I've been thinking alot about the B-P-GMC re-alignment...and it's relationship to Holden.

Two bits of info really opened up some possibilities.

1) Holden announcing that they'll build the current VZ platform GTO, for essentially as long as Pontiac has a business case for it, even after VE production begins.

2) Denny Mooney's comments that VZ/VE cars will also be produced at a second plant (probably Korea), within 24 months, in order to meet global demand.

This means afew things to me.

The current GTO should be available to Pontiac through the end of the decade. And with a second plant coming online...who knows....maybe Pontiac may want to sell more of them. With fewer products in Pontiac's line-up, theoretically GTO becomes more important....and gets more attention.

With this added Holden volume, I also hope that Buick gets a version of the Statesman in NA. It's already sold as the Buick Royaum in Korea and China. Sell it slightly above the Lucerne, in the $30-$35,000 range.


So how does this all fit into Camaro. Well, I can imagine that Pontiac/Buick having this Holden connection, effectively unlinks the developement of a future Camaro from them. Camaro won't need to be under pressure to morph it's ponycar platform into something un-Camaro-like, in order to accommodate a Pontiac intermediate coupe and a Buick luxo-coupe/convertible.

And for Camaro fans....I think that's good news.

 

For know, I'm just glad that the Goat doesn't have an imminent death sentence - at least we've got one muscle car in our stable.

 

Great Thread.. I believe this is a very good win-win for GM's divisions.

I just am not sure what kind of "attention" the GTO would get? (When is a theoretical mid cycle enhancement due? wasn't it scheduled for 07?)

Wouldn't these improvements mean a higher cost to the consumer??

I'm gald that the GTO wouldn't be bundled with a Camaro but wouldn't that mean that the Camaro would be developed on a unique architecture and therefore make the Camaro less likely to share components with other cars and makes a business case difficult?

I'm sorry if I sound confusing it's late and my mind is pacing.

 

I wonder, with the extra attention, if a Tempest would be added to help increase some sales of the pontiac VZ car...

 

I would like to just say that perhaps the GTO will be cheaper since it will be built in Korea or China, lower labor cost. I don't predict a drop in MSRP but I do predict the profitability of the vehicle to rise and that means that production could rise as could options. One of the main reason's the GTO doesn't have a lot of options is that it would add to the overall cost of the vehicle.

So we could see more produced, with more options, while generating more profit for GM.

Anyone else see a win-win-win situation.

Also if VZ moves production or is produced along side VE (which is looking like just sedans right now) I would expect ute and wagon production to continue also. If GM were ever to bring the Ute to the US as a El Camino it would be this time.

 

What value would it be to Buikc to have both the Lucerne, and the Royaum priced slightly higher?

Seems like repetitive product to me, even if one is RWD and one is FWD.

 

The will not exist in the same time period, to redundant and remember Buick is getting reduced. But when the Lucerne (and DTS) is looking to be replaced (09-10) VE could come to the states and it would need a world class plant with high volume capability.

 

I'm assuming thats the name you want for a watered down V6 GTO. I'd think that would help the GTO at all. I'd rather see the Grand Prix be a 4 door GTO with its own sheet metal (think Monte/Impala relationship)

 

That would make sense... thanks for clearing it up for me... I'm only on my 3rd cup of coffee so far... still foggy.

 

A Pontiac GTO imported from Australia is one thing. A Pontiac GTO (potentially) imported from Korea is quite another.

 

Yeah, maybe.

Or Korean built Commodores/Luminas/Statesman/Caprices could feed Asia, South America, Middle East...leaving more potential volume for Australian built GTO's.

 

1. No one's said anything about GTO being made in Korea.
2. Holden will continue to make the VZ cars alongside the new VE car in Australia.
3. The plant Holden will be opening in Korea (and/or possibly even China) will in all likelyhood be producing the new Zeta based VE.
4. GM has imported cars from Korea before.... remember the Pontiac LeMans from the 1980s?

Regarding ced8's question about GTO's restyling, GTO was scheduled to be replaced in '07 or '08. That's now on hold for a little while, while GM redoes their strategy. You are looking at a number of possibilities:

*GTO could continue with no additional changes (outside of minor cosmetics... tail lights, grilles, etc...) till 2009.
*GM could decide to base the next GTO/Monaro on the current chassis.
*GM could base it on whatever RWD chassis they come up with for North America.

One thing is certain. If there is another GTO, it's going to have to be a coupe version of a sedan or else it's going to be made in Australia. Even if there was a lower priced version, it's still not going to blaze the sales charts. Mustang is bucking the trend with coupes. Coupes aren't selling at a level where they can be both low priced and profitable.

 

I don't think so.

 

Just to clarify, when I said based on a sedan, I don't mean it has to look like it was based on a sedan. If Chrysler can afford to do different sheet metal on their divisions, I'm sure GM can do a different design between coupes and sedans on the same chassis.

 

Agreed. However, those of us not in the Buddy Club have to "read between the lines" and come to the logical conclusion that this is a possibility.

Chinese-built Camaro?

Absolutely. Little POS econo-box. That's not to say that cars built in Korea these days are the same - far from it in fact.