Members Thumper Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 It's the end of an era... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rowka Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I was hoping there would be a 2010 Fiero. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted April 27, 2009 Moderators Share Posted April 27, 2009 It's about time. They need to dump Buick, too. Also, either get rid of Chevy Trucks or GMC division. There's no need for both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zachoff Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 Pontiac has been pointless for a good 25 years. I agree w/ Thud too. Keep Chevrolet (for cars), Cadillac as the premium brand, and GMC for trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members coyote-1 Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I think they should also hang onto Oldsmobile. For Olds times sake. Pontiac has been pointless for a good 25 years.I agree w/ Thud too. Keep Chevrolet (for cars), Cadillac as the premium brand, and GMC for trucks. (psssst... hey coyote, they phased it out in 2004) Oh! Hmmm... funny but I didn't miss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted April 27, 2009 Moderators Share Posted April 27, 2009 Pontiac has been pointless for a good 25 years.I agree w/ Thud too. Keep Chevrolet (for cars), Cadillac as the premium brand, and GMC for trucks.Yep. Another reason to keep Cadillac is that they come up with some interesting technology, particularly with their own engines. They just aren't another copycat GM division like the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SA Rios Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 They should just have to lines. Sport/trucks and luxury. Keep Chevy and Cadillac, thats it. Look at all the other big auto manufacturers of the world, they only have one or two lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 They need to dump Buick, too. Dump the only cars they have that are winning reliability awards and reviewer/publisher recommendations? Seems a solid business plan, fully in line with many of GMs decisions over the last decade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zachoff Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 Dump the only cars they have that are winning reliability awards and reviewer/publisher recommendations? Seems a solid business plan, fully in line with many of GMs decisions over the last decade People that buy Buick don't drive over 30mph. That will do a lot for reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitargod0dmw Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 It's about time. They need to dump Buick, too. Also, either get rid of Chevy Trucks or GMC division. There's no need for both. I never understood why they made the same exact cars/trucks with a different brand name...seems like a waste to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phantasm Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I was hoping there would be a 2010 Fiero.Oh well. Yep, my wife is heartbroken that she won't get a chance to own one. She had a chance coming out of college but she needed to wait 6 more months to get on her feet. She ended up with a Grand Prix instead and that thing went through brakes like they were made of cardboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I'm looking right now at buying a Solstice. Any idea what this might mean to me directly? Now I'm hoping it's easier to find a cheap one due to people's concerns, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I never understood why they made the same exact cars/trucks with a different brand name...seems like a waste to me. It goes back to Sloan in some ways. Originally, the idea was to plan a "ladder" of lines, with a clear hierarchy of value/luxury, so that a person who bought Chevy when they were young, might buy Buick when they were older, and a Caddy when they "made it". Until the 60s, there was minimal overlap, but with Muscle cars (primarily) it became an arguably overlapping system because the differences in trim level were secondary to the mechanical and performance characteristics. After the 60s, the supposed differences between each line blurred more often (particularly at GM), and that's why it now seems like two or three of the same car, not just two or three of the same platform with a "different car" built on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I'm looking right now at buying a Solstice. Any idea what this might mean to me directly? Now I'm hoping it's easier to find a cheap one due to people's concerns, anyway. Other than getting it cheaply, you shouldn't have any issues. GM will still service it, and if they don't, the govt. has promised to do so (yay!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members coyote-1 Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 Get the Saturn version. Same basic awesome car, same substandard brakes I'm looking right now at buying a Solstice. Any idea what this might mean to me directly? Now I'm hoping it's easier to find a cheap one due to people's concerns, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffBass Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 It's a sad thing IMO. Pontiac did well with the G6 and especially the G8, which is an awesome car. What really bugs me is losing Saturn. The new VUE hybrid is gorgeous, the Astra is a cool small car and the Aura is a great sedan which paved way for the award winning Chevy Malibu. Buick's are solid and well built also. GM just never responded quick enough to trends because they are a top heavy organization with too many fat cats. Ross Perot, who was hired for a very short time by GM, told them so and was promptly fired. The millions they paid him in hush money didn't stop him from talking to the press either. I was looking late in 2006 for a new small SUV and none of the 2006 GM's came with side-impact air bags. These have been standard equipment on Honda's and Toyotas for years but on the GM cars they were extra. Since the financing deals only applied on the 2006's, I couldn't get the deal ordering a new 2007 with the extra air bags. Hello Honda, I bought the CRV instead which came with all the air bags, traction and stability control standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 Get the Saturn version. Same basic awesome car, same substandard brakes I like the looks of the Saturn one better, but I don't like the premium in price for the same car, nor the fact that I can guarantee it'll be more expensive to fix because it's a Saturn. I've got an '03 Pontiac Vibe right now with 177,000 miles on it. It's got a new engine, due to a knocking problem that I didn't want to spend money on and potentially not fix, so I just replaced the whole damn thing. Everything else is still original (automatic transmission, etc), and no problems at all with it. Love the thing. Just want something more fun for my next car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffBass Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I like the looks of the Saturn one better, but I don't like the premium in price for the same car, nor the fact that I can guarantee it'll be more expensive to fix because it's a Saturn.I've got an '03 Pontiac Vibe right now with 177,000 miles on it. It's got a new engine, due to a knocking problem that I didn't want to spend money on and potentially not fix, so I just replaced the whole damn thing. Everything else is still original (automatic transmission, etc), and no problems at all with it. Love the thing. Just want something more fun for my next car. Isn't that a Toyota engine in the Vibe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 Ross Perot, who was hired for a very short time by GM, told them so and was promptly fired. The millions they paid him in hush money didn't stop him from talking to the press either. The "hush money" probably didn't work because that wasn't what it was... When GM bought EDS, Perot got a seat on the GM board, since he had founded EDS and became GM's biggest shareholder. The money was to buyout his ownership stake. In fact, Perot even went through steps to demonstrate it wasn't "hush money" That said, Perot was entirely right about GM (once again demonstrating that true wisdom comes from the insane ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zachoff Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 Isn't that a Toyota engine in the Vibe? Initially it was the same engine, transmission, and platform... Even built in the same factory. Not sure if it's still the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ender_rpm Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I think they should also hang onto Oldsmobile.For Olds times sake.(psssst... hey coyote, they phased it out in 2004)Oh! Hmmm... funny but I didn't miss it. Didn't they tanks Olds in like 99 or something? We own a Saturn Ion, and it has been a great little car. Where GM went wrong (as usual) is taking a sucessful, small auto marque and turining it into re-badge central. Let Saturn make Saturns, not rebadged Pontiacs and GMs!!! Though the Astra (based on an Opel Modell iirc) was a nice car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 78pbass Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 Initially it was the same engine, transmission, and platform... Even built in the same factory. Not sure if it's still the case. yep, its the same car, save for cosmetics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffBass Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 The "hush money" probably didn't work because that wasn't what it was... When GM bought EDS, Perot got a seat on the GM board, since he had founded EDS and became GM's biggest shareholder. The money was to buyout his ownership stake. In fact, Perot even went through steps to demonstrate it wasn't "hush money" That said, Perot was entirely right about GM (once again demonstrating that true wisdom comes from the insane ) I understand that but written into his buyout agreement was a provision to keep his mouth shut, which he promptly reneged upon. He was cool for speaking out in the face of GM's horde of lawyers. He's crazy like a fox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I understand that but written into his buyout agreement was a provision to keep his mouth shut, which he promptly reneged upon. His buyout was $750 million. The penalty clause was $7.5 million. At that point, it was a slap on the wrist with a feather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffBass Posted April 27, 2009 Members Share Posted April 27, 2009 I'll take that feather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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