Hopefully a Z28. There will probably be turbo engines in the Camaro.

 

The CTS also stickers for the low to mid $40s.

What I'm talking about is a car priced around the same range as the current Malibu, but RWD.

 

Pontiac G8. The Holden version is only about 193". For some reason, the Pontiac beak adds 3".

 

Not sightly used ones.

 

While true. We were discussing new cars, not used ones.

 

You can bet that Alpha won't be a Cadillac exclusive. In fact, I believe that sharing it with Chevy is critical to it's business plan.

 

Lordstown seems to be the name dropped alot as far as assembly plant. I've heard of coupe, sedan, wagon and convertible proposals. I4 and V6 are confirmed. 190" overall length is pretty large though. I think that Cadillac is planning something smaller - more in the 3 series range. Weight? All I know is that weight control is a TOP priority.

 

Yeah, you want to keep it to under 180". Maybe offer two different wheelbases, if a roomier one is required.

But 179", 191", and 203" seems to cover the sizes pretty well without too many models.

 

Cadillac and Chevrolet live. The rest of the brands are cut.

GM's workforce is half the size it is today. Model lines are now down to about a 3rd of that currently.

GM is now a world company and not operating as just a localised automaker.

 

The rest of the U.S. brands, I think you meant.

Personally, I don't see why GM wasted the money to do a Pontiac grille on the G8. If it were me, I'd just have changed the nameplate.

In Europe, there are four brands -- Chevy, Opel/Vauxhall, Saab, and Cadillac. I could see the same thing here. Chevys are the cheap cars. Opel/Vauxhall are nice cars for the everyman.

The Aveo would be a Chevy in Europe, but the Malibu would be an Opel. Maybe they can both live under one roof here, but not happily, unless the Aveo gets better.

 

190 would be MAX length of any of the Alpha cars, including a CUV.

203 would be way to big. Alpha would then have to replace Zeta and Sigma.
Now THAT would be amazing. I wouldnt hold my breath for that. I dont think GM could engineer ONE platform to handle 3 levels of sedan. They cant do TWO!!

 

Okay, gotcha Al. I haven't heard any talk about an Alpha crossover, but I guess you never know.....

 

I'd throw Holden into the mix of survivors. As popular as the brand is in Australia, I can't see GM dumping that division. Besides, they were the ones that saved RWD V8 cars for the rest of GM.

 

And that's where GM needs help the most.

Failure? How do you measure failure? Last time I checked, GM was saying they can't make it past December without going under. That sounds like one hell of a failure to me.

There was something Scott said that brought it all together. "Without money there is no GM". That makes ideas and dreams of doing things and going in certain directions a completely moot point. As long as GM is in this type of prediciment, Alpha (hate to say it) is in the same boat as the RWD Impala & the next gen large trucks. If it isn't cheap to do and can be used over a large number of models, it's a non starter.

The only way the Alpha will see the light of day is if it's sold as a Sigma & Zeta replacement. Something Holden and Opel would need, which would spill over to Cadillac and next gen sporty coupes. But if you try to sell it as a means for Cadillac to compete with BMW, it's dead in the water.



All these ideas and opinions are great. In a company with the cash to do it, or at least capable of financing these plans, this idea would (and did) fly. However, GM is about to get some type of financial help. There's likely to be some type of heads rolling on this. Even in the unlikely event that aid allows most everyone at the top to keeps their jobs, the money is going towards the most critical projects and top public relations projects.

If there's only enough money to choose one or the other, the Volt is going to win over the Alpha. Shutting down a couple of plants and paying off it's workers are going to win over Alpha. A restyle on the soon to be long running GMT900 will win over the Alpha. If GM is faced with a choice between spending money on matching Ford's plans to restyle vehicles every few years or financing Alpha, restyling is likely going to win. Choice between upgrading the quality of it's North American cars versus funding Alpha, Alpha wins. Choose between using the money to counter GMAC's virtural cutoff of credit to GM buyers or funding Alpha, no contest. Alpha looses.

The list goes on and on.

Again, the point is GM simply not only has no money, they have massive debt and an incredible burn rate that will accelerate the longer the credit crunch continues. If GM gets half of that 25 billion planned to bail out the auto industry, GM's share likey won't be much more than $12 billion. GM burned up more than that the 1st quarter of this year.

There's no shortage of opinions, but opinions don't make a business case.

You can pretty much bet the farm on this. Alpha is dead in the water (and probably isn't even in the pond) till at the very least GM's fortunes turn around and positive cash flow kicks in again.

 

Good idea for a new thread.

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=649993