KillFort

The spoiler on my Intrigue looks great.

I'm still uneasy about the interior. The concept interior was too nice, if there is such a thing. I am hoping the fact that this is a low res shot taken through a window which is causing important details to be missed.

The rendering is nice but I hope those are not the headlight units. It's missing those little steps in the headlight housing from the 60-minute video.

“If the management on both sides aren’t enthused and don’t have clear alignment on expectations, that’s not a prescription for successful performance,” Wagoner said. "It’s important as we sit down to get a clear understanding of Renault-Nissan’s vision and they get a clear understanding of our vision." Sounds like Wagoner's way of saying I do not think so but I'll play nice for now.

I hope those headlights are simply prototype units and we see the highly stylized ones from the 60 Minutes car.

Mr.Krinkle, nice commentary. lol.

Back before all the unfortunate drama, AH-HA once mentioned a possible Chevy Lambda... this was several months ago. I have heard similar stories from other sources.

I've heard they have built 7 of these so far.

Evok, you have stated that you aren't especially worried about the NG CTS but more so about the NG STS and SRX. How far off is the NG STS and SRX and do you expect it will be a repeat of what we saw with the current models?--meaning, a far more boldly styled CTS followed by far weaker versions of the other models. I'm worried about the differences we will see between the CBS 60 Minutes CTS and the actual production version by next year.

Although GM killed Oldsmobile, wasn't there rumors of Olds fighting for a NG Aurora on Sigma right before its death? Just wondering if anyone has ever seen sketches of design proposals or mockups of where Oldsmobile was going before they got axed. I'm sure at least some stuff still exist somewhere.

Ok, I'm sure everyone remembers the thread on the NG Malibu. It was quite the hot topic... but their were lots of conflicting reports from various insiders. So, I ask anybody out there what the latest word is? Is the NG Malibu still on for Epsilon I or did GM delay it to redo it for the Epsilon II platform or cancel it all together? Will GM ever put a rush on things for their mainstream cars and not SUVs or niche vehicles? How far along are they? The new Malibu can't come soon enough IMO. Structurally, I believe the current car is of quality but design wise I've never liked it--interior or exterior. Any updates, hints, answers are welcome. Thanks in advance.

The headlights and tail lights IMO are fugly. Way too insect looking and most would agree... anything with insect/bug characteristics are repulsive.

About those lights.... I'm hoping that because this is pre-production, that those headlight units were simply thrown on from a parts bin and that the final car will retain what we saw on 60 Minutes because that was one of my favorite features of the front. The 60 Minutes car had awesome detailing in the headlamp units! I'm guessing they are being used for the time being because the rear end has some Altima looking lights poking through the camo which I'm assuming, once again, for testing purposes. Also, one more point on the lights... no Caddy should have halogen units so I hope even further that those headlamps are for testing purposes ONLY. Even lower end cars are coming with HIDs now. Lighting units are very important to not only the function, but it's the "face" of a car if you will. It's like the car's eyes. And I like being able to see a mile down the road and 1/2 mile to either side at night. I currently run Hella FF50 driving lights with the stock fogs, an upgraded wiring harness with relays for the low and high beams, and an addtional relay system to keep the highs on with the lows in my Olds Intrigue but I'm always wishing for more light because two HID low beams still beat my system. Improved safety and the pretty looks to go with it.. I iwsh for HID standard in all cars as far as I'm concerned.

Don't know if this has already been posted, let alone if it is all BS... let's hope so for GM's sake. Tuesday 4th April 2006 Prius hits 113mpg Toyota is charging ahead in the race for domination of the hybrid car market, according to Auto Express spies. The firm's next Prius will be so efficient it will be the first production car capable of returning more than 110mpg. The newcomer is being developed to try to improve European sales. While the car has been a success in the US, it has met a mixed reaction on this side of the Atlantic, due to the popularity of diesel models. But now we've been told that engineers working on the new Prius have a fuel economy target of 40km/litre - a mind-boggling 113mpg. "The whole electrical system has been redesigned to improve economy" said one Toyota engineer. "We are working on a prototype that runs solely on the electric motor in slow traffic, but switches to engine and motor drive when higher speeds are needed." The secret lies with the batteries. The current Prius uses nickel-hydride items, which currently offer the best balance between cost and performance. But engineers are working on new lithiumion cells, which are lighter, smaller, generate more power and last longer. Subaru and Mitsubishi both plan to sell electric cars by 2010, but Toyota hopes to get its new model on the road as early as 2008. And improved economy isn't the firm's only goal, as engineers are working on reducing the current car's 10.9-second 0-62mph time by more than a second. Peter Lyon - Article from: Auto Express

Josh, haha.. I too had the steps and a side-spike at one point too. People were always like "awww, that's cute." It might have been cute with our haircuts, but not on this car in IMO.

