BigPontiac

So we have a niche brand, Pontiac. It is expected to sell to targeted markets and low volumes. The targeted market is the enthusiast. The expected annual North American volume for the G8 sedan is roughly 50k units/yr. The wagon and ute bodystyles have already been engineered with a variety of powertrain and transmission options for the Australian market. Adapting them to the North American market is an incremental cost. Selling 5k wagons in North America would seem reasonable and would add 10% to the overall G8 sales volumes. BMW seems to have no problem selling products to enthusiasts -- maybe they're just better at understanding what products their potential customers want? If GM is getting out to the North East, maybe they should stop by the Harvard Business School and talk to Clayton Christensen about "Disruptive Innovation Theory" and maybe they might learn how to seek out untapped markets. As for the "no one buys xxx" argument, how can GM know what customers want when they rely on dealers to act as the voice of the customer? Instead of limiting customer choices, maybe GM should leverage technology to improve a customer's ability to custom order the vehicle they want instead of choosing from dealer stock, which again generally reflects a lowest common denominator approach. Web technology combined with RFID and webcams in the manufacturing plant could actually be packaged as a high touch customer order experience and used as a market differentiating capability to simultaneously give customers the configuration they want and reduce dealer inventory. Much like Toyota discovered with fullsize pickup buyers, "enthusiasts" want what they want and are generally willing to wait or pay a premium to get it. As GM prices the Cadillac CTS with a manual transmission at a discount to the automatic, it clearly shows their thinking still reflects they believe buyers choose the manual transmission for cost reasons, which is completely false. But given the fact GM can't even get EDS and IBM to play well together on building internals systems and outsourced most of their customer web properties offshore, I guess I shouldn't expect much.

That's the perfect car to campaign in One Lap of America.

The G8 doesn't seem any heavier than a CTS, etc so I don't view the weight as that big a deal. I was more picking on the porky Vue that our friend at Opel sent us. The Saab guys seem to have made the most of what they had to work with -- it's hard to believe it's even remotely related to a G6 or an Aura.

I'm going to disagree. Subaru sold 60K Outbacks in 2006, a subset of their overall Legacy model sales. Subaru also sells well on the East Coast, or at least New England...one of those markets where GM wants to improve their sales. Volvo wagons are also very strong in this region...just like cars with manual transmissions. Appealing to the lowest common denominator is certainly not a successful strategy to exploit new market segments. Michigan is not necessarily representative of the buying desires of the rest of the U.S. GMs product planners should get out more.

For comparison: 2008 Cadillac CTS (auto) : 3874 (likely without the sunroof) 2008 Saturn Vue XR (auto): 4076 [FWD], 4325 [AWD] I sure am glad GM is utilizing GME's experience in engineering lightweight, FWD vehicles to solve their fuel economy challenges... :AH-HA_wink:

I'll just point out an obvious failing of the Magnum -- the sloping rear roof line compromised the useabilty of the cargo area. Americans spend ever increasing millions of dollars a year on their dogs and some (like me) would expect their dog to be able to fit in the cargo area of a wagon. My 85lb German Shepherd couldn't even sit in the cargo area of a Magnum with the hatch closed -- no head room. In contrast, the Subaru Legacy -- "the best selling wagon in America" (from their ads) -- offers a cargo area that can hold my dog (actually 2), then has dealer installed accessories geared toward dog owners such as pet barrier, rubber floor cover, bumper cover, etc. GM has yet to get a clue about this market -- and the Saab SportCombi and Saturn Vue clearly demonstrate this as both have barely useable cargo areas.

eBay Link

A quick WHOIS search on thegmsource.com reveals the domain registration expires today....likely why GoDaddy parked it. So, either he forgot to renew it or is letting it lapse.

GM's product planners really are idiots. No choice of transmission or engines -- then they're surprised when they have to resort to discounts to move the product.

Alternate article heading: CAW volunteers to idle plant to assist GM in reducing fleet sales.

Done.

My local Pontiac dealer has a bunch of Chevy Cobalts on their lot with Pontiac emblems on them.

