GM Posts $1.19 Bln Loss, Worst Since '92

[Koll]

Ouch!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=580&e=1&u=/nm/20050419/bs_nm/autos_gm_earns_dc

Attention, GM: please sell Saab back to the Swedes.

[12secondv6]

Uh oh al :shock: :wink:

[BigAls87Z28]

I would rather see GM drop Pontiac and Buick then drop Saab. While Saab doesnt have any real market penetration here in the US, over seas its one of GM's top sales leaders.
Pontiac and Buick sell a lot of cars, but there image is becoming very cloudy and there existance is confusing
The LaCrosse offers nothing over the Impala, yet the Buick is priced higher...why? Impala actualy has 3 engines, a 3.5 VVT OHV making 211hp, a 3.9 VVT OHV making 241hp, and the King Kong 5.3 DoD in the SS making 303 hp.
Also, why have the Grand Prix? I can get better motors in the Impala, and they both have the 5.3? Inteiror quality is betteri in the Impala too.
Why have the G6 when the Saturn Aura will do a much better job beating the crap out of the imports? DOHC VVT V6 making 250hp tied to a 6spd auto, with sharp lines and designs that look better then the G6. Why bother having a G6 which is just a Pontiac Malibu?
Vibe? WORTHLESS!!
Solstice, while very sexy, will probably be marked up due to high demand and with the Sky across the road selling for sticker, why bother with some PITA Pontiac sales sleezeball when Saturn will give you the car at the price?
Torrent...Chevy Nox with different front and rear facia. Yippie.

GM had a lot of problems in the 1Q. 4.5 billon wasted on Fiat, and a big hit in car sales didnt help. They gained some of it back by selling there locomotive division.

[skorpion317]

I would rather see GM drop Pontiac and Buick then drop Saab. While Saab doesnt have any real market penetration here in the US, over seas its one of GM's top sales leaders.
Pontiac and Buick sell a lot of cars, but there image is becoming very cloudy and there existance is confusing
The LaCrosse offers nothing over the Impala, yet the Buick is priced higher...why? Impala actualy has 3 engines, a 3.5 VVT OHV making 211hp, a 3.9 VVT OHV making 241hp, and the King Kong 5.3 DoD in the SS making 303 hp.
Also, why have the Grand Prix? I can get better motors in the Impala, and they both have the 5.3? Inteiror quality is betteri in the Impala too.
Why have the G6 when the Saturn Aura will do a much better job beating the crap out of the imports? DOHC VVT V6 making 250hp tied to a 6spd auto, with sharp lines and designs that look better then the G6. Why bother having a G6 which is just a Pontiac Malibu?
Vibe? WORTHLESS!!
Solstice, while very sexy, will probably be marked up due to high demand and with the Sky across the road selling for sticker, why bother with some PITA Pontiac sales sleezeball when Saturn will give you the car at the price?
Torrent...Chevy Nox with different front and rear facia. Yippie.

GM had a lot of problems in the 1Q. 4.5 billon wasted on Fiat, and a big hit in car sales didnt help. They gained some of it back by selling there locomotive division.

I'd rather see Pontiac stick around than Buick. Buick is an old-person's car to me. They have some strange marketing also....that one commercial where they equate the LaCrosse to a slot-car racer is pretty out-of-touch with reality. It's more or less the same as a base-model Regal. At least the Regals had a supercharged version. The only reason i would want Buick to stick around is the rumors i've heard of the return of the Grand National, with a 3.6L twin-turbo V6. I HIGHLY doubt it will ever happen, but it would be cool to see.

Pontiac needs to stick around, I think. The nameplate carries some nostalgia. If they livened up their offerings somewhat, they would have more sales. The G6 is nothing to get really excited over (although the GTP version will probably be a fun drive). GM took a step in the right direction with the W-bodies, giving them the 5.3L V8. Now all they need to do is change them back to RWD. The Solstice will be a nice addition, but the dealers' mark-up will really hurt it. One would think that the dealers would learn not to mark things up at the ridiculous rates that they do because it hurts sales. I don't care much for trucks/SUVs, so i have no opinion on the Torrent.

The identity of Pontiac is kinda cloudy, but Buick's isn't. Buick is an old-person's car. If I were running GM, I would make Pontiac live up to it's "Driving Excitement" motto. I would do away with any Pontiac trucks/SUVs/vans, etc. The lineup would be streamlined:

1. Sport compact - It would have to have it's own identity. It would more or less be the G6, but look much sportier, a racy look. The reason i picked the G6 was the engine choices. A 3.5L making 211 hp is good for a base model, and the GTP's 3.9 making 240 HP would be good for a high-performance model. The seats out of the GTO would be great, and tie in to the performance attitude. It would most definitely not be named "G6". That's not a name. It's a space on a bingo card.

2. RWD luxury missle - basically, blend the Grand Prix and Bonneville together. Eliminate the Bonneville. The GP name can be kept, since it's easily recognized. Slim down the engine choices. Base model with the 3.9L, and the 5.3L in the top model. I would say stuff in the LS2, but then Caddy gets mad because the market for the CTS-V gets taken away.

3. Muscle car - Got one already. GTO.

4. Sports car - Got one already. Solstice.

Make Pontiac have the same sales setup as Saturn - no haggling/negotiating the price. No dealer markups. Pontiac would be strictly performance.

[Tru2Chevy]

GM took a step in the right direction with the W-bodies, giving them the 5.3L V8. Now all they need to do is change them back to RWD.

The W-body was never rear wheel drive....

- Justin

[foff667]

GM took a step in the right direction with the W-bodies, giving them the 5.3L V8. Now all they need to do is change them back to RWD.

The W-body was never rear wheel drive....

- Justin

your correct...but what chassis was the GN, regal, monte era based off of in the 80's when it was rwd?

[BigAls87Z28]

That was the G body Bill. The G body is still around, only in FWD form now.

RWD is not the answer to all our questions, but it sure could solve some problems.
The ONLY way I see Pontiac becoming relevant is if they went RWD or AWD across the board.
There could seriously be a 4 page thread on how I would run GM to statisfy both common man and enthusiast alike, but for Pontiac to be able to be around, they need to offer something that Saturn nor Chevy have to offer.
Solstice is fine where it is, add GT or GTP model next year with boost.
Vibe..scrap it for Delta based hatchback. ONLY FWD model, but have available AWD too.
A RWD/AWD G6 with 2.4 or 3.6 would give you a cheap CTS, and then there would be no need for Caddy to go down market with a smaller sedan. Offer sedan, coupe and vert like there is now
A RWD/AWD GP/G8 with 3.6, 6.0 and 6.2 would be a great sedan set up.
A RWD Coupe with 3.6, and GTO trim with 6.0 or 6.2 as the top dog coupe.
An AWD Theta based SUV with tight handling and 3.6 engine.
That should be it. No mini vans, and also bring some other things to Pontiac like DVD navigation and HID lighting. Make it obvious that you arent buying a Pontiac's version of a Chevy.
All this could be done very cheap and in a good amount of time.