Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
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Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Full-size sedan is a tough sell these days
November 25, 2004
BY JIM MATEJA
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
What was to have been the last piece of the puzzle has become the puzzle.
Pontiac mapped plans to revamp its product portfolio by 2006. But where the full-size Bonneville sedan fits is a problem.
"We'll build Bonneville through the '05 model year but beyond that we aren't sure what we'll do," Pontiac-GMC General Manager Jim Bunnell said in an interview.
The swing to sport-utility vehicles and crossovers has reduced the ranks of domestic full-size sedan offerings to the Bonneville, Buick LeSabre, Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis.
But more telling is the fact that Bonneville sales have steadily slipped from a high of 96,000 units in the 1995 model year to 27,000 in the first 10 months of 2004.
"We keep asking what direction to take beyond '05 and if we should have a full-size sedan or a crossover like the Nissan Murano instead," Bunnell said.
"There might not be room for a full-size car. There's a lot of other things we could do with the money. Crossovers may be what we need to watch and where we need to react, perhaps a Pontiac or a GMC crossover or both," he said.
One possibility is to produce the next-generation Grand Prix sedan and a successor to Bonneville off the same platform and make the Bonneville successor a crossover.
That's what Cadillac does in producing its compact CTS and midsize STS sedans and SRX sport-utility off the same rear-wheel-drive platform.
If Pontiac goes that route, it's also possible the next-generation Prix and Bonneville successor would switch from front-wheel drive to rear- or all-wheel-drive.
Bunnell said the latter is under strong consideration for the Grand Prix, and all-wheel drive would set the stage for a crossover successor for Bonneville.
Here's one vote for the option that gives the Snow Belt another all-wheel-drive car and crossover.
General Motors plans more rear-drive vehicles. It wants, for example, to build the next-generation Pontiac GTO in North America.
By doing so, Pontiac would cut out the time it takes between producing the GTO at GM's Holden subsidiary in Australia and shipping it to the United States. GTO is a derivative of the Holden Monaro.
Holden stopped building '04 GTOs and converted to '05s at the end of September, but the '05s won't arrive in the United States until late December or early January.
Shipping is the reason '06 GTO production would begin in May so the '06s will arrive in the traditional fall timeframe.
The GTO is a low-volume, 12,000-unit model, so having other rear-drive cars built alongside it here would ensure steady production at the plant.
Stay tuned.
Another plan is to use more alphanumeric designations rather than names. For example, the replacement for the Grand Am is the G6.
"We're looking closely at G5 or G8 designations. Lexus (ES330) and Infiniti (Q45) have done well with it," Bunnell said, hinting that the next-generation Prix could be the G8.
Here's one vote for keeping names rather than cold and impersonal alphanumerics.
ENVOY XUV DAYS NUMBERED?: The future is in doubt for the GMC Envoy XUV, the SUV in which the rear roof opens to convert it into a pickup to haul tall items.
"We're selling a couple thousand a month -- not the extent we thought. Perhaps we oversubscribed on this product," Bunnell said. GMC had expected sales of more than 2,000 a month.
"When people look at a five-passenger XUV and a seven-passenger Envoy XL, they vote for carrying more people and say, if they have to haul more cargo, they'll borrow a truck. There's enough sales to keep it for now, but we'll keep an eye on it for the long term."
Full-size sedan is a tough sell these days
November 25, 2004
BY JIM MATEJA
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
What was to have been the last piece of the puzzle has become the puzzle.
Pontiac mapped plans to revamp its product portfolio by 2006. But where the full-size Bonneville sedan fits is a problem.
"We'll build Bonneville through the '05 model year but beyond that we aren't sure what we'll do," Pontiac-GMC General Manager Jim Bunnell said in an interview.
The swing to sport-utility vehicles and crossovers has reduced the ranks of domestic full-size sedan offerings to the Bonneville, Buick LeSabre, Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis.
But more telling is the fact that Bonneville sales have steadily slipped from a high of 96,000 units in the 1995 model year to 27,000 in the first 10 months of 2004.
"We keep asking what direction to take beyond '05 and if we should have a full-size sedan or a crossover like the Nissan Murano instead," Bunnell said.
"There might not be room for a full-size car. There's a lot of other things we could do with the money. Crossovers may be what we need to watch and where we need to react, perhaps a Pontiac or a GMC crossover or both," he said.
One possibility is to produce the next-generation Grand Prix sedan and a successor to Bonneville off the same platform and make the Bonneville successor a crossover.
That's what Cadillac does in producing its compact CTS and midsize STS sedans and SRX sport-utility off the same rear-wheel-drive platform.
If Pontiac goes that route, it's also possible the next-generation Prix and Bonneville successor would switch from front-wheel drive to rear- or all-wheel-drive.
