regfootball

one commenter in the blog said GM needs a mix of FWD, RWD, and AWD. Perhaps GM's biggest problem right now is not offering the proper mix. Another comment that struck me was the Malibu should be FWD and the Impala RWD. I could see that to a point, but I still bet you the car dealers in the snow belts would want the AWD option for the Impala as well. I followed a new Lexus IS today. Pulled behind it at a stoplight. AWD badge. Yup. Makes sense here in MN. Most of the newer G35 Inifiniti sedans I've seen lately here too are G35x's. I see more and more BMW ix's. At least in these luxury marques like inifiniti and such (Cadillac are you listening, CTS) AHEM...Saab are you listening (-5x, 9-3x) are seeing that folks expect this in their offerings. Honestly, as much as snows do help (I know from experience) its a major inconvenience for most buyers. Even though a lot of smart folks know snow tires can make a RWD car passable in winter, most drivers have no desire to deal with that. Nor do they want to spend the extra money. So they drive RWD on their all seasons, are unhappy with it in the winter, and therefore don't like the product. The worst thing you can do is sell a car that does not satisfy the owner, even if they are not smart enough or are too lazy to put snows on. They simply will say 'the car sucks and its unsafe or a pain in the ass to get around in', and tell all their friends. Just like the older realtor lady I knew who bought the last version IS Lexus and then traded it 6 months later because she could not get around in it. She hated the car, snows woulda helped, but she had no clue and woulda been too lazy to do it anyways. So if you sell the RWD based on 'improved performance', but the everyday practicality of the car in bad weather doesn't measure up, they'll still begrudge the car and in fact will hate it more because of the higher expectations of it. Therefore, any almost car offered as RWD needs to give the universal option for AWD if they want to sell it and market it to larger niches and such in the US market nationwide. Why piss off dealers and make them carry unsalable inventory dollars for 4-5 months? I could see excluding cars like the Camaro and Solstice, although you might get some bites on an AWD Camaro. Anything in the vein of RWD sedan which is meant for everyday use ought to have AWD available, otherwise, you've alienated 50% of the car market and pissed off dealers. Dead inventory is retail no-no #1. And snows on FWD or AWD will be better still than RWD with snows. And here's the deal, styling and interiors will always reign supreme before which wheels drive the car in terms of what attracts buyers. The Chrysler 300 would sell no matter which wheels were driving the car. Most folks are buying the 300 as middle age penis extenders, and because its a cheaper version of a Mercedes with a Bently grille. So GM should fix their pricing and styling and interiors problems as well figuring out 'which wheels drive the car'. GM's product planning department must be utterly clueless if they are even blogging this topic so desperately looking for opinions. They must not know their head from their ass. If they were doing their job, they would have figured out by now what the markets want and should have responded. Look how badly they got caught with their pants down vs. the Mustang and 300. Its clear their product planners and brand and division managers are rudderless. It gets back to 'they should have a proper mix' of all of them. I might be inclined to think Chevy-mostly fwd cars, but some RWD cars and some RWD/AWD cars. Saturn, mostly FWD, some FWD AWD to battle the hondas, toyotas and VW's and of course the RWD sky Buick and Pontiac-mostly an even mix of RWD or RWD/AWD and a few FWD on the G6 / LaCrosse types of cars. Saab- FWD and FWD/AWD Cadillac-whatever works best for the product. mostly RWD or RWD/AWD.

it looks like an ugly dodge ram with an uglier grille

they review all comments so their will be a lag time.

sh1-t. if they do what they say, it should be interesting! 2 questions -wouldn't these guys have been under the radar of a big auto company for takeover already -i want to see how this performs crash wise when a semi truck barrels over it. lastly, i want to drive one! my guess? the government and its regulations find some way to make this thing illegal. Is this technically classified as a three wheel motorcycle?

I LOVE Vega/Astres....we had 3 of them in the family!

I do prefer bottled or from my reverse osmosis under the sink (gotta change my filter!) but where i live now the tap water is pretty good too. not a lot fo chlorine. regarding flouride...... What Your Dentist Isn’t Telling You About Fluoride Think Fluoride is Healthy? Find Out the Shocking Truth in "The Fluoride Deception" Intermediate Plan: Beverages Is Fluoride Really As Safe As You Are Told? tell me if want to have Flouride in your water after reading that .....LOL!!!!...... that mercola.com site, that dude has all the articles you'll ever want to read about what type of water to drink. read his site on a variety of topics and you'll be convinced your gonna die tomorrow! avoid DISTILLED water. it can kill you. i wonder if this mercola dude is a scientologist.

