Robert Hall

'Buick: Our buyers aren't as old as Mercurys' (or not) 'Buick: Modern Transmissions Coming Soon'.

Yes, considering GMC is all rebadges or platform shared models, the annual investment cost must be pretty tiny these days, relative to sales...I would think it would be profitable.

To get your Pontiac truck fix that the G8 ST would have provided, get a Canyon (it is a BPG truck), remove the GMC badges, duct tape a pair of Pontiac nostrils over the grille, and glue on some V-crest badges..

Heh-heh...I'd tint the windows because of the glare of the sun and the 115 degree heat.

"Buick. Not Chevy. Not Cadillac. Buick."

I saw a dark blue or black w/ white top '71 or 72 Electra 2dr ht parked down the next street over from me Saturday evening..was twilight, wasn't sure of the color,saw it from behind, was parked at the curb w/ the lights on. Looked shiny from 75 ft away.

I can just the inevitable magazine articles this year--Insight vs Prius. And then a couple years from now-- Volt vs Insight vs Prius.

I suspect Mercury is going the way of Pontiac...by '10, they will only have probably 2 models at most (Milan, Mariner)...

Maybe they can leave it up on Pontiac's website and change the release date to say 'Coming soon!'...

Sounds plausable. As the PCS said, (paraphrased) 'get them while they are hot'... where is PCS, anyway? Haven't seen him around in a while..

Here's the Wikipedia article about Fisker Automotive. The Karma 4dr concept was shown at NAIAS 2008. Fisker Still in development, with a Quantum drive system (hybrid), and going to be assembled by Valmet in Finland, which assembled the Boxster for years, IIRC.

DROOL. I love it. I love the Karma sedan from the pics I've seen of it, and now this... great shape, great proportions, great detailing. Haven't seen anything about pricing, though..probably pretty $$$...

Bigger wheels than the old one....the old one looked like it had very tiny wheels (13 inch? 14 inch?)

I'm sure...he'd know the part numbers as well as the years and each and every model that had one.

I've always liked the Avantime also...saw a couple in person in London a few years ago..what a cool design and concept..a 2dr hardtop based on a minivan. There is another concept from either Renault or PSA that this Lincoln reminds me of, specifically the upper body curve inward from the lower door area and the C-pillar...just not sure what it is.

Ah... like in the 30s or something? I know some old cars had manual chokes and push button starters. One interesting thing I've experienced with older cars is having to pump the gas pedal before turning the key, like with carburated cars from the '60s. Another detail I like that some 50s and 60s cars had was the ignition to the left of the steering column. Porsche is the only car maker today that still does that AFAIK.

That's 2 actions to start it...twisting the key is more efficient, just one action.

Ok, so the Torrent is replaced by the GMC Terrain..that's old news. So then the G3 is a no-go for the US? Is it going to get cancelled before it comes out like the G8 ST was? Not really much of a 'shrinkage' for Pontiac.

Different time and place..GM could do that when they had 50% market share. Today, most Genericans want their compact or midsize 4dr sedan in silver, white, gold, or black and are happy with that much choice.

Wild...looks very French to me...other than the Lincoln styling cues, it looks like a concept from Renault or maybe Citroen that could appear at the Paris auto show.

I wonder, is the Equinox going to be NA only or will it be sold in other markets with the Captiva (or in place of)?

The thing is, when they have offered coupes, they don't sell well...look at the Grand Prix coupe and Monte Carlo...they didn't sell that well and were cancelled (though I think the release of the GTO was more why the GP 2dr went away). Beyond the occasional 2dr version of a mainstream 4dr (like the Cobalt and Focus), Accord, Altima, etc), the only 2drs that seem to sell well are specific sports coupes with no 4dr version (i.e. Mustang, Camaro, Challenger), sports cars (Corvette, 350Z, etc) or luxury and higher priced sports coupes (3-series, CLK, G37, etc). The mass market just doesn't seem to demand 'regular' 2drs anymore. i.e. Malibu 2dr? Fusion 2dr? Impala 2dr? LaCrosse 2dr? Would they sell? A G8 2dr badged as a G8 GTO probably would sell, though. But I can definitely see your point about production rationalisation... if the 2dr is only 10-20%, it makes sense to only have the 4dr. It's good business to focus on the profit centers. One thing that is interesting about how carmakers work in different markets is how much more diverse the Astra (or Focus) lines are in Europe--3drs, 4drs, 5drs, wagons, coupe-convertibles, etc. It seems like in some markets automakers can offer a broad range of bodystyles because the sales are there, in other markets, the sales aren't there.

Interesting... I'm on Facebook, but as my real self, not Moltar. Not sure if I'd want to link my 'real' online persona with this one. The people I know in Facebook are those I know in person, in the 'real' world, same with Linkedin, and those here are online only, in the 'surreal' world.. don't want to mix those..

Maybe SAAB NA will be axed. I assume by 4 brands they meant GMNA. I assume SAAB will remain in Europe under GME's management.

I think the automakers would build more coupes if there was more demand. There were a ton of coupes of different shapes, sizes, niches 30 years ago. Very few now. The demand isn't there, don't know why, but it is what it is.