smk4565

Saab sold less than 35,000 vehicles in the US in 2007, and the US is it's biggest market. Worldwide sales are under 100,000. GM sells 9.4 million cars a year, why do they keep wasting money on something that is 1% of their sales. GM doesn't need a Euro brand to sell cars in the US, or even in Europe. Toyota and BMW didn't buy an American brand to survive in the USA, and they did alright.

Here is the link to the Jim Taylor interview http://www.leftlanenews.com/leftlane-sits-...f-cadillac.html Diesel Escalade would be a good idea, especially with a hybrid system, even the BAS system that is lower cost.

The "what kind of buyers go into Pontiac dealerships nowadays" is an open invitation to jokes and insults, (much like it is easy to do with old people and Buick). I am just saying that the cars are low cost, similar to Kia or Hyundai before they had the Vera Cruz and Genesis and pushed upward a little bit.

They might if the Cadillac was equal or better. But given the current lineup, I would agree. Jim Taylor also said that Cadillac would wait to see if Mercedes was successful with their BlueTech diesels before they offer a US diesel. Gotta love the follower mentality. That is the same strategy they used for the Prius, then they got behind. Why not be first for once.

From Leftlanenews.com "Confirmed: STS/DTS to become one As for the future of the STS/DTS, Taylor confirmed that Cadillac is working on consolidating the two. The new car will benefit from CTS-esque styling and will cater to a younger crowd. As far as size, the new car will rival the BMW 7-series, but will be priced like a 5-series. The new sedan will use a rear-wheel drive setup — with all-wheel drive a likely option — but Taylor failed to mention when we might see the new vehicle on the road." The current STS is 1 inch shorter than the 7-series and the DTS is 10 inches longer and both are priced lower than a 5-series, and both are sales duds at this point. Why would Cadillac make another big car, priced like a 5-series and expect it not to be a dud? Why not make a car sized like a 5-series and priced like a 5-series. And a car sized like a 7-series and priced like a 7-series.

The money they lose on Saab every year would be better spent on Cadillac.

The overlay is very nice work. The spy photos of the 2010 LaCrosse do show a resemblance to the Malibu. The concept may not, but Buick often changes concepts, the concept LaCrosse from 02 or 03 almost had a hatchback look to it. This car can probably replace the Lucerne as well as the LaCrosse, so to avoid a repeat of the Malibu being nicer than the Impala or CTS being nicer than the STS.

2008 pricing with Bonus Cash and Cash Allowance included G5: $14,835 G6: $16,375 2009 Vibe: $15,895 Grand Prix: $20,960 (77.8% fleet sale in 2007) Solstice: $21,785 Torrent: $21,835 Given that, I'd say people looking for cheap cars go into Pontiac showrooms.

Very true. A V6 G8 has a 0-60 time in the 7.2 second range, nearly a second behind a Camry or Avalon, or Malibu V6 even. Rear drive handing is a plus, but it lags behind the Maxima/Avalon/Accord V6 loaded in other areas. Most people don't want a car they have to justify or rationalize to friends or neighbors as to why they bought it. Pontiac has been building cars like that for years.

I wonder if the Invicta will share body panels with the Malibu, just as the Grand Prix and LaCrosse did. I like the Invicta name a lot more than LaCrosse, but now GM has to run a big advertising campaign to get people to know what it is. As opposed to a car like the Accord that has been around forever.

I think VWs and Audis are built solid, but a lot of the interior parts are hard or stiff, although that comes from the German utilitarian theme. I'm not a fan of their interior designs, but they use better materials and fit them together tighter than the domestics. I've always thought it was mechanical problems that plagued Audis, I knew a couple people that had them and were horrid on maintenance once they got to be about 5 years old, and both got rid of the car and went to another brand. The Chrysler 300 is close enough in price that both it and the Charger will get cross shopped to the G8. A 300 with the prestigious "Great American Package" is just $26,860. They really do have too trim levels with poor names for that car, such as the Herritage edition, Signiature Series Value Package and Walter P. Chrysler Executive Series. Sounds like old Town Car names.

The Silverado is rear drive and will still be around then. Otherwise, BMW and Mercedes will have rear wheel drive.

