The next year & a half are set in stone. The 6 months beyond that is still pretty concrete. That covers 2 sedans as far as I can tell. Right about now, GM would be giving final approval, killing, or delaying products that will be in showrooms summer through winter 2007. Info on some of those decisions will be out soon enough either through the internet, or through official anouncements. A couple of these, assuming they're true, are items I'm not even going to touch. It's not my place.

As for the question of basing models chassis, I see this as a non-issue. Zeta, Kappa, and Sigma are all RWD chassis with IRS. All 3 are highly capable chassis, with the potential to create hot handling cars. GM isn't about to release a car or truck that isn't structurally sound with the top powerplant available, and a design idea can be adapted to any chassis as development progresses. So as long as an announcement isn't made that something's cancelled, delayed, or moved to FWD, there's no reason for people to be in an uproar over whether a car's on Sigma, Zeta, some hybrid of the 2, or even a modified "V" chassis. It just doesn't make much sense.

BTW: GM and Holden aren't on the outs. That's like saying GM and Chevrolet are on the outs, or GM and Opel are on the outs. Holden IS a part of General Motors, just like Chevrolet, Opel, Saab, Vauxhall, Pontiac, Cadillac, Hummer, Saturn, Buick, and GMC. Some people at GM North America are envious of Holden's success and attention the way Chevrolet's general manager, Kurt Ritter, was envious of Buick & Pontiac getting RWD sports sedans before Chevrolet was considered. It's the guys upstairs who run the entire company who set the policies & make the stategic decisions.

If they say Australia will create the basis of a chassis North America, China, and Europe will use because they're the experts at flexible assembly and to save the company a ton of development money, that's the way it goes.

 

Holden hopes with the tooling for VE, To increase production to about 820 units per day. 220k per year?

If Zeta were to go to Oshawa 2 and a Third Shift added, capacity should equal plant 1. 300k per year.

If there were to be a Sub Zeta Architecture. There may be 125k of Capacity opening at Ramos Arizpe. When Aztek production ends and Rendezvous moves to Delta Township.

 

The chassis debate is just going in circles. We'll just have to trust GM to give us an enthusiast's setup rather than a half baked compromise. At least it won't be a show stopper if a 5th gen gets the green light, since they have so many available platforms. What seems to be up for grabs is how many RWD GM coupes and sedans we're going to be getting/not getting.

I guess I'll just sit here and wait for the next news release or information leak.

 

!!!

You're either GM, Union, or like me, really, really keeps tabs on things.

Welcome to the board. We should talk sometime.

 

All 5th Gen Camaro Discussions can be wrapped up in a couple of lines:

[Supposed Industry Insiders]You don't know how much I know because I can't tell you how much I know and compare it to how much you know but I know you know what I think you know is going to happen. I just can't tell you that I know you know what I know. Its a secret that only us insiders know. You know?"[/Supposed Industry Insiders]

Oh well. Keeps people posting I guess.

 

I assume Ramos Arizpe is the Mexican plant that I keep hearing about.

So, what exactly does this tell us about Zeta? You say that GM has stuff locked in for the next year or so. But that dosent say anything about Zeta being a go, or no go. With rumors of Zeta cars not hitting the main land till 08, this means to me that Zeta is still up in the air.

 

I have seen this mentioned before...it seems pretty dead on. It was dead on enough I got "please remove" emails over it when someone posted it on my site. Are we safe to assume that Sub-Zeta will only include Camaro...or are their other cars?

 

What about a Sub-Zeta Torana for Holden, built along side Camaro? How about a Sub-Zeta sedan for Pontiac? What if sub-Zeta gives us cars like a 9-5 Saab, and perhaps some sort of Opel/Saturn?

 

 

You know what the funny thing is? What's the sense of being an insider if only you know things and can't tell anyone else besides an unclear hint about the car here and there?

The speculation I think has gotten to a place where it is now almost annoying. Things are going this way, then they're not. Things are going that way, then they're not. You don't know what to believe anymore. I mean, I like the hints and knowing things ahead of time also, but it seems that with the 5th Gen it's a whole different thing altogether that just goes nowhere time and again when it comes to the details. It's frustrating.

 

Keep us up to date!

 

There's 2 pictures of Zeta cars posted, one an obvious Pontiac sedan, and you're still wondering if it's a go or no go??

You'll see 2 Zeta sedans on the market within the next 2 years, that's pretty much a done deal. Anything beyond that can be revised, and is very likely to be.

As I've said before, just sit back & see what happens. You'll likely see alot of conflicting information coming up. Unless GM actually says something has been cancelled or delayed, take everything you hear with a grain of salt. If you do hear something's been cancelled, don't read into it.

 

Sub-Zeta???
Where did this come from? Is this SWB Zeta or is it a new variant?? More importantly is Sub-Zeta a done deal despite any issues GMNA may be having with the full-size sedan version of Zeta? Where'd this Norton guy come from and why did his post make me jump outta my chair (kinda like when your boss catches you surfing the web during your lunch hour).

I must convince the wife that our next vacation should be to Mexico. Ah damn that ramos place is land-locked.

 

I believe G8 is essentially a done deal. Wonder if it'll come with a manual trans?

 

Well, there is one silver lining I could see to the GTO being in trouble....It makes room for a certain car

I'll give you a hint....



......It starts with the letter F

Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?