titan

Pontiac: Nothing but rwd cars?
GM proposal plays up performance cars in attempt to revive ailing brand


Jamie LaReau | Automotive News / May 29, 2006

http://autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060529/SUB/60526061/1003&refsect=

Pontiac plan
GM officials will unveil a rwd concept vehicle for Pontiac at the 2007 Detroit auto show. To revive the brand, GM also is considering:

- Fielding a lineup of all rwd cars

- Replacing the Grand Prix with a higher-priced sedan

- Replacing the GTO with a vehicle built on Camaro architecture

DETROIT -- After debating Pontiac's viability this year, General Motors' leadership plans to revive the brand's heritage of performance with a product lineup of exclusively rear-wheel-drive cars.

There would be no trucks and - after the next generation of vehicles - no front-wheel-drive cars either.

GM will unveil a rwd sedan concept at January's Detroit auto show, company sources say. This echoes the strategy that GM adopted with the 1999 Evoq concept, which revealed Cadillac's new brand "look."

The Pontiac plan is not final. GM executives continue to build a business case for it. This ambitious proposal is a plan to save the brand, which has suffered declining sales. GM sold 437,806 Pontiacs in the United States last year, compared with 599,123 in 1995.

One insider says it would take five years to convert the brand to rwd. That's why Pontiac will get one more generation of fwd and all-wheel-drive small cars.

A Pontiac spokesman declined to comment on the brand's plans. Fwd cars will not go away soon, but rwd vehicles will become more prominent "in the near term," the spokesman said.

Sources inside GM and close to Pontiac say GM leaders are debating:

- The future of the Grand Prix sedan.

- A possible GTO replacement based on the Chevrolet Camaro.

- A Firebird muscle car.

Not so 'damaged'

In recent years, Pontiac has been wracked by debate over its future. During a controversial speech at the New York auto show last year, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz called Pontiac "a damaged brand."

In a recent interview with Automotive News, Lutz said he had never asserted that the brand was "irreparably" damaged. While Pontiac is still struggling, GM is repairing the damage, and the bleeding has stopped, Lutz says.

Nevertheless, sources say top-level GM executives did debate a phaseout of the brand. In January, senior executives met to discuss Pontiac's future. GM decided to revive Pontiac as a pure performance brand.

GM will trim product lineups as it consolidates Buick, Pontiac and GMC into three-brand dealerships under its retail channel strategy. In a recent interview, Lutz told Automotive News that Pontiac and Buick will not carry trucks.

Lutz declined to speculate whether the Pontiac Torrent crossover, a rebadged Chevrolet Equinox, would one day go to GMC, but industry sources say it's likely.

The strategy will force Pontiac to sort out its product plans for the Grand Prix. While GM hasn't set a time frame, it's likely the automaker will discontinue the current incarnation of the fwd Grand Prix after the 2008 model year, industry sources say.

GM is considering a new mid-sized rwd sedan to replace it, says an industry insider. The source says the vehicle will be "one notch up" from the present Grand Prix, which has a base price of $21,990, including shipping. Whether that vehicle keeps the Grand Prix name is uncertain.

A rwd lineup could give Pontiac performance credibility, says John Pitre, general manager of Motor City Auto Center in Bakersfield, Calif. "They're right on track with the performance division of GM," he says. "BMW has been born and raised on rear-wheel drive. For us on the West Coast, rear-wheel drive feels better to drive and seems to last longer."

But Pontiac's drive to become a pure performance division would sacrifice sales volume, predicts Doug Scott, industry analyst at GfK Automotive in Southfield, Mich. For example, many G6 buyers in northern climates want a front-wheel-drive car for winter conditions.

Scott also said GM is pressuring dealers to combine Buick, Pontiac and GMC franchises into single stores by cutting the brands' product lineups.

"They really want to narrow the range of products and narrow the sales objective," Scott says. It means sacrificing sales volume at dealerships for profit at corporate level. "It's forcing the channeling strategy," he says.

Like a Camaro

Pontiac brand executives hope that if GM builds the Camaro for Chevrolet, the architecture could provide a similar product for Pontiac. The previous generation of GM muscle cars included the rwd Pontiac Firebird, a sibling of the Camaro.

But Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson is quick to add, "We want a truly differentiated product. We don't want a rebadged vehicle."

Company insiders say that if GM decides to build the Camaro, GM will not revive a Firebird version. "There will be no Firebird," says one source. "Rear-wheel drive? Yes. Pony car? No."

Dealers also want a replacement for the GTO, one of only two current rwd Pontiac cars, the other being the Solstice two-seater. Pontiac will kill the Australia-produced coupe this fall after just three model years.

Insiders say there will be a replacement for the GTO, but the product gap will remain for a couple of years.

