I like the idea and have thought along these lines from time to time for the last few years. I'll be happiest if an El CaminoSS comes our way as well.

 

Well...sometimes the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing

FWD GP is a huge part of Pontiac and not going anywhere. There might be a breake betweem EPII and the end of W-Body in 06, but that that is it.

 

Few points brought up to hit on.

First, Grand Prix (as mentioned) isn't going anywhere. It's not going RWD (at least this round), and it's not going to change it's existing formula. Grand Prix is the one rock solid area of Pontiac, and along with the G6, it's going to become the core of Pontiac. I'd expect a restyled Grand Prix when it and Lacrosse moves production out of Oshawa #2.

Next, Holden has yet to run at the new capacity since GM expanded the plant. In fact, they are laying off people and eliminated the 3rd shift because they are running far below capacity...and thats with current GTO production. Add into the mix that it appears that the Crewman is likely to be replaced by our Colorado, and suddenly it seems that as much of 1/3 of the plant's 200,000 capacity is going to be empty....... and exactly why did GM invest in expanding that plant anyway?

Finally, Pontiac isn't going to need a RWD car that sells 100,000+ per year. Pontiac Bonneville sold only 25,000 cars in 2004 and 65K in 2000 (considered to be a good year), but nearly half to rental agencies, meaning that Pontiac would need maybe about 25-35,000 sedans in addition to 15-20,000 GTOs. EASILY within Holden's current capacity.

Remember, we aren't talking so-called "volume" cars. We are talking about what has officially been termed by GM reps as "Aspirational" cars, or as BL calls "Halo" cars. Vehicles that set the tone for the rest of the brand, and serve as the top models for the showroom floor that rub off on the volume cars.


Being that Solstice is simply a traffic builder and brand showpiece like Corvette, Viper, and Ford's GT are, it seems pretty logical that in small modest numbers a Commodore SS sedan (complete with those Holden SSZ...er...Pontiac GP GXP fender heat extractors) as a Pontiac G8 performance sedan would make a great aspirational or halo car to associate with Grand Prixs and G6 sedans the same way GTOs will be in creating a link with G6 and G5 coupes in people's minds..... don't ya think?

Just thinking beyond the box and more than 2 dimensions as I think the guys at GM might have done.

 

Why Pontiac anyway? If Holden's styling is not ostentatious enough for Pontiac why not role out Commodore and the like under Buick?

 

Well, Pontiac and Buick are now the same dealerships, so does it really matter?

It seems to me that GM is going to have to coordinate the two product lines, which means no duplicate cars. I think what guionM is saying about "aspirational" is simply a way to prevent Pontiac's larger cars from entirely disappearing.

 

Who is to say that both divisions won't get a VE? Or a VE for Pontiac and a WM for Buick.

 

So which hand are you talking to?

 

More importantly, what is that hand sharing

 

Do we really want to know what you guys are doing with your hands?

 

For some strange reason... I do.

 

GM had to get permission from the UAW to import up to 18000 GTO units per year. Would the UAW ok a larger number of vehicles coming from down under in the future or maybe there will be a clause in the next agreement with UAW (Sept. 07) saying GM can import what it wants from its Austrailian plant.

 

The UAW is concerned about existing US made cars being made overseas, not new models. They'd be upset if the OK City Malibu production was moved to Australia or Korea (or even Mexico, or Canada).

Also, it's a MYTH that GM asked the UAW for any "permission" to import GTOs (anyone ask permission regarding the Korean made Aveo, Mexican made Fusions-Milans-Zephyrs or Rams, or other assorted vehicles imported from outside the UAW's domain including the Canadian made 4th gen F-body?). GM informed them as they would about every new car they intend to import, & the UAW voiced no objections as they hardly ever do with new models, but the idea that GM asked for permission was just internet rumor.


The GTO was limited to 18,000 ONLY because that was the maximum number Holden could gurantee that could be made in their Elizabeth City plant (their only body assembly plant) at the time the agreement was made..... and Holden had to be really creative to reach that number.



2 big changes in future imports to and from Australia:

First is that free trade agreement with Australia that eliminates that massive tax on imported trucks, basically freeing Utes to be sent here.... and also vehicles made here to be exported to Oz.

The second (and perhaps bigger issue) is that because Australia has run their economy so well while we've been piling on deficits like their's no tomorrow, the Australian dollar has gained strength over the past few years while our money has lost alot of value. That means the possibility of cheap, fast RWD cars from Oz in the future is no more possible than getting cheap fast RWD cars from Germany. A few years ago the exchange rate made a LS1 SS Commodore cheaper than an Impala LS, now it's on par with a well equipted GXP Grand Prix.

On the flip side (and bad for them IMO), it probally gives Colorado a bigger profit margin for US based GM than the Ute does.

 

The only problem I see with this scenerio is that the US dollar will likely continue to slide down compared to most foreign currencies in the near-term and therefore will make foreign made goods more expensive in the US.

The US dollar is currently at a year low compared to the Euro and Yen.

Unless you are making products in ultra cheap countries (like China, Korea and etc) where a declining dollar wouldn't cause a huge problem, but in a modern country like Australia a declining US dollar could destroy any benefits of an Australian built vehicle by 2007/08.

There is no doubt that (we) American's are spend-aholics and our government is no better since one party tax-and-spends and the other borrows-and-spends. One main reason why we have such a trade imbalance is that our products are too expensive on the global market place. If we continue to buy other countries cheap products but they can't afford to buy ours, then is will only contribute to our trade deficit. The only way to stop this economic bleeding is to get foreign countries to purchase our products. Since we can't always put a gun to these countries collective heads and force them to buy our stuff (by making them become a capitalist democracy) then we must allow the US dollar to deflate and this will make our products cheaper for them to buy while making their stuff more expensive here.

The main negative impact of a declining US dollar is that it would most likely cause inflation domestically and if the US dollar declines too much then OPEC and foreign countries like China, Korea, and etc might divest themselves out of the US dollar (and US bonds) and switch to the Euro or the Yen. The biggest negative on a global scale is that many economies around the world are 'export-only' economies and the US is their largest customer. So if these countries foreign products become too expensive here in the US because of a declining US dollar and therefore we stop buying as much of their products then those foreign economies will suffer greatly and they won't be able to buy anything from us and our trade deficit will continue to increase.