GM Canada announces name change of Pursuit to G5

[CadillacCTS]

Attention Dealer Operator and General Sales Managers,

On February 13, 2006, GM announced that it will be introducing a Pontiac small car for retail sale in the U.S., effective MY 2007. This small car will be named the Pontiac G5 and is the same vehicle that GM sells in Canada as a Pontiac Pursuit. The G5 will be available in the U.S. in SE and GT models and as a coupe only.

To maximize communication and production efficiencies with the U.S., GMCL has made the decision to change the name of the Pontiac Pursuit to Pontiac G5 effective MY07.

Edited March 3, 2006 by CadillacCTS

[Croc]

I wonder though if the Pursuit coupe/G5 is getting any refreshing since the previous articles all said there would be "all-new" this and "updated" that.

[pow]

Stupid, stupid, stupid... the US should have simply gotten the name Pursuit instead.

[CadillacCTS]

Stupid, stupid, stupid... the US should have simply gotten the name Pursuit instead.

I thought the same thing, but reading further into the article sent to dealers, GM couldn't obtain the rights to the name "Pursuit" in the US.

[ZL-1]

This move, as a business move, is understandable. However, Pontiac isn't showing any clear direction other than rebadging Chevys and labeling them as "excitement" vehicles. I hope they can push for something special for Pontiac, and I'm not talking about the GTO: 15K to 20K a year isn't something special, it's jut a halo that has to be followed up on.

[caddycruiser]

Stupid, stupid, stupid... the US should have simply gotten the name Pursuit instead.

Well, you can't have a mix of names and letter/number combos under the same brand...the only exception being Caddy with the Escalade, for obvious reasons.

[I hope GMRULES again]

Another dumb move by GM. Canada should of just kept using the Pursuit name even if the U.S. couldn't use it. Just another way to mix people up. Can't they come up with any decent names for their cars instead of G5 and G6? A neighbour's car was in an accident a few weeks back and she got an 4 door Optra as loaner and was telling me that should would be interested in buying but I had to break the news to her that GM doesn't sell the 4 door Optra anymore. Any Canadians out there remember Asuna from the early 90's? Or how about the Pontiac Lemans in the early 90's that was really a korean car. God their marketing depts. suck.

[aurum]

Wait, so they come up with a Canadian name for the car (Pursuit), knowing they may indeed decide to bring it to the states one day, but don't bother to check if that name is trademarked in the states?

Also, they were discussing on the forums a few weeks ago how the new G5 would be a "U.S. exclusive". So is that no longer true? Is it just that the Pursuit model will be relabelled the G5 and sold only in the SE and GT Pursuit trims (look up gmcanada.com for details)? I'm confused.

I was under the impression that GM would be remaking a unique Cobalt-based Pontiac coupe for the US market, and keep selling the Pursuit in Canada. But that made little sense to begin with - why make two versions of a Pontiac Delta-based coupe, when you can make one and stamp G5 or Pursuit and metric gauges based on where it's headed?

EIther way, I hope they redesign the 'snap-in' grille. It doesn't bother me as much as it used to in my car, but it still does a little bit.

[ponchoman49]

Shakes head sadly... GM still doesn't get it. Badge engineered cars with stupid letter names is not going to save you. And by the designations it already sounds like they made up there minds not to use the s/c engines. In my mind SE means 2.2 145 hp and GT means 172 hp 2.4 Ecotec although I could be wrong on this.

[ToniCipriani]

Then what about G4 in Mexico??

They got in trouble with Apple?

[aurum]

Then what about G4 in Mexico??

They got in trouble with Apple?

LOL

As for SE and GT meaning 145 2.2 L and 171 2.4 L ECOTECS, that's what the Pursuit SE and Pursuit GT have in Canada, respectively. I have a Pursuit SE 2-door myself.