I think the wagon has more potential than people are giving them credit for. It amazes me that GM says wagons don't sell, yet Subaru sold 59,262 Outbacks in 2006. Source Appears the product planners and bean counters didn't look very hard...

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When I built a loaded G8 on Edmunds, it was $32,745...though the automatic only makes it a non-starter for me. It also came up with a G8 Ad that said "Smart Design. Stupid Fast. G8 GT, the most powerful car starting under $30K" Then it linked to this Edmunds article - link

2009 Dodge Challenger SRT-8, 6-speed manual. Vanity Plate (1): F - GME Vanity Plate (2): F - PCS

It says volumes about GM's number crunchers that they were comparing the G8 wagon to an Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series Wagon. Yet for vehicle size, it is the size of an A6 and 5-Series wagon. Maybe team GM should take a field trip outside of Michigan for a day to see how the rest of the country lives. On my way to work this morning alone I passed a VW Jetta wagon, 2 VW Passat wagons, 4 Subaru Legacy wagons, 3 Subaru Outbacks, 1 Audi All-Road and an A6 wagon....and I wasn't looking all that hard. What GM likely meant to say was: "Due to the poor sales of the Saab SportCombi, we don't believe there is a market for wagons in North America." For a company that's losing marketshare, they're certainly not seeking out new niche markets to exploit. The product planners will run them right out of business.

The exact buyers you're saying Pontiac needs to attract have likely never heard the "We Build Excitement" slogan -- so reusing it should not be an issue...the only people who'd like remember it would be the Pontiac fans. Pontiac needs to carefully craft an image for the brand, similar to how Mini has executed their strategy. IMO to be very clear, Pontiac should be targeting CPO BMWs and Infinitis. And for the record, my screen name comes from the one and only Pontiac I've ever owned (a 1968). I have however owned 2 GMCs, 3 Subarus, 4 Nissans, 2 Mazdas, 2 BMWs, 2 Kawasaki's and 1 Harley-Davidson. When GM decides to build a car that fits what I'm looking for, then they'll get my money. Also, Acuras nothing to do with an exciting driving experience.

I'm liking it. I like the factory dual exhaust with bumper cut-outs and the rambox. If they're offering a real extended cab model now, this will make my shopping list.

Article GM, UAW Negotiating More Buyouts Sunday January 13, 5:53 pm ET By Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer GM, UAW Negotiating Another Round of Buyouts, Early Retirements DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. is close to an agreement with the United Auto Workers on another round of buyout and early retirement offers to cut the number of workers in jobs banks and clear openings for workers hired at lower-tier wages, a top company official said Sunday. Troy Clarke, GM's North American president, told reporters at the North American International Auto Show that an announcement could come within a week. "We are negotiating in some cases plant-by-plant, but certainly group-by-group or issue-by-issue, how to roll out a special attrition program," Clark said. "We think that we'll have that done very soon." Clarke said he couldn't reveal specifics of the plan because negotiations continue. The company already has announced plans to offer buyouts and early retirement packages to 5,200 UAW hourly workers at service and parts and operations facilities across the country. The offers also will be available to hourly employees at GM's Pittsburgh metal stamping plant and Massena, N.Y., casting plant, and to all hourly employees currently assigned to jobs banks in Oklahoma City, Linden, N.J., and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. In jobs banks, workers get most of their pay even though they have been laid off. Once they get through the jobs bank employees, buyouts will be offered in locations where GM wants to pay the lower-tier wages. GM wants up to 16,000 hourly UAW workers to leave the company. Many would be replaced by workers at the lower-tier wage scale approved under a landmark four-year contract reached with the union last year. Such new hires would be mainly in non-manufacturing jobs and would receive reduced health care and pension benefits. GM also anticipates replacing many higher-paid workers with entry-level employees who will make less. Current UAW employees earn about $28 an hour, while entry-level wages begin at about $14-$15 an hour. Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said the company probably won't see much savings from the lower-tier wages in 2008 but would begin to realize them in 2009. "I would be surprised as we head out of this year if there's a significant economic impact in second-tier, but we could see numbers that move into the thousands rather than hundreds as the year goes on or approaches the end of it anyway," he said. More than 34,000 GM workers left in 2006 by way of retirement or buyouts. If the economy worsens this year and GM has to further cut production to handle lower demand, Clarke said it currently is not looking at closing any factories. "When we talk about adjusting our capacity, we're not talking about shutting down plants," he said. "We're talking about (assembly) line rate changes, I think. We're talking about down weeks. At least that's what our thought is today. We'll have to see how it goes." He also said he's optimistic about an industry rebound in the second half of 2008. December U.S. sales excluding those to fleets jumped to an annual rate of 13.7 million, one of the best retail sales rates of the year, and the nation should be through most of its adjustable-rate mortgage increases during the first half of the year, Clarke said. "We get through that factor and this kind of general malaise, we think that the market has an opportunity to strengthen," he said. "We're optimistic that the market does have some resiliency. There does appear to be some pent-up demand."