They do need to solve the weight problem, it hurts acceleration, breaking, handling and gas mileage. It ranges from the Solstice and Cobalt, to the Vue to the Enclave. The Malibu V6 mileage is so-so, it carries over into the bigger and heavier G8. Toyota's and Honda's V6 engines are pretty efficient, if the engine has 300-400 pounds less to pull, it is going to get better mileage. It would be nice to see a smaller V6 with DI that can make 250 hp but get better mileage than the 3.6.

I agree that rear drive is the way to go, but Pontiac's brand image is just about as low as Hyundai's. The 09 Maxima interior is much nicer, although that's a front driver. I'll have to compare the 300C and G8 at the auto show. The one thing Pontiac has going for them is there are very few full size rear drive sedans for $30,000.

I agree about the CTS interior, parts are good, and parts are discount plastic. The gray plastic on the map pockets on the doors is flimsy, the gray plastic around the center console is cheap, gray plastic surrounds the speedo and tach that sick out. The interior was designed to fit a $33k car so they could have a low base, but people that like a loaded up model (like myself) pay $48,000 for a $33,000 interior. I have not sat in the G8 yet, I saw the concept car at the auto show last year, I'll sit in it when I go in April. It better be much better in person, because in photos and from looking through the window in person, it appears to be on par with the Mazda 3, Malibu and not even as good as the Accord and those cars are much cheaper. I think the Dodge Charger interior is really bad, although the Avenger/Sebring are even worse. I am very interested in sitting in the Hyundai Genesis. The G8 has to compete with that car, and the Genesis has more luxury gear, more horsepower, and a 500+ watt, 17 speaker stereo from the Rolls-Royce Phantom. (even the CTS is left with 10 speakers as its top end system) Although I wouldn't buy a Pontiac or a Hyundai, I see either brand as a step down from the Aurora.

GM needs more rear drive stuff, they have tons of front wheel drive cars already. CAFE isn't an excuse, they can get the same mileage from rear drive, and they can make rear drive cars with light hybrids or diesels if they need to. Lassa is right about making cars under 195 inches long. Rear drive cars don't need to be 210 inches long and weigh 4300 pounds like a Town car. Size is what hurts mileage, not the drive wheels. Lassa is also right about Mercury being near death and Ford and Lincoln being too poor to come up with anything. I predict Mercury dies off, and Lincoln continues with it's dressed up Fords and adds the Mariner. I don't like Lassa's Cadillac plan. If the DTS/STS replacement is 203+ inches long and $40,000-$50,000, that's a geezer-mobile. If the 3-series is the #1 seller in the segment, (both US and worldwide) and the C-class, A4 are a couple inches bigger, why would the Alpha Cadillac be smaller than a 3-series. It should be 180-182 inches long. I don't like his engine choices either, a high revving 4-banger for the Alpha and a Chevy small block V8 for the big car. I'd be fine with an updated version of the DI turbo 4 from the Solstice GXP as the base BTS engine, but they need a V6 also.

It isn't nice, it is monotone dark gray plastic with 90s Stratus style A/C vents and panel gaps on the dashboard to the left and right of the steering wheel. The Malibu interior is better and costs $10,000 less. The G8 interior is a half step up from a Mazda 3.

Car and Driver online, with the manual transmission. The 335i has been clocked as low as 4.9 seconds, the 135i weighs less. BMW claims are usually a little slower than what the car can really do. Just like the 300 hp claim is probably low when the dyno test showed 270-275 on the 335i.

The 6.2 liter in the Escalade is 403 hp, perhaps the Vette has better air intake, and exhaust that gives it an advantage. It also depends on how effectively they can put the power on the ground, maybe the GXP accelerates better with 402 hp than with 430 or more because of wheel hop or some other issue. Or maybe GM is just using the old "nothing can have as much power as a Corvette" rule they like to use. They are over the magic 400 number, so that should be enough to get G8 buyers to pay extra for the GXP, unless the GXP is significantly more than the GT and people don't think the price is worth the extra 40 hp. My complaint is that it seems Pontiac recycled all the old plastic body cladding into a gray, rubbermaid interior. The G8 interior is almost as bad as the Charger's. The BMW 135i does 0-60 in 4.7 seconds with 300 hp. Horsepower number isn't everything, depends on how you use it. And I'm aware the 135i is 2 door and more like a Shelby Mustang or Camaro SS competitor if you were going to compare it to an American car.

