Northstar

Reminds me of Hyundai's interiors. Decent, I guess.

I agree with you... the CTS is as big of a car as I would want to drive. Unless you have kids and/or need a big back seat for business reasons, I don't see why anyone needs a bigger-than-CTS car for themselves.

If I was out of college right now instead of in 1.5 years and needed a car, I'd probably be considering used A5s (though there are very few), used 335i (coupe), use Cayman S, perhaps a used Corvette, and probably the Camaro as well. I guess that gives GM a 20% of me buying a car from them (Corvette would be used).

I don't like anything they did to the front or those stupid sideways hood scoops (or whatever they are), but the back looks nice. $65k seems rather high though, for what you get; I would much rather have an M3 than this for that price (or CTS-V, among others). This is basically a GT500 competitor, only it's $15k more. 700HP for $85k seems more reasonable, but again, I don't think I would pick the Challenger at that price.

I never said they looked alike... both have squared-off wheel wells, big chrome grilles, small windows when compared to the bodies, and look rugged. Again, if there was a Terrain with Jeep styling, it'd look pretty similar to this. The interior design looks like it was taken from Lexus. Boring, but decent:

This looks like the Jeep version of the Terrain.

What would the point of making Buick a full line brand? GM can't sustain BPG as a full line set of brands, so how is making it one brand (which GM already basically did) going to change that? Toyota and Lexus don't have any brands between them (Scion is at or below Toyota's level). Honda and Acura don't have any brands between them. Nissan and Infiniti have no brands between them. Mercury has no real place in the Ford sales channel. It's to Ford what Pontiac is to Chevy (even moreso because Pontiac actually has two unique models in the Solstice and G8). If anything, GM needs a brand to combat Scion as it's third brand. Not sure if any of its current brands have that image -- Saturn used to be that brand. A lineup of Spark/Aveo in the $10-14k segment, Cruze in the $16-23k segment, Malibu $22-32k, Impala (RWD) $25-40k (same as G8), Camaro, Corvette, and perhaps a sporty 4-door and wagon based on Alpha would make for a perfect Chevy. Then you have HHR/MPV vehicle, Equinox, Traverse, Tahoe or Suburban (cut one of the two) for SUVs, Silverado and Colorado. What mainstream segment is not covered? Cadillac becomes an 3-Series-fighting Alpha-based vehicle, the CTS as-is (of course updated), sedan above the CTS. The new SRX is fine, Escalade should continue, though perhaps only as the regular version, possibly on Lambda. A second (or third?) try at an SL-fighter and also an SLK-fighter would be nice, as well. There really isn't much room for Buick. What lineup would be proposed? Delta-based car, Alpha-based car, Epsilon-based car, RWD car, Theta CUV, Lambda CUV? How does the Alpha based car fit between a Chevy Alpha-based car and the Cadillac Alpha? Where does the Theta CUV slot between the Equinox and SRX? If the Escalade goes to Lambda, how does the Enclave slot between the Traverse (which could be improved) and the new Escalade? How would the Buick RWD car above the Epsilon car fit between a RWD Impala and CTS? The only car that makes any sense is an Epsilon-based car, and if GM really, really wanted something above the Malibu, they could just send it to Cadillac. You can make the Cruze go to $25k if you want to make an argument for a "premium" small FWD car... Honda sells plenty of Civics that are $20k+, why can't Chevy do the same with the Cruze? Essentially, the investment that GM would put into Buick would be too much considering that many of the sales could be absorbed at the other brands. Giving Buick the LaCrosse on a stretched EPII and a SWB EPII as well (from Opel), and Pontiac the proposed Chevy Alpha and Impala (keep it as G8) would be a pretty good lineup, and neither step on the other brands' toes. However, keeping Buick so you can have an EPII or two and then a bunch of vehicles that overlap is not worth it for those two EPIIs. Giving Buick the Impala doesn't work because it would cost too similar to the CTS, same with the Alpha. Giving them to Pontiac allows the pricing to work so that overlap with the Cadillacs is very minimal. This would give them a lineup of a $20-30k small, sporty car, make the EPIIs compete directly against the TSX and TL. And then the G8 would stay in it's current range. Everything would be $43k or under, and Cadillac wouldn't have EPIIs or a RWD sedan the size of the G8 that's anywhere near the same price for the same equipment levels and engine options. Perhaps the Solstice could stick around as well to provide volume for the SLK-fighting Cadillac. Personally, I think that is about as perfect as you can make GM. Chevy as described except with the Alpha vehicle and Impala going to Pontiac, and Buick having small-mid and large-mid offerings. Cadillac kept as described as well.

BMW, no question.