Says Pontiac's Hopson: "We haven't made any bones about the fact that Pontiac needs a rear-wheel-drive performance vehicle."

titan

This should have been done along time ago. They should emulate BMW's lineup and become the everyman's BMW. I still hate that Buick is part of the sales channel. If it's given the right attention, it could easily stand alone with a full lineup of three sedans, a couple of crossovers, and a coupe/vert. Pontiac and GMC should have been paired alone; they're a perfect match, IMHO.

stangg172004

i agree it should have stayed all rwd... stupid audi and their fwd....

M TYPE X

I don't see the FWD Pontiac G6 and Buick LaCrosse leaving the lineups, I mean, the current FWD Impala/Grand Prix/LaCrosse will be replaced by Zeta, but the smaller cars could continue to be derived from FWD platforms. The Malibu/G6 will continue, but the LaCrosse, dunno.
Maybe Buick will get a shorter RWD car that's shrunken from the RWD flagship?

titan

The next Lacrosse will be based on Epsilon II (next gen Epsilon) platform. It's supposed to be a true (finally) competitor to the ES. The Zeta Buick is rumored to be called Statesman. The question is, will that name materialize, or will the Lucerne name be kept. Also, will it replace the Lucerne? And if so, will another Zeta car come be positioned above it as the flagship? Also, a Velite type car is rumored to come from Zeta too... who knows.

Teh Jatt

honda and their fwd

majesty

i don't think this will fix anything. rwd doesnt mean shit if the cars aren't even what consumers want. toyota is mostly FWD, look what they've done.

titan

It fixes alot. This has nothing to do with Toyota. It has to do with Pontiac, and what it's brand identity is. If they're supposed to be sporty, driver oriented cars, this will help to establish those credentials. Ofcourse RWD isn't the end-all. They must have appropriate powertrains, look the part, and have good quality. However, this is a major step toward "fixing" Pontiac.

biker

But if the cheapest car in the lineup is some spiffied up RWD Grand Prix at $25K+, sales are not going very far. Now if they came up with a car the size of the current 325 that is RWD, had decent looks, decent performance at around $22K, then they'd have something brag about. Once that starts selling, then they can move people up into higher priced models.

titan

The article says that they're considering an all RWD lineup. I assume that means it's more than just the next Grand Prix. I also assume that's why it's still five years out. I think all RWD lineup would be cool. A RWD G6 would do great as an alternative to the 330i; the next Grand Prix, the common man's 5-Series. Maybe an athetic, Kappa based competitor to the upcoming 1-Series?

Water-S

great I'll be busy in the winters cleaning up accidents when ladies have bought Pontiac after Pontiac that's FWD and they go on the snow for the first time and put it into a tree or power pole.

SpeedyV6

Twenty five years ago almost all cars were rwd. I can't see why things will be worse today, especially with the advent of TCS and ABS.

chungkopi

this should be a pontiac! bring da sh1t over here!! and don't change the damm thing!

biker

That would take care of the mid-sized $30K sedan, but what about at the entry level?

titan

Great size and proportions. It looks about the size of the new Camry. Perhaps closer to the Avalon... Whatever size it is, it'd be a great competitor to either. I'd love to see that as the next G6 or G8 (Grand Prix). If it'd be the G8, it'd be wise to follow Chrysler's success with the 300 and offer both a V6 and V8.

bigman

Chrysler did it, and just a few short years ago the only Chrysler anyone desired was a work horse truck or the Viper. Now, you cant keep their rear drivers in the dealer lots. GM has the powertrains with the LSX motors to perform with all the big boys, it just needs styling and performance/handling to complete the package.

gavriil

Pontiac Going Rear Drive? - - By JAMIE LAREAU | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS - - Source: Autoweek

gavriil

I disagree. BMW carries trucks. Or at least one truck.

gavriil

This notion of one having to be RWD if to be taken seriously as a sport minded brand is way overrated. BMW may be RWD but BMW is a luxury sport brand. Also BMW themselves have proven that FWD can be very sporty. With the MINI. Actually Honda has proven that many years ago with various offerings like the Type R, etc. Also Alfa Romeo has been perceived a sporty offering even at its worst sales years and it's always been FWD.

So my advice to Pontiac would be, first prove you can be sporty (with respect to how the cars drive and how they look) and qualitative, then think about which wheels drive. Only a very small part of the market cares about which wheels drive.

gavriil

Then concentrate on its exterior and interior design first. That's what differentiates an offering today. People care about the shared drivetrain and driven wheels last.

SpeedyV6

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...hlight=Pontiac

GreenMonster

But it does make sence to have at least a couple of RWD "halo" cars to help "sport" up the brand... The NSX and S2000 are examples of how a couple of RWD vehicles can give the whole lineup a sportier appearance...

I'm one of those who care about which wheels drive the car tho'...

gavriil

Oops, merging...