Jeremy Clarkson drove the 414 hp Vauxhall VXR version of this car, and thought it was fun to drive because of the massive power and ability to do power slides. Although he thought the exterior was kind of boring and the interior was as well, and too much cheap gray to it. And it wasn't as good as a 5-series. If Pontaic/Holden/Vauxhall say Zeta is supposed to compete with the 5-series, and is just as good at performance/handling. Then aren't they saying the the G8/VXR/Commodore are better than the CTS? Plus the G8 is 196+ inches long, it is very close in overall and wheelbase length to the STS or just 1-2 inches shorter than a 7-series or Lexus LS. Which is on the big side for a car that is aimed at performance.

Rednecks-R-Us

Croc's plan has almost double the number of models GM has now. GM is on the verge of bankruptcy and has long product life cycles as it is. Double the number of models will lead to half the advertising per vehicle they do now (that most of us complain is not enough) and product cycles of 10-12 years. Saab for example has lost money for 17 of the last 18 years, if not all 18. Why on earth would they want to spend money on more Saabs, so they can lose more money. They sold 30,000 Saabs last year, Toyota's #2 seller does that in a month. A better plan is to keep Chevy mostly the same, but make the Impala $26-34k above the Malibu, preferably on Zeta, and just make all the remaining cars better. A hybrid Colbat for example. Kill the other 6 brands besides Cadillac, align the Cadillac sedans in size, price with BMW, redo the XLR, and SRX. Make them the standard of the world again. Then to fill the gap, bring back Oldsmobile. They can get a Delta II car nicer than the Cobalt, (Jetta competition, but softer ride) an Alpha car that is a little bigger but more sporting in nature, the Sky and Vue (but better Oldsmo-riffic versions) and the Aurora can return on Zeta (195 inch long max) for $34-42,000, and include hybrid and awd versions, and a center console angled toward the driver. That gives them 3 kick ass brands without overlap and no rebadged, long in the tooth products like the Grand Prix or G5. And to throw a wildcard into the mix, they could buy whatever is left of Duesenberg and the naming rights and trademarks, and do a nice base model with a twin-turbo, flex fuel, 600 hp V12 with cylinder deactivation, 2-mode hybrid and 8-speed automatic. Performance and mileage would be very good since the car would be made of aluminum and titanium. Rolls and Bentley would be done.

Maybe Saturn should try to sell a car to someone that doesn't currently own a Saturn. Since Saturn has about 2% market share, making products only their customers will like eliminates 98% of car buyers. If Pontiac died, I'd give Saturn an Alpha sedan or maybe it could to Buick and be a soft rider. Or if Saturn dies the Astra could become a Pontiac. I just think between Chevy and 1 or 2 of (Pontiac, Buick, Saturn) they can cover the market with more desirable cars that will sell without big rebates. Personally it doesn't matter to me what they do with Saturn, Buick, or Pontiac because I wouldn't buy any of them anyway.

Cadillac could move upscale, Lexus didn't even exist 20 years ago, now they are #1 in the USA. Not all of their stuff is really upscale, but some is. If they can do it from scratch, Cadillac should be able to pull it off. Cadillac keeps saying they want to compete with BMW and Mercedes (though the products to do so aren't here), if that is true, they should care less about low end Lexus business. Rear wheel drive cars have better ride quality than front wheel drive ones, if the goal is plush comfort, rear drive is still the way to go. If Cadillac sells anything similar to a current Buick or at under $30,000 they have given up and become Lincoln. Cadillac shouldn't be a Chevrolet trim level, like how Lincoln has become a Ford trim level.

Cadillac should never get an ES350 style sedan or any other front wheel drive based product. Every model on the lot should be longitudinal engine mount. The focus should be performance luxury and technology. They should also start the BTS at $34,995 and move everything else up in price. That way Chevy or Buick can sell the $28-35,000 range and there isn't overlap. They can move upscale, they just need the right products, and the resources to do it.