Anyway, maybe you should be a bit more optimistic? What if SE meant a 171 HP 2.4 engine, and the GT had the 200 HP 2.0L Supercharged ECOTEC from the Cobalt SS? That would be cool. That, and if they re-did the front so it had it's own one-piece sheetmetal including the Pontiac grille, instead of the snap-in, it wouldn't be a bad car.

They really should dump the black plastics on the interior though, they're my least favourite part.

[ToniCipriani]

...if they can return the level of differentiation to at least where the Cavalier and Sunfire were...

But sadly it won't happen.

[Matt276]

Here we go again with the rebadging.

[regfootball]

the name Pursuit is FRUITY.

G5, bleh.

How bout Pontiac CANNONBALL?

[Chicagoland]

In the compact class, profits are thin, so don't expect a 1970 GTO Judge.

[mjd1001]

I agree I do not like the name "G5"...I do like the Name Pursuit.

Silly going to all alpha-numeric names for a division like Pontiac.

[cavalier36]

from what ive heard the Cobalt and G5 will have diffrent interiors but the exterior will be simular.. this will probably be the case until they both recieve a mid cycle face lift probably around 2009.. the G5 will only come as a coupe for the U.S. and they have sales projections of around 30,000 units a year.. i havent heard anything about engines in the G5 though.. if it was me the 2.4L would be standard

and the GT would have the 2.0L supercharged from the cobalt SS.. there doesnt need to be a "stripper" model in the G5.. this car will exist for two reasons: Pontiac dealers whining they dont have a "small" car even though they have the Solstice and the Vibe.. arent those small cars?? and another reason is because they think since teenage girls liked the sunfire they will like the G5 too..

[mjdecker]

from what ive heard the Cobalt and G5 will have diffrent interiors but the exterior will be simular.. this will probably be the case until they both recieve a mid cycle face lift probably around 2009.. the G5 will only come as a coupe for the U.S. and they have sales projections of around 30,000 units a year.. i havent heard anything about engines in the G5 though.. if it was me the 2.4L would be standard

and the GT would have the 2.0L supercharged from the cobalt SS.. there doesnt need to be a "stripper" model in the G5..  this car will exist for two reasons: Pontiac dealers whining they dont have a "small" car even though they have the Solstice and the Vibe.. arent those small cars?? and another reason is because they think since teenage girls liked the sunfire they will like the G5 too..

I agree on your thoughts about the engines but as for pontiac not needing a "stripper" model, I think to keep prices down they should do it like the Solstice. In base form, both the SE and GT models they have their respective engines (2.4L * 2.0L Supercharged) but minimum options, cloth seats, crank windows, no power seats, ect. That way the primary focus would be performance but then, I highly doubt that would happen too

[Angry Dad]

from what ive heard the Cobalt and G5 will have diffrent interiors but the exterior will be simular.. this will probably be the case until they both recieve a mid cycle face lift probably around 2009.. the G5 will only come as a coupe for the U.S. and they have sales projections of around 30,000 units a year.. i havent heard anything about engines in the G5 though.. if it was me the 2.4L would be standard

and the GT would have the 2.0L supercharged from the cobalt SS.. there doesnt need to be a "stripper" model in the G5..  this car will exist for two reasons: Pontiac dealers whining they dont have a "small" car even though they have the Solstice and the Vibe.. arent those small cars?? and another reason is because they think since teenage girls liked the sunfire they will like the G5 too..

I hope your prediction is right. The 2.4 is a fine engine. Pontiac should not have any models with the 2.2. As far as Pontiac not having any small cars, the Vibe is still around. If there is one division that has lost it's way due to "brand management" it is Pontiac. Sure is odd that Pontiac is aligned to Daytona Prototype racing and the one car that has a production version of the racing motor, the GTO, is going away, at least for a while.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

There is only one statement that needs to be said to sum up my feelings. This is pathedic.

Hopefully GM is going make good on making this just a stop-gap car...I hope.

[frogger]

Just when you think they might be headed in the right direction, more status quo badge engineering to feed the overgrown quality spread too thin monster vehicle lineup that fools no one... This is just embarrassing.