It's been a while since I've sat in an Alison-Fisher review (that's a company that charts brand identity -- among other things -- for the auto industry....) but Montana, as I recall was way down on the list....and that's why the name was dropped.

Not sure what will happen, but you can be assured that not every division will have a mini-van. Looking at the channel strategy (where Pontiac/Buick/GMC are combined under one dealership roof) it would seem --at least to me -- that GMC would probably be the other mini-van.....depending on how the mini-van market holds up. (and by the way, I have absolutely no imput whatsoever into that decision.....)
That market, as I recall, (and I could be wrong) is shrinking as many former mini-van owners either become empty nesters....or move to SUVS or cross-over vehicles. Seems I saw a study not too long ago that showed that the Chrysler Pacifica got a very large portion of its owners from Mini-vans........same with the Equinox.

 

I've noticed alot of older people driving minivans now. Like retirees in flordia. They love them. I know two older couples with them.

BTW the orginal post called the pontiac van the Montana SV6. I never knew that they dropped the name, I thought that they dropped the transport name. I would bet that the montana has more brand identity than the venture.


BTW I wouldn't bet much, we are talking minivans here.

 

From what we shown to the press the Lambda crossovers are Buick, GMC, and Saturn. That may or may not change the Minivan lineup but it could possibly.

 

IMHO, if the Buick/Pontiac/GMC group is going to have a minvan, it should be Buick.

But not the Buick minivan we have today.

Pontiac shouldn't have one... doesn't fit the desired performance image at all .

GMC, with all due respect to Scott, shouldn't have one because what is "professional grade" about a minivan? Unless you go back to an Astro/ Safari-like minivan that plumbers and electricians could legitimately use.... keep the kiddy haulers away from your "professional grade" truck division.

That brings us to Buick. The "entry-level luxury family brand"... a perfect place for a minivan, but it has to be one that is significantly different and more upscale and luxurious than the simple rebasge job that the Terazza is.... give people a REASON to WANT the Buick minivan over the basic Chevy (or Ford... or Dodge...) minivans... true distinctive luxury qualities and looks, and not a carbon-copy look of other GM minivans.

 

1. Chrysler's AWD minivans were overpriced ($35K+MSRPs). More to the point, the availability was practically nonexistant. If Chrysler had offered a full model-range of practically priced vans, they might have been successful.

2. It isn't impossible to combine a fold-in-floor 2nd row along with AWD. The big problem is that most manufacturers have lacked the vision to make it work.

 

Have you ever even turned on a Unix workstation? Didn't think so...

 

It's settled then.