Bunnell said the latter is under strong consideration for the Grand Prix, and all-wheel drive would set the stage for a crossover successor for Bonneville.
Here's one vote for the option that gives the Snow Belt another all-wheel-drive car and crossover.
General Motors plans more rear-drive vehicles. It wants, for example, to build the next-generation Pontiac GTO in North America.
By doing so, Pontiac would cut out the time it takes between producing the GTO at GM's Holden subsidiary in Australia and shipping it to the United States. GTO is a derivative of the Holden Monaro.
Holden stopped building '04 GTOs and converted to '05s at the end of September, but the '05s won't arrive in the United States until late December or early January.
Shipping is the reason '06 GTO production would begin in May so the '06s will arrive in the traditional fall timeframe.
The GTO is a low-volume, 12,000-unit model, so having other rear-drive cars built alongside it here would ensure steady production at the plant.
Stay tuned.
Another plan is to use more alphanumeric designations rather than names. For example, the replacement for the Grand Am is the G6.
"We're looking closely at G5 or G8 designations. Lexus (ES330) and Infiniti (Q45) have done well with it," Bunnell said, hinting that the next-generation Prix could be the G8.
Here's one vote for keeping names rather than cold and impersonal alphanumerics.
ENVOY XUV DAYS NUMBERED?: The future is in doubt for the GMC Envoy XUV, the SUV in which the rear roof opens to convert it into a pickup to haul tall items.
"We're selling a couple thousand a month -- not the extent we thought. Perhaps we oversubscribed on this product," Bunnell said. GMC had expected sales of more than 2,000 a month.
"When people look at a five-passenger XUV and a seven-passenger Envoy XL, they vote for carrying more people and say, if they have to haul more cargo, they'll borrow a truck. There's enough sales to keep it for now, but we'll keep an eye on it for the long term."
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Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
It just got a V8, but that V8 will go into the all new Buick Lucerne. There are literally stacks and stacks of Northstars sitting in warehouses. The Bonnie's sales are recovering, and I believe GM should wait another year to see how sales rebound before making a final decision.
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From: Denton, TX
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by Big Als Z
Cut the GP and Bonnie and merge them into one car.
I drove the V8 Bonnie a couple of weeks ago at Autoshow In Motion and it was pretty cool.
The GTP I drove there wasn't impressive at all. :blah:TS
Last edited by 95GRNZ; Nov 25, 2004 at 09:39 PM.
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From: South Bend , IN
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by Big Als Z
Cut the GP and Bonnie and merge them into one car.
What would be cool is a G8 alongside a more affordable Audi allroad type crossover off Zeta priced more along the lines of the magnum varients as the bonnie replacement . That would kickass .
As much as Pontiac claims to be gunning for an american BMW , they are coming across more as a poor man's Audi with the design themes , which is absolutely not a bad thing
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From: New Jersey
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
If the bonny was made to look good! it would be worth a damn, but seriously, when was the last time you saw this car heavily marketed?
I see a few things wrong with this..... If ford 500 comes out , the mercury montego, and other full size cars, and people are buying, add to that the magnum and the 300, maybe, just maybe..... its GM and not the market that has the problem?
I see a few things wrong with this..... If ford 500 comes out , the mercury montego, and other full size cars, and people are buying, add to that the magnum and the 300, maybe, just maybe..... its GM and not the market that has the problem?
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From: South Bend , IN
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
But still the current bonnie and grand prix are so close in size , one right size replacement , which is the RWD zeta grand prix replacement would be more prudent . From the way it sounds , the zeta 4 doors will be bigger than the current W's neways and G6 fills the midsize segment .
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From: Southeast, USA
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by Gold_Rush
"We'll build Bonneville through the '05 model year but beyond that we aren't sure what we'll do," Pontiac-GMC General Manager Jim Bunnell said in an interview.
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Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by 90 Z28SS
But still the current bonnie and grand prix are so close in size , one right size replacement , which is the RWD zeta grand prix replacement would be more prudent . From the way it sounds , the zeta 4 doors will be bigger than the current W's neways and G6 fills the midsize segment .
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From: The Golden State
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by Big Als Z
Cut the GP and Bonnie and merge them into one car.
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Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by Big Als Z
Cut the GP and Bonnie and merge them into one car.
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From: Southern California (SoCal)
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by guionM
Actually Al, you're probally closer to the truth than you may realize.
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From: Jersey Shore
Re: Pontiac Bonneville's future uncertain as audience wanes
Originally Posted by guionM
Actually Al, you're probally closer to the truth than you may realize.
A Commodore Sized sedan with a sharp design, packed with everything from a high hp V6, to the Gift From God, the LS2. 6spd manual and automatic...Could be the poor mans M5? Or is that the CTS-V...could be the poor mans CTS-V?
well, you get my point.