I would like to add one more thing... The front end uses too many design cues from the Impala and Cobalt with those stupid cheap plastic horizontal fins and lines. It reminds me of early ninties haircuts where people would cut horizontal lines on the side of their head above their temples.

Sorry, IMO, after seeing the concept, this picture makes it look like sh*t. That said, maybe I'm jumping the gun, because GM tends to have the worst photography department in the Universe. Based on this picture alone though, I'd say G6 debacle over again. People were expecting the concept, the exact concept down the last molecule. Think Solstice Concept to Production transition. Gary Cowger once claimed that G6 production vehicle would be 90% of the concept. I would really like to see how he calculated that number. I see the formula is still healthy at GM. Maybe the way GM calculates it is if you keep the same name as the Concept, that's good for at least 85% of Production. "...We're still calling it Aura, isn't that good enough...?" A mere one or two details can drop a car from 90% of the concept to less than half. You remove that one detail that makes a car distinictive and special, then why even bother? Just because you know the rules of chess and play regularly doesn't make you a Grand Master. It doesn't matter if the car is competing against other "boring" cars like the Camry. You put a boring GM car next to a boring Toyota and 9/10, customers will pick the boring Toyota. When will GM learn they can't compete on the "boring" factor? Why can't they just make their own game changing rules? I'd say GM's only potential core competency is design but they continue to leave it as potential at best. Toyota's core competency is process, which means they consistantly produce one cookie cutter car after another. GM's biggest damn problem is they always over promise and under deliver, causing the public to write them off. This is why people get too high of expectations. GM's concepts are often too good for their own good. Why don't they for once bring out a $h!ty concept and make the production vehicle awesome or better yet, just keep the concept AS IS in a mainstream vehicle? And not to offend anybody, but I say screw this "maybe it's coming in the Red Line version." Why don't they make the base vehicle like the concept and do something even more radical for the Red Line. If the interior changed at all, this car will be destroyed in the press. End of story.

They focused on it sitting on the floor for a few seconds during the show. Anybody get a screen shot?

I'm recording, but on a new VHS tape... wish I had a DVD recorder. I only have one on the computer.

SWEET!

ellives, I know what location your profile list. I know the layout of the site.. been a member a long time. The question was rhetorical but nobody necessarily puts their true location on an Internet site. I simply want to make the point. I do congratulate on your success and will look at the book you suggested. I'm glad so many views are coming into this conversation. It forces us to think about how the world is changing and for so many close to home, it seems to be getting worse than better. I too, like you, possess the ability to get another job but for how long? It's getting harder and harder all the time. We are being forced to add that extra burden to ourself and for what? So that others across the globe can bask in our decline? What country are we leaving for our children? One that is deadly competitive is the sad emerging reality. Every country wants a chance at #1 but that doesn't mean we grant them the leverage to do so. The middle class is what makes the U.S. special. Hardly any process worth while goes from 0 to 100 instantly. I think of the middle class the same way. A lot of hard-working individuals made this country the envy of the world. A two-class society isn't worth while in my opinion, just as I consider a two-party system too black and white. You may consider many in the unions dead weight. I dare say there are many more who are proud of the work they do and bust a** to do a quality job. I also dare to say there is just as much if not more dead weight in the white collar world. In fact, I find the white collar world a much sadder place, especially once you get to a certain level in a corporation. I appreciate everyone's input. And Josh, thanks for the feedback. It's late.. I'm sure there's more left to be said but sleep sounds better right now.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, what is your occupation and the country you live in? Ask this question to yourself, why is it that China can practice unfair trade practices but we can't? And by we, I mean the United States. When you ask "what is served by this approach?" I'll tell you: Other countries besides the U.S. are being "served" finely because people like you are helping their cause to be number #1. I'll tell you what makes the U.S. special: I live and work here and it's my childrens' future at stake. To which I repeat, where do you currently live? BTW, I work at a non-union corportion and I am white collar but I'm smart enough to know that if those below me are getting paid well, then more than likely, I'm getting paid better. When their wages decrease, mine directly correlate. This Utopia you speak of, where every country is just as equal as the U.S. doesn't work in reality. There are a limited number of resources on this planet, so there can only be one #1. And since there has been only one super power for quite some time, the citizens of the U.S. have been living pretty damn well. Since I am a U.S. citizen, I plan on protecting that standard of living for myself and the people around me, my fellow citizens and keep on living well! When you talk about Toyota getting "fat," did you ever ask the question why? Because their citizens and government support the hell out of their standard of living and plan on protecting it to the very end. At least their citizens are smart enough to see the bigger picture beyond this union vs. non-union debate. Even if you take away the unions, would Toyota still be making a killing from currency manipulation? Ever think about that? I'm assuming you are not a U.S. citizen because if you were, you'd be fighting to keep your standard of living and those around you. Anybody in their right mind would rather see resources and jobs stay in their own backyard rather than hand them over to people across the globe who are just waiting to take our wealth so they can start living posh and I can start living poorer. Screw that! I work too damn hard for my standard of living. I can't imagine that you are a U.S. citizen currently working here with such a nonchalant attitude, "get another job." I'd like to see you say that when someone $h! cans you or forces you take a much lower wage and you have to go to another company and accept the "new standard" of lower salaries and longer hours to "compete" in this global economy. Anybody with that mentality can't possible live in the U.S.... Work more, get paid less? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense buddy??? I'd rather see all people work hard and get fairly compensated. AND please, answer this question, have you ever worked on a car assembly line? I have while in college before becoming white collar. I've seen both sides of the fence. Every job has its difficulties and the blue collars deserve every penny for theirs.

