Interview with Bob Lutz

[not]

(Please direct this to proper format if wrong, I see this as "general discussion").

Here is a link to an interview with former GM kingpin Bob Lutz on the government's decision, i.e., demand that GM lose Pontiac.

He states that the govt. only wanted Chevy and Cadillac left, but they fought for GMC and Buick, the latter because it is a status symbol in China and GMC gets price premiums Chevy trucks, don't...

Lutz stated they were on their way to making Pontiac and ALL REAR WHEEL DRIVE car lineup, and had great success with the G8 and a new GTO was in the works..........

Would have been great for a new Firebird/Trans-Am. See what happens when you sleep in bed with the wrong person and take their money....

http://jalopnik.com/the-feds-killed-...ays-1452735716

[2014v6]

Intereasting to know they have lots of rear drive ideas on the shelf to.implement them into future sports cars..

[fielderLS3]

Well, if true, it kinda confirms a lot of people's worst fears about the bailout.

Not sure why Bob waited this long to say this. He's been gone from GM for years, so its not like he couldn't have said it earlier.

A G6 based on the ATS would have been a really interesting situation, not just the idea of such a car by itself, but since the 6th gen Camaro will basically be a "de-premiumized" ATS, how the two would have co-existed/interacted may have been more interesting.

[JCunningham]

if Pontiac was still around we would have a Trans Am and maybe a Fiero.

[BluePhoenix]

Hurts to read just that, Pontiac brought some excitement to GM with the vehicles they offered, even in their later years. The G8 was well on it's way to becoming Pontiac's signature car even if it was a Australian Holden car. The G6 basically gave birth to the 2008 Malibu & and all of the same platformed cars since. I have no doubts that a new GTO would have been in the works considering that the 2008 Holden redisign had plan's for a 2 door that would have made a perfect modern day GTO & follow in line with the 2004-2006 GTO styling. I also have no doubt the GM would have taken advantage of the 5th gen Camaro and build a Trans Am, I think Morgan Motorsports version of the 5th gen Trans Am probably gives the best insight to what Pontiac would have built, the car probably would have been based with a Ram Air hood like the 4th gen WS6's instead of the shaker that everyone jumps to assume for a Trans Am.

[RubyCamaro]

Just sad.

If we keep settling for allowing our government to make all our decisions for us, we will all end up driving identical, boring vanilla cars ala Germany's original idea for the Volkswagen (car for the people).

[KaBoom1701]

Well I hate to say it but they made the right choice. I'm not a big gov' guy but when your company is bleeding like GM was you have to make tough decisions. The G6 is a great car, mom has one. But without the added distraction of trying to keep Pontiac going GM was able to focus more on the Chevy and Cadillac brands. Now look at what happened, GM is back on top and both the Chevy Camaro and Cadillac ATS cars are great cars.

We can all sit around here and debate the what if's but you have to make tough decisions is the heat of battle when trying to keep your company alive. Besides, they can always rebirth the brand at a latter date when they have the funds to do so. Less brands = more time to spend on building quality cars and trucks = more depth = more sales!

[AZCamaroFan]

Exactly.
Read down through the article.
"How much money have you made on Pontiac in the last 10 years?"
"Nothing."
The Old GM refused to make tough decisions and sat there until they needed a public bailout.

[abaucom21]

Interesting article. Bottom line it was the fault of GM that both Olds & Pontiac failed. Yes, Pontiac could have had a future, but too little effort put into the brand too late to save it. Thankfully, China sales saved Buick.

My opinion GM needs a 3-tier lineup: Chevy on one side, Cad on one side, Buick in the middle. Pontiac could of been in the middle but was not profitable at the time of the bailout and Buick made money for GM. I can only hope some of that too late forward thinking effort that GM was considering for Pointiac will now be focused on Buick.

GM needs three brands, three price points, and each brand needs its own unique identity. Parts sharing is just good business, hopefully the day of generic styling is over. Also, each brand needs at least one 'halo' model that gets press attention even if the 'halo' model is low production and only breaks even with sales.

GM agressively markets Chevy & Cadillac brands, but in North America still does not put same effort into marketing the Buick brand.

Last observation: Last time Buick had a 'halo' model was the 1995-99 Riviera's. Low production, unique streamlined full size 2-door body style, luxury plus speed with the supercharged engines. I have a 1998 Riviera and like it as much as I like my 5th gen Camaro. Both are 2-door coupes with unique body styles, both fast. One larger, one smaller (however, my 1998 SC Riviera is 87 lbs. less than my 2011 Camaro!). One has more luxury appointments. As much as I like my Riviera, what was GM thinking? The low production Riviera's shared very few parts with other GM autos, so now finding replacement parts for my 15 year old 1998 can be difficult. Doubt in 15 years going to have issues finding replacement parts for my 2011 Camaro.

[FenwickHockey65]

First off: Lutz talks out of his ass constantly. He's an entertaining guy and he knows his cars and business, but I've learned to take a lot of things he says with a grain of salt. For example, he said VE Commodore was returning to the states as a Chevrolet after the G8 was killed off...even though Lutz knew full well GM couldn't do so due to federal law. He says a lot of stuff just to illicit a response.

Second: The board had already voted to kill off Pontiac in 2008, a year before the bankruptcy. The brand was completely unprofitable, made up of mostly rebadged Chevrolets, only had two models really worth a damn, and had zero overseas presence. It represented pretty much everything that sucked about the old GM.

Finally: The plan was to create an all RWD lineup for Pontiac but that had been scrapped early on. The Alpha-based G6 was scrapped in favor for...you guessed it, a rebadged Malibu. The new G5 was rumored to be...again, you guessed, a rebadged Cruze.

[shrinkdoc]

I had a 97 Pontiac before my Camaro. Had about 160k mostly trouble free hard driving miles before the engine failed. Loved the car, very dependable. That being said Pontiac killed themselves. I was waiting for the GTO to come out and when it did it looked like an oversized Honda Civic so I said no thanks. Then the G8 came out and looked like a BMW wannabee so again I passed. Like I said Pontiac killed themselves. Test drove a Solstice, not bad for a second car or summer driver, but not practical as a DD. Whoever was approving the Pontiac Styling should be to blame.

[shrinkdoc]

Originally Posted by RubyCamaro

Just sad.

If we keep settling for allowing our government to make all our decisions for us, we will all end up driving identical, boring vanilla cars ala Germany's original idea for the Volkswagen (car for the people).

Either that or no GM at all, which would you prefer? Many wanted to just throw all of GM under the bus.

[RubyCamaro]

I just get sick to death of all the virtually identical cars out there from every brand. No pizzaz, no originality, no character making them stand out. Our Camaros are a rare exception. I just purchased the only car I could find that was a midsize coupe with a little character to it and even it has been discontinued for '14. I would have rather it had been a Chevy or GM product but where are the coupe choices??? At this point other than the muscle cars & a few really high end brands, the only way you can tell one car from the other is to look for the brand badging.

I'm not saying Pontiac did not need to go, clearly, sadly, it probably did. I'm just talking about industries being regulated to death, killing all funding that might otherwise be pumped into giving consumers more choice.

Here is what I ended up getting:



At least I can feel good about the fact that Nissan has been good to Middle Tennessee; Corporate (US) HQ is in Nashville and a plant in Smyrna, TN (where mine was built) & 65% of the parts are also US mfg.