FUTURE_OF_GM

Now we get this??? After 3 years of hearing "Wait 'til 2008!" and "Lutz will have an impact in 2008" Not to count a heavy dose of pessimism about what appear to be game changing products. Glad I'm not in the fan club anymore.

Playing the other side of the coin now? Typical

That should be OUR Lacrosse... Good to see GM growing!

I LOVE the new Malibu so far and the real world pictures only continue to make me love it more! I think GM did an EXCELLENT job! As for those of you that seem to hate the interior, I don't understand why. It looks excellent and it's FAR more attractive and innovative than anything else in this class. If you don't like the color, then order a different color, it's not that hard. It's the PERFECT throwback to older Chevrolets while still being very modern and cool. But I guess GM will never be able to make some people happy.

Wow! The real world pics do make the car look a lot better!

Okay, soi after Car & Driver gushes about how much they like the new 'Bu, they end the write up with this: WTF?!?!?!?!?! So, now eventhough this car has been praised WELL in advance of its debut, it still automatically doesn't have the goods to compete?!?!?! Will it ever?!?!?!?

What's so special about "frameless door glass"? Anyway, a friend of mine had one of these. It was a solid car but was plagued with small quality problems (Contrary to what CR says----No surprise there) More specifically, the carpet kept coming up in the back floor and the dash trim actually started 'melting' off. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen, it craked and withered up, then slid off. He ended up getting rid of the car, I'm not sure why.

Better idea #1: Make Kappa what it originally was supposed to be.... And I know the whole spiel about how Kappa was an old platform with limited flexibility, etc.. yadda, yadda... But, when the production Solstice was debuted along with the newest Nomad concept and Saturn Curve it was supposed to be a revolutionary program that could've changed the face of the industry. Why not pick up that montra with the second generation of the platform? If Pontiac had a Solstice coupe (BTW, whatever happened to the supposed coupe?) to go along with the convertible as well as a small sedan on the same platform and maybe even a wagon, that alone would be more than enough to get the division moving in the appropriate direction. Especially with the solid success of the G6 and the obvious appeal of the Solstice. Pontiac more than any other division needs STYLE to sell! Use the Solstice (which lead the kickoff of style at GM again) as an example. People who had never considered a Pontiac in their lives were able to look past the divisions supposed stigma because the car was 'just so damn pretty' The G8 will not sell on merit alone as many of you think, ESPECIALLY since it's from GM's "Excitement" "Performance" [insert extreme adjective here] division. Pontiac simply does not have the appeal with this segment of the market for it to sell on merit alone. If it did, the GTO would've sold better. We, as enthusiasts KNOW what Pontiac is and how good the cars are, but it's a hard sell when you're trying to get people to trade out of their BMWs and Acuras (People who couldn't care less about what it meant to own a Pontiac 35 years ago) On top of that, the people that would've bought the car (The same people that bought the GTO based on loyalty or on actually getting the facts instead of "image") will be perfectly satisfied with the probably more stylish and most likely cheaper Camaro and Impala. The Commodore SS is as lame as they come in the styling department. There are and will be MANY more appealing offerings (Charger, 300, Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, CTS coupe) GM half-assed the Oldsmobile "revival" and we see where that got us, lets hope they don't cheap out on the Pontiac revival.

Yeah, that's much like the new MEDIA derived statement of "The world's most profitable automaker" which is clearly a MEDIA forced contradictor to "The world's largest automaker" Most of the media has already declared Toyota the winner (Just like always) and most americans already believe it. But it will be a HUGE story when it happens (Which is likely why the media is trying to push it along) and we'll see all sorts of bull$h! sob stories about the fortune GM has squandered and about how excellent Toyota and the new "Asian big 3" are in every way. I don't really care.... In fact I'm a little bit excited for Toyota to take the top spot. Then the target is on their back and I hope they crumble under the pressure. Once you're on top, there is no place to go but down

Business is business.... No one can see the future. I'm sure this article was developed for one purpose though; to try and take another knotch out of GM sales/position. And this author sounds like one of the best conspiracy theorists in the business. (He's even better than me, and that's a compliment) If we can buy cars from Toyota after what Japan did, and cars from MB & VW after what happened there then we shouldn't have any problem buying GM vehicles after learning of this... Too bad that probably won't be the case for MANY shallow americans. And it's pretty sad that our people hate our own companies so much that they have to sit and dig up stuff like this to put a dent in their success and credibility. What's next from the media??? "GM kills babies" ???

