It would be so easy to make this more.They could have spent just a little bit of money and gotten a lot in return rather than spending no money (which is what they clearly did) and getting nothing in return (which is what they will get).

GM has ensured that Pontiac will have no cred with the young buyer. All they needed to do was offer some nice little seat inserts, an actual brand unique front fascia and a S/C version to make it more than a joke. A GXP with the stage I Cobalt package standard would have made this a huge hit. Nothing to engineer, it's all there.

 

Pontiac is a very unfortunate division. When they get products from other divisions, they get basic rebadges (G5 and Torrent for example), but when they get a nice car of their own like the solstice, another division gets a much better looking version of it (in my opinion).

 

I think it's a wise move for GM to make this car "just a rebadge". The last thing they need to be doing is wasting product development budget in a segment where people are shopping on price over style and probably don't care what's in the Chevy dealer across the street. I think most people here would rather have a "G8" than a special compact if did come down to a choice between the two.

 

Not everyone can afford a G8, nor does everyone need that type of car. However, people shopping the G5 segment still want a nice car that could (gasp) actually be somewhat distinctive and inspiring. There are far better cars in that segment from other companies than what GM is offering. While the Cobalt/G5 are improved over the old J-body, they still lag behind their competition. And they're making a HUGE mistake in their continuing ignorance of this segment. Good small cars build brand-loyalty at younger ages. Thus helping the company sell the more expensive cars in their lineup to those same buyers later on.
In a way, a truly great G5 would sell a lot of G8s a few years down the road.

 

That is how Honda and Toyota got to be where they are today. I my only experience of a Chevy or Pontiac was a Cavalier or Sunfire and I wasn't a car person, I probably would stay clear of those brands too. Most young people are buying used cheaper cars. The sub-$20K market is very important. Everyone I know owned a small or midsized car for their first vehicle, Everyone!

 

You don't know enough people.

My wife's first car was an early-90's Bonneville (full-size sedan).

A girl I knew from HS had a 1984 Olds Ninety Eight for her first car. Go ahead, tell me that's small.

I know TONS of people who had full-size pickups for their first cars.

 

How about a first new car? Fresh out of college and starting a career, people are looking for something economical that doesn't constantly remind them that it's economical.

 

That was just about 20 of my friends. Now that you mention it, I lived in a rural area and a few kids in HS did have pickups.

either way, the majority by a long shot drove civic to Taurus sized cars. And the people you mentioned probably didn't go out looking for fullsize cars. They got what they got because it was free or cheap. Back in my day the Z24 V6 Cavi coupe was the hot used car to have. (88-93 models) It should still be that way with highschoolers, but GM basically left the segment and Civic stepped up.

 

We've known about the G5 for a while now, but it still drives me nuts that when we so often hear that GM is done with re-badges. Then they turn around and slap you in the face with a blatant rebadge offering.

At least re-body the car, and make it unique. I don't care if it's on Delta, that's perfectly fine... but I can't stand rebadges.

 

I agree, even keep the interior the same if you must. (I like the Cobalts interior), but change the sheet metal at least as much as the F-bodys had.

 

Well, I agree with all of that, but I'm not sure what has to do with "brand jobs". GM would just spend a lot of money making special sheet-metal, but that alone wouldn't make the cars any more competitve. If they made a "best in class" Cobolt, I don't think people would be complaining that much about sticking it into Pontiac dealers.

My point is really that GM doesn't have enough money to fully solve the "Pontiac Problem". They can't afford to make a whole line of special Pontiac cars, but they still have to support the dealer network with affordable models. They can't make everyone happy all the time, so it's probably better to make them unhappy with a G5 than a higher-end car.

 

That's the problem. They continue to waste time, money, and effort by trying to have all their brands appeal to all sectors of the market, while actually excelling in very few areas.