Gm changed their mind on the G8....

[NJ346]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

they cut everything. hell for a while they cut almost all production.

but to cut a reported almost 97%(going off of facts on the internet)...c'mon...Gm obviously saw they weren't selling.

[Blacdout96]

97% would be 300 cars, thats like 1.64 cars a day if they only made that many over 6 months, thats 10 x's slower then what ferrari does.....so maybe thats why they are such nice cars, they actually took their time on them?

Even if it was 1,000 cars over 6 months, that would be 5/12 cars a day.

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

but to cut a reported almost 97%(going off of facts on the internet)...c'mon...Gm obviously saw they weren't selling.

they totally stopped making trucks at one point, and 1/2 of what they sell are trucks. nothing was selling.

[The Fixer]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

Everything has changed.

<snip>

The auto business, both GM and industry wide, is very different now than 2002. Expected total sales are projected to be down 20%+ across the industry for the next few years. And GMs footprint is much smaller than before, as well as their capital structure – this is huge, really.

Agreed. A lot of this is to blame on the gluttony of Americans that "need" to have a new car every 2-3 years when their lease is up. The automakers have been building more cars than we really needed for a few years now, and it's finally caught up to them. Now there is a ton of used cars on the market, and a decent amount of brand new '08's and '09's still sitting around. I also think a lot of this has to do with the depreciation of a new car, and how much you shell out for it in the beginning. If you spend 35K on a brand new vehicle, and then it's worth 15K in 3 years, that sucks! Personally, I just wait until the car is a few years old and buy it at it's greatly reduced price, because the reality is the price of all these cars is inflated (IMO).

For example, my 2001 Cherokee stickered for somewhere around $20-21K. I bought it in 2005 with 48K miles on it for just under $11K. So, the original owner lost about $10-12K on that car in 4 years, because you know the dealer didn't give him $11K on it as a trade. I think I should be able to sell it this winter (demand is up for 4WD in winter) for around $7K. So, in the 4 years that I've owned it, it's only depreciated 4K. That's a helluva lot better deal IMO.

[Frosty]

Comrade Fritz is a douche and nothing more than a puppet.

[LS1Hawk]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

He got his hand slapped. I can't find the article where the CEO said "well he works for me".

Yeah, Fritz just made Lutz his bitch. Bring on the shower caps and ass spanking!

[BurninrubberGT]

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

That's why earlier this year GM cut their production for the first 6 months of the 09 G8 from 10,000 units to well under that.....right

why would you produce cars for a company that is going to be shut down?

[r0nin89]

Wait wait wait.

I thought that the g8 not getting brought over to chevy was all based on the fact that part of the Government Motors bailout moved rules into play about mileage restrictions and forbid imported rebadging??????

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by r0nin89

Wait wait wait.

I thought that the g8 not getting brought over to chevy was all based on the fact that part of the Government Motors bailout moved rules into play about mileage restrictions and forbid imported rebadging??????

That was part of the agreement(the imported part) which is why I thought it was odd that the G8 was still alive(****ing UAW). Oh well, got excited over nothing.

[BigAls87Z28]

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

from my understanding, the G8 was a lot like the GTO when it came to sales, Americans simply didn't buy it. With GM in the financial state it's in, the G8 probably wouldn't bring them the profit they want....but the same could be said about the volt, I don't think GM will be making a cent on them.

Eh, yes and no. GTO didnt sell well till they put the LS2 in there. 04's were the worst in sales.
G8 doesnt bring in much profit at all, with the exchange rate cutting any and all out. The only thing that the G8 does is keep the Elizabeth plant active with another shift.
G8's are selling very well now, because people dont like spending 30k for a Pontiac.
And no, the Volt wont make any money for GM for a while.

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

Total GTO sales for 04-06 was 40,808. G8 is nowhere near that. G8 is a great car, just americans aren't buying it. The 57% in sales isn't much when you think of last years sales of under 2,000 a month. Selling G8's at 2600 a month steadily would still only put production at about 31,000 a year...that wasn't enough to keep the f-body a live...so what has changed now other than the economy is worse?

Over 40 years, 40k units.
G8 has only one year of sales, and they sold 15k in aprox a year. And the trend was coming up.

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

That's why earlier this year GM cut their production for the first 6 months of the 09 G8 from 10,000 units to well under that.....right

While GM cut a lot of plants to save money, Holdens plants were at full swing from what I can remember.

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

but to cut a reported almost 97%(going off of facts on the internet)...c'mon...Gm obviously saw they weren't selling.

No...no such thing happend. Actually as things got worse in the market, G8 sales started going up. It bucked the trend.

Originally Posted by r0nin89

Wait wait wait.

I thought that the g8 not getting brought over to chevy was all based on the fact that part of the Government Motors bailout moved rules into play about mileage restrictions and forbid imported rebadging??????

um...there are no rules for "Goverment Motors". The rules are one thing: make money.
Its not to build green cars
Its not to build cars that people dont want
Its not to build cars that get 50mpg and everything else is getting junked.