I am one of those low-end BMW buyers and I think they should go back to "We Build Excitement" and back it up with Product. Next, lose the dorky "Gx" naming scheme. "The Ultimate Driving Machine" slogan has served BMW well since they "borrowed it" from the GTO. "We Build Excitement" was a good slogan -- the product just needs to live up to the image.

Article GM Launches Partnership With Ethanol Firm Coskata By LAUREN ETTER January 14, 2008 General Motors Corp. announced Sunday that it is partnering with a new cellulosic ethanol company, the most recent move by the automaker to boost its green credentials and a sign the race to produce fuel out of waste is intensifying. The Illinois-based company, Coskata, Inc. is one of nine cellulosic ethanol companies backed by billionaire investor Vinod Khosla and is one of more than a dozen companies in the U.S. that are rushing to develop a way to efficiently produce cellulosic ethanol. This type of fuel can be made from many different materials, including wood, orange peels and tires. GM, which is taking an undisclosed financial stake in the company, is making a foray into the cellulosic ethanol field as part of a broader campaign to convince car buyers it is committed to fuel economy and capable of chasing Toyota Motor Corp. in terms of environmental leadership. The company, which has been aggressively marketing ethanol as a way to complement its growing fleet of vehicles that can run on the fuel blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline called E85, says it is also part of its "commitment to reinvent the automobile" by building vehicles that can run on everything from hydrogen fuel cells to electricity. Coskata hopes that allying with GM will give the company brand recognition and an immediate platform for its fuel once it hits the market, which isn't expected to be until 2011 at the earliest. So far cellulosic ethanol has been a pipe dream despite years of ongoing research in the field. Only a handful of companies are producing the fuel on a pilot scale, and none yet is operating on a large commercial level because it is still too expensive to make. A protracted bout of high oil prices and significant government support is likely to give the fuel a boost and speed up commercialization. Last month President George W. Bush signed an energy bill that requires oil refiners to blend 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels into the nation's gasoline supply by 2022. Of that, 21 billion gallons must be "advanced biofuels," which includes cellulosic ethanol. Currently about 7 billion gallons of ethanol are used in the U.S., and nearly all comes from corn. Whoever figures out how to make cellulosic ethanol first will propel fuel and autos to a new level that could achieve Henry Ford's dream of running cars not on petroleum but on a range of farm products like apples, sawdust and weeds. Widespread use of the fuel could dramatically reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gases significantly. Still investors have been wary of sinking money into cellulosic ethanol since in the past research in the field has withered when oil prices drop. Bill Roe, chief executive at Coskata, believes today is different because of the government's support for the fuel and because demand for energy is increasing at a rapid clip in emerging economies like China. Also new technologies will help make the fuel more cost competitive. --John Stoll and Stephen Power contributed to this article. Write to Lauren Etter at [email protected]

What ever happened to Mooney? Reuss's dad having a hand in the Grand National helps a little bit as does his driver certification of the northern loop of the Nurburgring.

Aztek and Rendezvous...lovely...

Some more close-up shots on Autoblog