As Josh has stated, the problem is far deeper than calling people into a room. First of all, a contract is a contract. GM isn't the only company filling 1113 motions right now. Look at Delta and the pilots on strike. Delta wants to void their contracts. As the trend continues, it disregards any value for what the very definition of a contract is. Suddenly, nobody takes them seriously and companies are simply allowed to do whatever they want and the executives make sure to grab the most money when the bubble burst. It's similar to a pinata breaking, the tallest and biggest kids selfishly grab the most and run with no accountability whatsoever. But we aren't talking candy here, we are talking people's lifes. As more and more of these motions creep up at companies, the warning signs show a much larger problem. You have to ask yourself why, all of a sudden, are we Americans being forced to settle for less? To give up our standard of living because these companies can't compete? The answer is this: The global economy doesn't work for our current standard of living. We as a country can do one of two things: (1) Fight to keep our standard of living. (2) Sell ourself out in order to race to meet the rest of the world's crappy living with this so called "free trade." It's pretty obvious Washington has decided option (2) for the majority of the country. You have to ask yourself, "If it is free trade, why are our deficits sky high?" It's only a matter of time before it begins to reach and affect everyone in the USA. We have to hang on! We have worked so hard to get the American Dream to what it is! What people need to realize is that the UAW sets standards for not just autoworkers, but many other industries. If a UAW worker is getting paid well, white collar has always proportionally been matched. And I'm not just talking auto related. This standard touches many in ways they don't understand in the bigger scheme of things, the fabric of our country. This is really the Middle Class standard of living we are giving up here. It's the backbone and it is being broken. Think of it as the oil pan of a car, once it is removed, all the "oil" is getting sucked down and even the "oil" at the top will be eventually pulled down too. Once all these contracts get voided, there will be no one left to stick up for and set the standard. Companies will just continue to cut and lower standards for ALL employees as being seen across the country at an alarming rate. Think of it this way, GM has cut blue collar jobs.... but who followed shortly after? That's right, white collar. No one is safe any more. Everything works hand-in-hand. For example, I have a friend who just recently graduated with a Masters in Accounting from a Big Ten School. He is white collar, works 80+ hours a week and bitches constantly about being over worked. The company tells him to shut up and be happy he still can hang on to his job. Really though, it's just a matter of time when that will fall out too. The point is, why are we subjecting ourselves to this constant lower standard? The issue is not between the UAW and GM, or the unions of this country and the companies. It's far larger. The companies in this country can't successfully compete because Washington, this Administration and their current legistlation is allowing the breaking of our standard by supporting this "global enonmoy" standard. We are being forced to do much more for far less, blue collar and white collar alike. Please everyone, see the big picture and speak out to the government. Even Rick Wagoner constantly bitched to Washington about how currency manipulation and the lack of protectionism is ruining everything. UAW vs. GM is only focusing on small crack when if you look up, you can see the tidal wave ahead. If you all want to eventually live like those in Afghanistan while China and India and the rest of the world sucks up our resources, be complacent, but I personally want to fight for what we have created while we still have something left.

I just test drove one the other day. It had the 3800. Very nice and refined vehicle. Congrats on your new car!

There has been an autoextremist update concerning the matter: Publisher's Note: We have an updated confirmation (6:00PM EST) from General Motors that GM did not pay the producers of "MI-3" for placement of the Solstice. We stand corrected. - PMD