In fact, the Auto Task Force were climbing all over the CTS-V coupe preproduction car, along with apparently the Z28, and several other very cool cars coming out of GM, all designed, developed and moved foward BEFORE "goverment motors."

The MPG rules were set up by Bush, and redefined and reconfigured by Obama. Bush had a rule that all cars and trucks must have a combined MPG of 35 by 2014. Never before have the cars and trucks been combined.
Obama came in and adjusted it with the cars getting 35.5 and trucks in the mid 20s.
GM can do that very easily now that trucks dont have to get an average of 35mpg as well.
As for the imported part, GM can import X amount of vehicles.

The goverement, ie us, is an investor in GM Co.

[Frosty]

Al, the UAW forced GM agree not to import any vehicles over in the bankruptcy agreement. The ironic thing is that the G8 is nicer than half the cars the overpaid, scumbag UAW schleps in Detroit make.

[87GTA]

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

Just when GM gets it right, they seem to shoot themselves in the foot and kill it. The Fiero started out as a piece of crap, but by 1988 they had it right and stopped production that year. If anyone has ever seen what the restyled 1989 Fiero was to look it, it was one hella of sharp looking sports car.!

you mean this one!!!

[edpontiac91]

THAT PHOTO WOULD BE IT. If you look at it from that angle, it looks like a 1993 Firebird. Tell me that would not have been some hot car.

[HeadlessNorseman]

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

THAT PHOTO WOULD BE IT. If you look at it from that angle, it looks like a 1993 Firebird. Tell me that would not have been some hot car.

the fiero would have been better if they based the suspension/chassis off of something a little tougher than the chevette or whatever they used. Maybe something like f body front end and front end from a bigger v6 car for the back. just my opinion. fiero is still extra cool though

[edpontiac91]

By 1988 they had stopped using the Chevette steering and suspension. It was all new and they had planned on using a variable electronic power steering for 1989, along with a bigger V/6 and a completely new body design. All the tools were in place, but because of "POOR" sales (the crap they tried to sell to the public before the 1988 redo) it was killed. Buick tried to resurface part of it with the Reatta, but that also failed due to the bad write-ups from the Fiero.

[HeadlessNorseman]

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

By 1988 they had stopped using the Chevette steering and suspension. It was all new and they had planned on using a variable electronic power steering for 1989, along with a bigger V/6 and a completely new body design. All the tools were in place, but because of "POOR" sales (the crap they tried to sell to the public before the 1988 redo) it was killed. Buick tried to resurface part of it with the Reatta, but that also failed due to the bad write-ups from the Fiero.

Ah i didnt know that. I would still like to get a later model fiero gt one day. I love that body style. Would also be nice with a 350 swap But i think the solstice/sky is a pretty good fiero rebirth, even if FR layout. At least they bothered with a 2 seat small car again

[edpontiac91]

Originally Posted by J.Reed

Ah i didnt know that. I would still like to get a later model fiero gt one day. I love that body style. Would also be nice with a 350 swap But i think the solstice/sky is a pretty good fiero rebirth, even if FR layout. At least they bothered with a 2 seat small car again

One of the best swaps for this car is the Cadillac Northstar V/8. It drops in like it was made for the Fiero and is one of the cleanest swaps I have ever seen. No cutting the body up or anything, but I think they had to modify the hood hinges just a little.

[BigAls87Z28]

Fiero actually soold very well in 86 and 87, and the 88's did really well.

[Savage_Messiah]

Originally Posted by 87GTA

you mean this one!!!

that looks like the bastard spawn of a lt1 bird, a miata and a sunfire.

[HeadlessNorseman]

Originally Posted by Savage_Messiah

that looks like the bastard spawn of a lt1 bird, a miata and a sunfire.

I think it looks like an NSX a little bit. Pretty cool but i like the original fiero gt better

[madness410]

Originally Posted by TPI Monte SS

Agreed. A lot of this is to blame on the gluttony of Americans that "need" to have a new car every 2-3 years when their lease is up. The automakers have been building more cars than we really needed for a few years now, and it's finally caught up to them. Now there is a ton of used cars on the market, and a decent amount of brand new '08's and '09's still sitting around. I also think a lot of this has to do with the depreciation of a new car, and how much you shell out for it in the beginning. If you spend 35K on a brand new vehicle, and then it's worth 15K in 3 years, that sucks! Personally, I just wait until the car is a few years old and buy it at it's greatly reduced price, because the reality is the price of all these cars is inflated (IMO).

For example, my 2001 Cherokee stickered for somewhere around $20-21K. I bought it in 2005 with 48K miles on it for just under $11K. So, the original owner lost about $10-12K on that car in 4 years, because you know the dealer didn't give him $11K on it as a trade. I think I should be able to sell it this winter (demand is up for 4WD in winter) for around $7K. So, in the 4 years that I've owned it, it's only depreciated 4K. That's a helluva lot better deal IMO.

definately well stated and a great example given...which is why i want to wait a few years to buy a 5th gen