I get that too... And not just Escort, but all of the 90's Ford "round" cars. And that's not really a good thing in my mind. I'm really torn on this thing... Being the PROUD owner of a Focus and knowing how easy it is to own and how much fun it can be (Considering it's a budget/entry-level car) I can't help but be partial to it. The front is really growing on me because it is aggressive and unconventional. But at the same time I can really pick it apart, specifically the foglights which seem like a HUGE (literally) afterthought. I'm still not too hip on the rear of the car but the side which threatened to be bland at first seems to do well with the added flair. I LOVE the interior! It's a huge upgrade from my car and from a lot of the cars in this class currently. Overall, I can't help but hate Ford for not bringing over the awesome European Focus, but at the same time I think this refresh will prove interesting. Either the car can tank because it's too weird or it'll take off because it's just weird enough to be "refreshing" (Kind of like the new Civic was) It's hard to tell with these buyers and I think they expect more traditional things from the Detroit companies as opposed to the Japanese offerings. So, hopefully it won't send everyone into shock and hopefully it'll do well for Ford. I'd LOVE to see a SUPER AGGRESSIVE, pumped up SVT version!!!! I think it would do extremely well! (Ford, are you listening???)

Yeah, except you'll never hear or read a bad word about those companies "destroying the environment" I certainly hope Ford puts this "New" technology to use.

Ohhh, look! They took all the leftover little plastic grille 'nubs' from the previous Altima and stuck them in the QX56 grille. YAY!!! Looks more rugged than before, yet still just as $h!ty. At least J.D. Power likes it.

BOR-ING

Reminds me of a riced out 1995 Honda Accord. It sits too low (Looks broken) and won't have the phenominal of a perfromance curve not to count it looks as if they bought the body kit from Wal-Mart. But, to I'm sure the press will be doing a whole lot of this: and then this when sales pick up they'll expect every other luxury performance denotation to

The more I look at the car, the more it grows on me. I see a lot of 60's Chevrolet in it but sure it's a little derivative of the Camry, TL or Diamante. Look at who it's targeting and you'll find that to be not such a bad thing. I think it'll do well.

I think for now Chevrolet needs to focus on the Malibu and getting it off to a strong start. It is a crucial step in having presence in the car market again. And this car actually has a shot at gaining some share. Quality needs to be spot on.

X2 If it's just a Commodore SS with an arrowhead in the grille, then it'll "fail" just like the GTO did. (The quotes are because I don't think the GTO failed, but many do) As far as volume, why not just the V8? Pontiac has already stated numerous times that 1) it is not a volume division (In the same way as Chevrolet or Cadillac) and it has stated that the G6 will be the big volume car in the future. 2) V8 only builds exclusitivity and limits imports, which will keep the UAW happy. It's also RWD, so it might not sell as well in the north. Not to mention, Pontiac will also have the new Delta sized car to pick up volume as well.

I like it, but I still see a lot of Mazda in it. Hopefully it won't be dumbed down and look cheap like the actual Lancer.

Meh... But riddle me this: How can these journalists drive the Mitsubishi version of the platform and give it kudos, and look forward to driving the new Lancer. Yet, hate the Sebring and pass judgment on the Stratus of the very same cloth?

Not bad, but it does look too 'tacked on' Not to mention duct taping the Fusion grille on all of Fords cars is going to RUIN the appeal and freshness of the Fusion. Ford, listen closely: Fusion inspiration - YES Fusion tack ons - NO!

HATE the front.... Love the rear though

X2

Looking at the cars side by side, I can really pick out what is missing. Aside from the molding missing on the side (Yes, this is one car in which I think it looks good) I think what really throws the new design off is the HUGE fender arches. I just don't think they did well in making everything very linear and then having these huge "melted looking" arches. I also miss the knife edge creases (which are still there but too subtle) The mirrors do not flow on the new car at all like they did on the old car. The front looks too top heavy, compared to the old car and I miss the defined bumper look with everything stacked. The stacked and blunt lighting on the current car were huge hits. So the more tepid, pointy, non smoked lighting on the new car seem to be too STS-like. In the pic of the old car, the light reflects off of the panels like it has been jewel cut. (You can see defined surfaces and angles) On the new car, nothing is defined enough for this to happen. It's too smooth for lack of a better description.

Excellent post!! X2