gm started this decision making pattern a long time ago. they noted the success of teh japanese and european companies and went in that direction. the jap tuner market is where you get all your cobalts and ions from and teh european cruiser market is where you get the concept for cars like the GTO from.
look at gm's history, they have always been slow to respond. there used to be ways around it with a COPO order form, but gm closed up those loop holes in the early 70's.
gm will eventually be making a full line up of cool again, you jsut have to wait 5-10 years after everyone else has done it
later
tim