Quote:
Originally Posted by BumbleBee
If you are referring to the Vibe/Matrix, which was a joint effort between Pontiac and Toyota, I suggest you stfu, as a Vibe owner, I happen to know it's a great car, I get 34 miles to the gallon, can you say that? I can deliver large five tier wedding cakes, can you say that? No, it's not a Camaro or Corvette, but you know what, that’s not what I needed when I bought it. Not everyone on here is lucky enough to own a Camaro/Trams-am so until then shut your trap, and have some respect.  |
I'm not saying it needs to be a Camaro. The Vibe/Matrix is way more of a Toyota vehicle than a GM vehicle. Now I'm all for hatchbacks, absolutely love them, but sadly the Vibe/Matrix are not offered in proper hot hatch trim, something at the level of the GTI, Mazdaspeed3, or new HHR SS. Therefore I don't see it really being fit for GM's excitement division. And by being a rejected Toyota, well, the Matrix just doesn't sell. When I was working at a Toyota dealership, we'd sell 5-10 Corollas a day, 20 some Camrys, 3-4 Prius (Prii?), and maybe 1 Matrix every few days. By the way, I don't own a Camaro or a Trans-am, as you imply. I own a Cobalt. It gets 34 mpg too. Anyway, my point is that Pontiac deserves so truly sporty cars, which I do not feel the Vibe is. Practical? Yes, I'm not denying that. But it just isn't sporty.
As far as the new Ford TC V6, I'm not saying it has to do with RWD, but it has to do with Ford's response to the new CAFE rules. A V6 making great power and economy? Now that is exciting. It strikes the same great balance as the I4 in the Solstice/Sky GXP, and I'd love to see GM do something like that in V6 form, then put it in a BMW 3-series size RWD performance coupe/sedan. In case the Camaro doesn't work out for me (God forbid) something like that would have been my ideal backup, but it doesn't look like we'll get that now.
I'm sorry to get everyone all upset, but you have to understand that we still have to be skeptical of the corporate culture in Detroit. Sure things have changed a lot in the past few years, but Lutz won't be around forever and it is really easy to slip back into the same bad habits. Take the whole rebadging thing as an example. One thing GM swore up and down it would change was its practice of just rebadging the same car for different brands. Remember the Cimmaron (spelling?) Yeah, I was hoping GM would never do that again. But look at what happened: GM took a good thing with the Lambda crossovers then went back to the old practice of rebadging it a million times over. If three wasn't bad enough, now Chevy gets one too. So you have 4 nearly identical vehicles (the Enclave being the only really different one) competing for the same customers. Imagine if GM stopped fighting itself and instead of funding 4 marketing campaigns just funded 2 (upper end Enclave and more entry level one of the other three). Maybe then Ford wouldn't nearly match its sales with its Edge alone. I think we can all agree the Lambdas are superior to the Edge, but because they're fighting against themselves one Ford product nearly beats all of them combined. They did the smart thing and made two versions: one high end and one for the common man. So Lutz is still going strong and already we're slipping back into the old habits. Pontiac is still getting a rebadged Cobalt, and that doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. Can you blame me for being skeptical?
As far as the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, doesn't the Honda Clarity have a wider distribution and longer range at the moment? Correct me if I'm wrong...
I noticed no defense was offered for the G6, so I assume everyone else feels like it deserves more, as I do. Once again I'm still hoping it gets an Alpha-based replacement or something similar, but I won't hold my breath. I know you all want me to believe GM is doing the absolute best it can, and maybe it is, but whatever the case this all looks too depressingly familiar. A few years of good calls can't make up for 30 years of bad judgments.