Originally Posted by The_Blur
Lutz is a very important figure to GM. It is good to have him working hard to keep GM's products in the headlines. The Z28, obviously, is so disputed that no one has come to any conclusion. This says to me that there are some very powerful people discussing it at GM, and that those people have some very split opinions. On one side, the Z28 represents a competitor the the GT500, but that market is getting smaller with the GT500 being reduced for 2010 because so many previous models are still on lots. Additionally, the SS is so dominant over so many mainstream imports that there really isn't a solid target market for advertising a super Camaro.
The Caprice is a dangerous Chevrolet to bring back. This has to be done very carefully. If this turns out to be Chevrolet's newest car, it can't look too much like the G8, and it has to have very good efficiency numbers. If both of these situations do not exist, then critics will say that this is a phenomenal example of GM's rebadging tradition and wasteful government spending. Obviously, GM's survival has become a political issue because the US federal government owns 60% of the company. Let's not forget that GM isn't exactly considered the world's favorite example of green technology yet. Even with GM's green technology, the Caprice can make GM look bad if it doesn't come out with new or somehow improved technology.
I hope that the G8 stays alive. I'd love it to be a huge hit with lots of Caprice SS sales. I hope the V6 version is a huge hit as well. This is where the big marketing problem exists. GM has shorted Chevrolet all of these great models. Now, without anywhere fore those models to go, GM will hand Chevrolet a Caprice when the brand already has an Impala. GM will further consider a Caprice SS that is doomed to failure. Camaro SS buyers will share engines and similar performance numbers with the Caprice SS, but the Caprice will never be quite as fast due to weigh that matches the G8 GXP. In effect, all of us Camaro lovers who wishes the G8 could survive will be disappointed that it will fail as a Caprice.
In other words, the people who want the G8 to survive the most are all buying other performance cars. Coupes, like the Camaro, are more likely to sell as performance cars. The Caprice will make a great family sedan, much like the Impala.
If I were making GM's product decisions, I would consider the G8 only as an Impala alternative. As a result, the Caprice SS would share production with the Impala SS, one would have superior performance, and one would have superior handling. That would make them both desirable to different consumers. Furthermore, both would have to have different styles in order to draw consumers away from imports toward either one of these attractive GM products.
Another alternative I'd like to propose is that the G8 becomes a Buick muscle car. Buick hasn't had a great one in a long time, and I'd like to see Buick behave more like a core brand than it has in the past. I would also like to see GM compete directly with the Magnum with a Roadrunner wagon on the Zeta platform.
GM has so much potential to continue its American Revolution campaign. When this campaign started, I remember thinking how great it was that GM was revolutionizing the brand. Now, fresh out of bankruptcy, GM can have a revolution that makes it more desirable than those imports.
In conclusion, redundancy is waste. Let's see GM make another hit with a Caprice, but let's also see GM manage it with other products that keep GM brands hot.
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