Pontiac G8 to survive as Chevy Impala!

[kostby]

But my first question is not about the G8: How did the Government let BOB LUTZ unretire to be part of the 'new GM'???Quote, originally posted by AutoBlog »Bob Lutz is back, and after what seems like five minutes into his job as GM's new marketing kingpin, he's doing what he does best: making headlines. Rest assured that this is a good thing, as El Generalissimo Roberto Maximo told Automobile Magazine that yes, the Pontiac G8 will live on in the United States as the Chevy Caprice. So much for Fritz "I'm not a fan of rebadging" Henderson's statement to the contrary a couple of weeks ago. "The last time we looked at [the G8], we decided that we would continue to import it as a Chevrolet. It is kind of too good to waste," Lutz told the mag. As for the G8 being "too good to waste": Amen to that, Bob. This also makes us wonder if law enforcement-grade models will be part of the deal with Holden to continue production. Chevy Caprice police cars? That's got a very familiar ring to it. The next question is whether a U.S. Caprice would mimic the Middle East-market Caprice, which is based on the long-wheelbase Holden Caprice/Statesman, or whether it will simply be a Chevy-badged version of the standard-wheelbase Holden Commodore/Pontiac G8/Chevrolet Lumina. Frankly, as long as there's ultimately a Caprice SS that is identical to the Pontiac G8 GXP in every critical way, we don't care. ...Welcome back, Bob. This sounds like it could get pretty fun.Link to AutoBlog website --> http://www.autoblog.com/2009/0...likel/

[jake75]

Maybe there IS intelligent life at the new GM.

[silvrhawk7]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 » Maybe there IS intelligent life at the new GM.Not Holding My breath....I will Beleive it when i see it as they cannot make a descision for themselves it seems like....Now they need to bring back the solstice as like a buick or something.....

[Wolfman213]

I just hope they don't dumb it down to look like a Chevy. IMO, generally speaking, Pontiacs have always looked more aggressive and meaner and plain better than Chevy.

[silvrhawk7]

Quote, originally posted by Wolfman213 »I just hope they don't dumb it down to look like a Chevy. IMO, generally speaking, Pontiacs have always looked more aggressive and meaner and plain better than Chevy.I hear that...Pontiacs always had the better look than the chevys ever did, Chevy was always unrefined with their designs.

[Whelan]

I for one like the new Chevy looks. Give it the grille treatment with projectors, change the taillamps and leave the rest alone.As for Pontiac looking more aggressive. The G8 was the only agressive looking car in the lineup. The G6 to me looked like a Grand Am sans body cladding which almost made it too bland with not a lot of lines and edges. The G5 was a Cobalt with ginormous wheel gap, bumper clearance from an SUV and no GXP version a la Cobalt SS. As for the Torrent which was not a big seller, it was to me an ugly Equinox. The VUE and Equi were much better looking. And the G6 GXP Coupe could have lost the wing and been just fine.The Vibe and G8 were the edgiest yet and best looking from Pontiac IMO. I wonder what they will do with the Vibe though since it was a good seller.

[BlueCrush]

Awesome! Good Move! Looks like it will be a Caprice, though, and not an Impala (which I thought was wierd).

[Wolfman213]

That's why I generalized. I should have clarified throughout the years though. For example, the F-Body. I loved the Camaro, and had 2 even, but the T/A, IMO always looked better than the Camaro.

[millster]

Quote, originally posted by silvrhawk7 »Not Holding My breath....Shouldn't that be "not Holden my breath"? Ha? Anyone? Glad they're keeping the G8 but I hate to see the Vibe go of course i think that horse has been beaten to death.

[BlueCrush]

Quote, originally posted by millster »Shouldn't that be "not Holden my breath"? Ha? Anyone? LOL!!! Good one!

[ramenboy...]

Quote, originally posted by millster »Shouldn't that be "not Holden my breath"? you got that right... http://jalopnik.com/5315148/g8...doubtmaybe coming back only for police applications?

[michaelgt]

From GM Fastlane"It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time…By Bob LutzGM Vice ChairmanOK, I have some late-breaking news for you from the world of GM, where things are indeed moving quickly, and what I’m about to say is proof.In fact, we’re moving so fast, we’re going back in time to, oh, about four or five days ago, when the Pontiac G8 was going away and was not going to become a new Chevrolet Caprice.And therein lies the news: The G8 will not be a Caprice after all. I’d mentioned it, and said we were studying it, giving it a serious look, because a car like the G8 was just too good to waste.That’s all still true. But I have to say that, with my new “marketing” hat on, upon further review and careful study, we simply cannot make a business case for such a program. Not in today’s market, in this economy, and with fuel regulations what they are and will be.I know that we’ll get a lot of complaints from G8 lovers, because I’m one of them. And the product guy in me is complaining as loudly as anyone. But the marketing guy says there’s no case. With budgets being what they are for the time being, the resources must be allocated elsewhere.In no way, and this is very important, in no way does this mean we are backing away from performance, or backing away from rear-wheel drive. Look no further for proof than the Corvette, the Camaro, the CTS or many other present and future Cadillacs. We have a strong lineup of RWD vehicles already and we will continue to have it.And we have a tremendous RWD team in Australia that gave us the beloved G8, a team that we will tap into at some point again in the future for its expertise and sheet metal. Just not right now."

[silvrhawk7]

Its a shame he wasnt there when they cut Nummi out of the picture, since he keeps talking about fuel economy and such.....

[kostby]

Quote, originally posted by Automobile Magazine »Last week, we were excited to report that the Pontiac G8 would survive as a Chevrolet. We had nonchalantly asked Bob Lutz in a phone interview what the new GM has to offer the Pontiac G8 shopper, and the newly appointed marketing chief just as nonchalantly told us the car would be made a Chevy. Since then, we’ve seen some ominous signs. CEO Fritz Henderson wouldn’t back down from his earlier position against rebadging (apparently, he hasn’t been to a GMC dealer of late), and was quoted on Jalopnik as telling reporters, “Bob Lutz says a lot of things, but he works for me.”Now, exactly one week after our scoop, Lutz has officially retreated. In a GM blog, he reported, “Upon further review and careful study, we simply cannot make a business case for such a program. Not in today’s market, in this economy, and with fuel regulations what they are and will be.”We can’t comment as to the business viability of continuing the G8, as we're not invited to their product planning meetings (and certainly won't be now). We can only humbly note that several automakers, including Nissan, Hyundai, and Chrysler, have found ways to offer powerful rear-wheel-drive sedans in the same price-range as the Pontiac G8, and we hope one day General Motors will get on board as well. We also hope that what we’re seeing here is indeed decision making based on business and not a relapse of GM's "can't do" culture or worse, a corporate power struggle between Lutz and Henderson at the most critical time in in the company's history.Let's just say we have a hunch that we haven't heard the last of this...Geez! I thought this was 'breaking news' and then I read through the thread. michaelgt posted the quote from Bob's blog on July 17th!Automobile Magazine was really sloooooow to report this online just today (July 27th).What I think Bob Lutz is really saying is 'There's no place for the G8/Chevy Impala in the Obamanation of Government Motors.'