[theholycow]

Wow, I've got a lot to say about what's been said in this thread...

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Saturn is doing a good job of advertising and redesigning cars to look more impressive. The image of Saturn is one associated with safety, so GM should get back to those classic dent-resistant panels.

I wasn't aware of Saturn's image being safety. Dent-resistant panels aren't safety-related anyway. Saturn has lost its identity and become just another brand like any other. It was started as being a whole different experience -- shopping, owning, right through the junkyard. The brand and its cars were meant to appeal to the market segments that are mostly ignored. Of course, they succumbed to the inevitable erosion of that branding. Scion is Toyotas duplication of the same thing, and their erosion happened faster.

Saturn would have to abandon its entire image and branding to do what you suggest, but there's not much there so it wouldn't be losing much.

This is where it gets fun. No one in America can say that they don't like Ferrari or Lamborghini. The style and shape of these cars is just amazing. Let's imagine that such an angular style can be applied to a 4-banger.

I'm pretty sure that European exotics like that CAN be found in 4 cylinder versions.

Pontiac: This brand should be an American BMW

I can kinda see that. My 1997 Grand Am's front end was quite obviously designed to mimic BMW style:
http://www.thomasautoworld.com/image...GRAND%20AM.jpg
http://images.automotive.com/reviews/images/96bmwz3.jpg

However, Pontiac would need to abandon its entire customer base and all its branding to become BMW. Pontiac still has pretty strong branding as excitement/performance sold cheap to young buyers. If they could deliver your BMW-like product at Pontiac prices, your idea would work; but if they could deliver that, it wouldn't matter WHAT name they put on it...they could call it Turdnugget and it would sell like hotcakes.

It's been a long time since anyone talked about Geo. [...]

Your Geo ideas make sense, I like them a lot.

GMC: Sell big trucks, not rebadged Silverados.

This is the most common idea cited in these types of discussions, and logically it makes sense until you look at the big picture. The fact is that GM sells more full size pickups (the badge-engineered Silverado/Sierra) than other brands -- in fact, GMC and Chevy brands sell enough to each stand on their own in the market. I think total market share would go down if they were united.

This is not from the point of view of a GMC owner; I really don't care, and I just learned today in this thread that GMC and Chevy offer different interiors. I don't remember that from when I was test driving trucks to buy my GMC, and I chose the GMC because the dealer was offering a better deal. I just can't ignore the data...having the two brand names works, and I'd hate to see GM mess with one of the few things that's working out really successfully for them.

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

Chevy needs to KILL the Colorado. For the price, you can nearly get a full sized Silverado... No one likes a in line 4 or 5. Bring back the S10, with a 4 cyl and 4.3 V6....

Originally Posted by FxsX24

the 2.2 is (as it was) out of production. but something can fill in for it.

Ecotec!

Originally Posted by The_Blur

I don't think there's any reason that a car with similar lines can't be sized to a compact. All you have to do is make it wide enough to have those lines. It would clearly require a new platform. With a stance that wide, I imagine it would handle really well.