Honestly, I don't think so. This is going to be a re-badge. I really hope that you can get a rear spoiler delete though.

I wonder if you'll be able to order it in different levels of trim, just like Commodore? Because the version that Wagoner pulled the cover off of, will certainly NOT be cheap. Certainly well within the SRT8 price range.

 

If this is meant to permanently replace Grand Prix in the lineup, they pretty much HAVE to offer lower trim levels, you would think.

 

Yeah, you'd think that. But there were some comments 6 or 8 months ago by Denny Mooney, where he indicated that for economic reasons, he'd push to keep G8 imports highly contented.

 

If that were to happen, I'd expect the G8 program to follow pretty much what the GTO program did, and offer very limited options as well to simplify/streamline the process.

This could really limit the car's sales. You can see this being labeled a failure just like GTO because it just narrows the market soooo much, you just won't have the volume that some peopel seem to need to see to car the car sucessful, even if it is profitable at lower volumes.

Also, they'd almost HAVE to come out with a Grand Prix replacement to sit along side this car to pick up the lost volume and market segment.... this is a bread & butter segment for a mid-range division.

And all that just seems to go against the mindset of shrinking the total number of models offered by the fringe brands like Buick and Pontiac.

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

 

I think Pontiac is looking to downsize, and let Chevrolet take over the (Utility Car).

I mean honestly, the Grand Prix and Impala were the same damn car. Let the new Malibu run in the Utility market and let Pontiac go for smaller Volume, Higher Profit, "Cool" cars.

Sounds good to me ???

 

Does it make much economic sense for pontiac to have a 'cheap' mid/full size sedan, that is if they're no longer targeting fleet buyers?

If they're trying to move in a new, truly performance oriented direction as rumours suggest, it would make sense to me for the flagship sports sedan to be just that. For example, the 04-06 GTO's interior is awesome because they didn't cheapen it up (much, except for no NAV or autoHVAC). If they took the commodore interior and did the LHD dash with typical GMNA hard textureless plastic the car would be ruined. Sure they could sell some sub $25k base model cars, but you'd kill the image of the top version by hamstringing it with the junk base model interior limitations. Kind of like the GP GXP.

 

Sounds like a plan. In no way do I see the G8 as a one for one replacement for Grand Prix - and I think GM wants it that way.

 

That's all fine and great for the enthusiast buyer.... have Pontiac be all 'cool cars' and no bread & butter...

But when you have 4-5 models, and all are kicking out a volume of 10-15,000 units each, there's not much of a 'division' left.

Don't forget, there are a lot of Pontiac dealers out there (I can think of several in my small to mid sized market area) that are stand alone Pontiac dealers.

These places will not survive without volume vehicles, and as Scott has reminded us on several occasions, GM is obligated legally to supply their dealership franchises with a reasonable spread of vehicles to sell and support the franchises.

 

I hear what you're saying. But considering that 70% of GP sale were relegated to fleet, I'd think that dealers could fill in the gaps pretty well with the combo of G6 and G8. That is, if Pontiac dealers don't screw up the G8's launch, like they did the GTO.

 

That should be optional on ALL of GM's 4 door sporty sedans. Even on the Impala, you could get a spoiler delete on the LTZ, but NOT the SS.

I prefer the CLEAN look myself.

 

Perhaps.... but if they simply make lower level G8 offerings, they don't have to be cheap worthless vehicles.

There's been a lot of debate about making the base Camaro an exciting and worth-while product that can stand on it's own. I think the same applies to..... well, really ANY vehicle line... G8 included.

Lastly, even with large fleet sales of the current Grand Prix... they are still sales, even if at a presumably lower profit margin. And if they do try to simply "fill the gaps"... I would think that Pontiac dealers, especially NOW, are looking to do more than fill the gaps in their balance sheets. They need to grow.

 

I like the High Content/Low Volume idea....give the brand some desirability. If it becomes a niche brand that people talk about, it has a chance to lend further credibility to their other brands. Chevrolet may garner some positive association from the Pontiac line-up with cars like the G8.

 

Car will be hot, but I hope they change to better wheels. Those wheels are not good.

The overall look, however, =

 

Well, I still think they should offer a V6 version. The general public doesn't all need 400hp V8's.

With that said though, I think the V6 should (as a base model) still be very well optioned.

I don't think Pontiac should offer "cheap" base models with virtually nothing like say a "base" Malibu will have.

Also, If they did offer Malibu pricing and cheap base models I don't think they could import enough of them; so that could factor in as well...

 

I agree with you... perhaps I am coming across wrong if I sound like I am saying they need cheap versions... that's not really what I am getting at. I mean something more along the lines that they need more volume from a given model. They do not really have to get into being the cheapest price-point mid-to-full size market to achieve that, IMO.