Saturn is poised to sell far more cars per dealer than any other GM division.

The way Saturn seems to be going, if they were to add a turbo or a blown V6 to their Sky (it looks much like a shortened Corvette anyway), as well as a Camaro and a Holden Commodore to the lineup, you have the modern day version of Chevrolet from it's heyday of the 1960s & '70s.

 

1. Another Epsilon platform car is nothing to get excited about. Even the Saab 9-3 is fairly pitiful.

2. With the stink attached to the Vue and a history of passenger car sales flops, the Saturn division is hardly a success story.

1. I don't expect a 400hp twin-turbo Saturn Sky anytime soon. IF such a car was to exist, the inevitably high price wouldn't fit in with the Saturn name.

2. Transforming Saturn into a second Chevrolet division is cheaper than paying off the Saturn franchisees. It's hard to put a price on "internal competition," but killing a nameplate is expensive. Right now, that's the best arguement I can come up with for not "Oldsmobiling" Saturn.

 

Zeta can't come soon enough


Once all the G6 models come out I think it will be one of those cars that sells on it's own merits. A $20,000-25,000 Kappa Sedan would be a very attractive package.

 

People expect rebates now...

I don't think it's all that big of a deal, really.

To be honest, since so many ALL-NEW models have come out, I wouldn't be at all surprised if GM had over-inflated their originally planned MSRP's to allow them to drop rebates on them, and still make a decent profit...