The insider-info flow from Chrysler has slowed way down in the last few months, but... there is an element (which includes prominent dealers) that would like to not only keep the big cars RWD, but move the midsizers to a new RWD platform as well. I have no clue where that debate stands right now, though.

 

There are still sources at GM that INSIST that Zeta is dying. That's why the 'myth' persists.

And given that GM is known for relatively stupid management decisions, it's not hard to do the math.

Now, the same 'source' also maintained that the G8 would be short lived and that the G8 ST and G8 GXP would not come here, so go figure.

As far as Zeta, we've lost 3 cars already. The Impala was the first and that was because CAFE gave the anti-RWD people in GM, who didn't want the car anyway, enough sway to kill it. The G8 Sportwagon was killed because it messed with the business plan on the G8 ST too much and the GTO was killed, presumably for CAFE alone. But then we got the Holden 60, so who knows?

Pontiac is supposedly now being "adjusted" for CAFE which means that Zeta couls still die and that the division will probably just have a bunch of crappy FWD Chevy clones IMO.

 

Maybe this is short-sighted, but given the fact that DCX currently has more RWD volume than the others in the US, I'm not quite so ready to count them out in this market. The LY platform could languish for quite some time without major upgrades and still be a competitor, just as the Panther and B-body have done in the past.

Obviously, Cerebus or a future owner could make my words look silly.

 

Based on the speculation we've been reading in the past few weeks, it seems like GM is leaning toward stuffing 4-bangers in the RWD cars rather than nixing them altogether. And the ad effort we're seeing with the G8, coupled with the uncharacteristically quick roll out of the GXP, gives me hope that they aren't planning to get rid of it in two years.

I'm all for going the 4-cylinder route. Those engines are plenty powerful at this point, and I'd rather have a 4-banger RWD car than a V6 frontloader.

 

GM won't kill any production Zetas after only 2 years. You can probally bet the farm Camaro will last as long as sales hold up, at least till the 2nd half of next decade. G8's good till at least 2012. Cadillac and Buick's Zeta will still be around when that 35 mpg goal kicks in in 2020.

There's a contengent at GM that is, was, and will be very anti-Zeta. The G8 sedan, G8 ST, the Holden 60 coupe concept, and the upcoming Buick sedan all represent the tire tracks that ran over their insistance that Zeta was dead and that there was no way these cars would happen.

 

What is the reason for the animosity of this contingent towards Zeta and do we know who they are?