the previous camaro was frequently criticized for its cargo area lack of space and setup. I would hate to see them botch it again on this one.

agree. i do love this concept, but i wonder if the Kris Horton Camaros are more practical and less stigmatized.

i have some agreement with those statements. As a design, its great. but i love airy cabins and this looks way claustrophobic. the interior isn't really that good. The hood is a few inches too long (even for a musclecar) when considering packaging people. Its probably as much of a bathtub in terms of seating as the last gen camaro. visually, its awesome, but i am also concerned that this car continues to propagate the redneck/mullet stereotype too much that the camaro already has. I think the next Camaro design has to appeal to traditionalists, but allow the rest of the folks folks to feel like its no longer a mullet cruiser as well. that's why the camaros sales kept nose diving all the time. They could repackage and reshape the design some to improve the cabin feel and clautrophobia, improve usability, STILL provide a mean assed traditionalist friendly look, and lose the mullet stigma. And give us a usable, somewhat contemporary interior.

i agree!!!!!!

there was nothing to water down because there was no semblance of 'design' to start with. I re-read the COTY article again a few days ago and I still am completely wondering how in the hell it won other than if you read the backgrounds of the editors who were evaluating the cars, i think only one drove a domestic as a daily driver, and they all drove asian or euro stuff, in disprortionate % to what the actual population drives. I think one staffer didn't even have a car for crying out loud. That's like letting Nader vote on COTY.

more folks these days want the third row and a more carlike driving vehicle, and i think the minivan stigma keeps a lot of folks away from those. bottom line: this is an emerging market that could explode and GM is tapping into it in a good way.

titanic was spectacular and a tremendous movie. Kate's rack in that movie is reason to sever a limb for the cause if need be. She was gorgeous in the whole movie. At times I can become figuratively insanely obsessed with her. today still, she is one of those incredibly honestly gorgeous women that eschews grace and style and confidence. that was a truly defining movie moment in history. my wife would understand if i dumped her for kate winlet. maybe. i think i could sell it to her if need be. J/K one last diversionary subtopic before we get back to the real topic: scarlett johansson at the golden globes. or just scarlett johansson in general. might be worthy of its own thread. i apologize for the momentary break. carry on.

yes, he is not a virgin at the end of the movie,but you still will laugh out loud if you rent it.

what's great about GM is auto headlights are usually std. or cheap option. all my new fords have had autolamp, which is great, but is optional. my old 89 SHO sis not have that tho i think, must check. all my GM's and my two diamantes had the DRL/lights automatically on bit and i love it. even my 99 prizm had it! its a tremendous convenience feature.

both the 330i and IS 350 are QUICK. oddly,the IS is about the only toyota i like, but i do think lack of MTX in the 350 is a huge fault and the interior looks dull. some other poster saw it in person and said the interior was not as impressive as you'd believe it to be. it looks more interesting than the g35 nowadays. at first i disliked the new 3 series but i am warming up to it. certainly it is top notch in all facets of vehicle performance. it would have to top my list if i came into money. why can't pontiac build 3 and 5 series clones for 15 grand less?

i've heard that you do not want to get caught with a bimmer with engine problems. you won't be able to afford it. a bimmer is a type of car you lease new, entirely within warranty.

because the spy photos did resemble a stratus and the current stratus is such a hot seller

autonews "Main point: U.S. automakers must use their engineering and scientific talent to level the playing field with Japanese competitors. Tougher federal regulation could help."

"The thing about the Korean culture -- they are incredibly relentless in their determination to make their numbers," that's a good enough reason for me to say to everyone I know...."stop buying their cars", if they think they can just bully their way into our market without accepting that existing established competition does exist. quite honestly comments like that makes me wish that they would fail in grand fashion. anytime i see the word 'relentless', I want to smack something....as if EVERYONE is not trying equally as hard to succeed. we need to SMACK them down a notch or four. we don't need their annoying 'relentless' attitude and Korean culture/business mentality imposed on our shores, messing up American families. They don't get 'free market' choice, do they? my sister wants to get rid of her Elantra. Her 2 1/2 year old Elantra. She doesn't like it at all.....she wanted to know if I'd buy it....I said NO THANKS. the only thing its good for is delivering pizzas...maybe.

everyone i know who's had a recent VW for past a couple years says 'NEVER AGAIN'!!!!

if it does leak like that, than what exactly is the point to the vehicle to have the midgate?

LOLx2

my favorite 2005 movies wedding crashers and 40 y.o. virgin

who gives a fk about the DRL's, what is so awesome about cars with DRL's is that it usually means auto headlamps at no added cost which is a nice feature to have!