Left to die. Basically, make one company called GM1, consisting of Cadillac and Chevy and other good assess. Make another company called GM2, consisting of Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer, as well as whatever other bad assets GM currently has... both GM1 and GM2 would declare bankruptcy, but GM2 would declare Chapter 7, while GM1 would declare Chapter 11. Chapter 11 basically means the company stays together and a court (I am assuming the government in this case, however) overseas that the debts are repaid. In Chapter 7, basically the company has to sell itself to its creditors or anyone who it is in debt to... so basically GM would be selling off the bad parts which I have to assume would then just end up dying.

No mention of Buick... I wonder if they're still deciding whether to put them in the bad group or the good group... it seems like Buick belongs in the bad group to me, one because of constantly falling sales, or so it seems, and two because their product lineup can be absorbed into Cadillac, I think. I do feel like two brands is one too few, however. GM could use something between Chevy and Cadillac, but no brand seems to really be the perfect balance, Olds probably would have been a good brand to position between Chevy and Cadillac.

I don't see what all the bitching is about... the old SRX was a great vehicle but it didn't sell and GM probably lost a lot of money on it. If it does the same things as the leader in the segment (in terms of sales), but does those same things better, I can't see how someone can complain. If you didn't notice, the market for vehicles like the RX appears to be much bigger than the market for vehicles like the old SRX, and GM is in dire need of some high volume products to keep afloat. If you want something like the old SRX, buy the CTS wagon; that's what the old SRX was, anyways. Granted, the CTS doesn't have 7 seats, but the 2 seats in the rear of the SRX were only designed for toddlers, anyways. Also, I fail to see how the SRX looks like the Equinox. The overall shape is not even that similar because the SRX's roof line is so sloping, much more so than the Equinox's. And obviously the styling of the fascias is much different, with the SRX being chiseled and the Equinox all smooth and rounded. If anything, the Equinox and ML look similar, at least from the side.

It does look better in that darker color, but something about the front seems off. It needs a lower grille I think to take some focus off of the giant upper grille. I can see this appealing to men much more than the Equinox. It looks like it means business and is much more expressive than the 'Nox.

An Equinox/Acadia with a Yukon-ish front end = FAIL.

I think fleet sales and huge incentives contributing to decent sales given the market probably isn't a very good reason to disregard such a performance. Most of GM's brands probably had lots of fleet sales and they all had pretty good incentives... the dealers are desperate.

I'm not going to get too excited about a 2014MY vehicles that might become a reality from an automaker that might not ever produce 2011MY vehicles.

The link has fixed the article to say March 19. Perhaps this will give a bit more support for GM to get more bailout money. That said, Wagoner has acted too slowly too many times and should have been out quite a while ago.

Oh, whoops, I didn't read much of the info and didn't realize this was FWD. I just figured it was the sister car to the Genesis.

You have to applaud Kia and Hyundai for making affordable RWD cars. Perhaps GM should see if Kia/Hyundai will agree to enter a joint venture on a next-gen RWD platform, since they seem to have figured out how to build RWD cars profitably.

The interior is fine for the $23-27k model, but for the 2SS especially, at $35k or more, they should add a "nice interior" option like Ford did with the Mustang. The interior is unacceptable for a $35k car, I don't care if it has 422HP and looks sweet.

Your statement reeks of BS for two reasons: 1. Apparently you have heard such a statement countless times and there are very few GTOs around - unless your in California - I find this hard to believe. Few GTOs, countless numbers of these statements. That doesn't add up. 2. Why would someone be asking you if it was a Cavalier? Do they care so much about the Cavalier that they say, "OMG, look! A Cavalier!" That said, both have two doors, somewhat similar greenhouses except for the C-Pillar, and were styled in the same general era. The stance of the two cars is much different, however. It's really too bad that the original GTO looked like a lowly Tempest, they should have made it look more distinct, you know, because the beauty of the GTO isn't that it's a sleeper car, or anything. _________________ Back to the G8... another great improvement they made over the Grand Prix is that if you decide to get staggered wheels and tires, the wider wheels/tires will go on the rear wheels of the car, so it looks proper. :AH-HA_wink:

Solstice and Sky have a 5-speed, both normal and GXP/RL versions. The Miata has a 5-speed as well. The Cobalt has a 5-speed as well, I'm sure there's plenty more in the compact car segment(s).

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Well, the G8 may have hood scoops like an Aztek, but it's certainly an improvement over its predecessor...

I suppose that is possible, but it seems like most AWD CTSs are at least $45k. I'm hoping they aren't going to be asking more than $42k for a fully loaded LaX.

Maybe the fuel economy goes down the drain as a result?