Well I think the idea is..Pontiac is a dead, profitless brand..so why would you take those cars you just rid yourself of, and move them to other brands.

That being said, Pontiac is dead because of lame cars like the G6, G8, G5, and G3..which were all bottom of their class rebadges. The Solstice though cool....was not a money maker if a remember right. The G8 however from everything I have heard DOES make money..so that would be a good reason to consider it.


Some food for thought. I have been considering trading my G8 GT for a GXP..just because if I am gonna have a G8 for several years, I want a rare one. It is really not that hard to do with all the rebates out their right now.

The one think that surpised me however is the G8 GXP auto I test drove had a $1700 Gas Guzzler tax on it despite the window sticker saying 20hwy/13 city. I think my Grand Prix GXP had the same milage on it's window sticker, and did not have a guzzler tax. I do think moving forward GM will not be allowed to make anything with a guzzler tax.

 

I stopped commenting on it because I was asked.

I'll just say the G8 isn't quite dead yet, and leave it at that.

 

2008 Grand Prix GXP is rated 16/25, 2006 GTO was rated 16/21.

Unless it is something like a ZR1 I don't think GM will be making gas guzzler tax vehicle either. Really there is no reason GM can't make all cars get at least 22mpg hwy. G8 GXP shouldn't be so much worse (5mpg) than the Camaro SS

 

I'll agree that the G5 was an absolute rebadge of a Cobalt. The G3 was basically a rebadge of the Aveo, and lame.

You can't really call the G6 a rebadge since it came out before both of the models that share its platform. I believe it was out 1 year before the Aura and 2 years before the current Malibu. GM did a decent job of making those three cars look different from eachother, unlike the Cobalt and G5 that even share the majority of their front bumper cover. I also wouldn't call the G6 lame. It's gone 5 model years without much changing, but that doesn't mean it's a lame POS. I bought a 2008 G6 because I liked the styling better than the new Malibu (nostrils up front, black interior and red interior lighting) and I could get a hell of a good deal on one compared to the Malibu in its first model year.

G8 is neither lame, bottom of its class nor a rebadge. I presume "rebadge" to mean it's very similar to a vehicle sold in another North American showroom because otherwise who cares if it's sold in another country under another name. If that's a rebadge, then the word needs to lose it's negative connotation.

 

asked by who... GM people? if so.. that's good news.

 

Maybe they need to sell through atleast most of the G8's first? Do Pontiac sales even matter to the "New GM" since Pontiac is part of "Old GM" now?

 

You probably can't answer my question, but how long would it take them to get the G8 over here? Doesn't seem like there would be any developement required, they already make the Lumina with all the Chevy badges & the G8 was already certified for U.S. sales. Would they have to do crash testing and all that again for this car? I would think the only hold up would be ordering supplies. 3-4 months?

 

I'll bet it ends up a Buick before its a Chevy.

 

Buick dealers told GM that they had no interest in a Zeta product in their showrooms.

Unless that attitude has changed there, it would be a Chevy.

 

I realize that. But it kind of goes along with GM's whole bassackwards thinking up to now, doesn't it?

 

While no one hear will say the current Impala is better than the G8 as a car, is there a business case for it? The Impala is a top ten seller in the US of all vehicles. It sells more than the Malibu. The G8 isn't even close.

What makes more money is good for GM in the short term.

 

Sure does. But even if GM pulled off a miracle and does a corporate-thinking 180*, who's to say their dealer network will do the same?

 

As vanilla and appliance-like the Imapala is, its still a fine fwd full-size sedan. I've rented them several times while traveling and wouldn't hesitate to buy one, if that were the type of car I was looking for.

 

And it will cost you less than a G8. Don't get me wrong, I didn't say the Impala was bad. It is a comfortable, inexpensive large FWD sedan that gets decent mileage.

The G8 is comfortable, more expensive, and doesn't get good mileage when you compare the two models (V6). While it run circles around the Impala at the track, most people looking to buy between the two models will pick the Impala.

The business case for making the G8 the next Impala isn't there. Make it a Lumina, you might have something. The next Impala based off of Alpha, shared with the Camaro and other vehicles, will make a lot of sense as well.

 

Actually I was agreeing with you and supporting your point. Sorry for the confusion.