Fresh off the Boat: 2008 Pontiac G8 Arriving in the U.S.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=124400
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — With Job 1 officially behind them, the first shipment of 2008 Pontiac G8s is currently floating its way from Australia to the United States. A total of four ships will soon arrive in Northern California's Benicia port, with the first ship expected on January 28. Aboard will be 1,800 new G8 sedans, a 50/50 mix of the 3.6-liter V6 G8 and the 362-horsepower 6.0-liter V8 G8 GT.

The G8 is expected to arrive in Pontiac showrooms by March 1, with West Coast dealers likely to receive their cars first due to the San Francisco Bay Area arrival port. General Motors used the same port for the Australian-built Pontiac GTO that GM imported briefly from 2004-'06. Pontiac says it will have 7,000 G8s on U.S. soil at launch, and expects to reach an annual sales volume of 40,000 cars in a full production year.

Customers won't necessarily have to wait for the G8 of their choice to be configured on the Australian production line, but instead may choose a G8 that is already in transit. Craig Bierley, Pontiac marketing director said, "The dealers and plant are so far apart, orders would take a lot of time. Instead, we've configured cars 11 different ways, and dealers will be able to use a "tagging tool" to choose cars that are already on the boat and reduce the order lead time."

With few available options, the top-of-the-line G8 GT tops out just under $33,000.

 

Funny that I saw one on I-69N in Northern Indiana on December 26th. Pearl White, looked very nice, I couldn't see if it had manufaturer plates on it or not.

I really wonder how many folks are willing to drop $33k on a Pontiac. Its a good car in a bad brand. I bet 15K sell this year and 25k next year. The 2008 guess is partly because of the half model year.

 

how much was the 2002 WS6 going for new??

 

edit, nevermind.

But I think close to that, so this is either a waste of money or a great deal.

 

Well it is on my list when I replace my existing daily driver (couple of years).

 

Saw one outside of Detroit without manf. plates.

 

You could load up a Bonneville GXP to $43K back in 2005, so I think the G8 would be much more desireable. How much are the V6 models going for?

EDIT: Due to arrive in showrooms early next year, the 3.6-liter V6-equipped 2008 G8 will start at $27,595, and the 6.0-liter V8-powered G8 GT is priced at $29,995.

 

Back in 2005 you could knock 20% off GM stickers, how many people paid 43K for a GXP? One. or Two? Thats why if failed so quickly. Ironic that it got the same mpg's that the new G8 will get. In my trips to GM dealers this summer I noticed that GM is selling newly released cars much closer to sticker. Like only lowering the price down to GM's corporate offers.

Gas will cost twice as much this summer year than it did in the summer of2005. Thats gonna hurt sales. It will do better than the GTO. Just wont be a hit like the solstice, enclave and malibu.

Do you know someone who spent more than 30K on an Fbody? I know what the stickers said but I remember my friends wheeling and dealing. Pontiac has never sold anything in quanity over $30K. This is a big test.

 

You can't compare MSRP to actual transaction prices. That's like using golf to judge football.

Discounts and rebates are targeted to regions and even cities. On the west coast and say Florida, F-bodies most certainly didn't get the discounts as they did in the northeast. F-bodies sold for no less than MSRP right up till the day they stopped shipping them in Southern California. I just came from Serromonte Pontiac just south of San Francisco. They have a nice Grand Prix GXP on the lot. $43,000 sticker. If you go through GMAC, you might get a discount. If GM has any blanket programs on Grand Prixs, you might get a discount. However, the dealer isn't giving a discount.

I think the G8 will do very well. No, it's not going to sell at Impala numbers. But it doesn't have to in order to be very successful. 60-65% of the 100-120K Grand Prixs made annually went to fleet. That means only 35-50K actually were sold to real people from the showroom floor.

If the G8 sells at those numbers, it's a success.

 

Okay, I think you got a typo in there. A fully optioned 2008 GP GXP MSRP is $34,210 (according to Edmunds). I just about fell on the floor when I read Grand Prix and $43,000 sticker in the same sentence.
BTW, they also show a $2,000 cash incentive.

 

So much is riding on this car - more than is fair actually. GM may call the G8 a niche product and a new direction for Pontiac, but I have a feeling that unless it does really well it will be the end of the brand.

Basically, the G8 needs to do so well that GM is forced to reassess their product strategy vis-a-vis Pontiac. It's not impossible. The Enclave clearly surprised the pants off of those in GM who thought Buick would attract a buyer who wasn't over 70 and/or Chinese.

Can the G8 do that for Pontiac? Not sure. It's certainly a terrific car; however, it's not nearly as focused as the Enclave is. The Enclave hit Buick's brand character on the head. The G8 could have been that car - and almost was that car. I've read RLSEdition's posts on other boards describing the "move the needle" design Pontiac's Zeta was supposed to be.

The G8 should be more than capable of hitting 40k in sales. But unless it really does "move the needle" and essentially prove Pontiac's business case, the brand is cooked.

 

I bought a 1998 Camaro in Menlo Park and a 2002 Camaro in La Mirada (on I-5 at the LA/Orange county border). Both were acquired well below MSRP, advertized in the newspapers.

In Minnesota, on the other hand, you'd never see the Camaro in the newspaper.

 

Saw a bright red G8 GT driving on the road yesturday outside of Detroit on the way to the auto show . Man ...this car looks damn good mixed with traffic .

 

Nope. That's actually $43,000 on the sticker. It's loaded with everything, including dealer add-ons and that always pleasant "market adjustment". GXPs evidently are hard to get (no doubt harder now that it's been discontinued for 6 months), and were in pretty high demand out here. In fact, that's the only new GXP I've seen on a dealer's lot in some time.

Remember, these are the same dealers that sold $32,000 GTOs for $45K and more.

I remember going to National City's "Mile Of Cars" (San Diego) back in 2002 when I still worked there. Visited both the Chevrolet and Pontiac dealers. Every V8 F-body had a dealer markup of $3000. I recall the few V6s they had had less.

 

Dealer markups on the window sticker don't mean anything. Seriously.

Unless a car is in short supply (definitely not the case for Camaros in 2002, you should have no trouble getting one for invoice + a small percentage. And it's often possible to get it for less.

When I bought the '02 Camaro, I rode down to LA with a friend. Upon arriving in the area, we stopped at a newsstand and I bought all the local papers. There was a dealer in Irvine that had a sale -- all Camaros $2000 off sticker (under invoice). Then I stopped at the dealer with the car I wanted and said that I'd offer the price in the paper. Then there was a $1000 rebate on top of that (+ GM card + Camaro Legends Tour).