Study: (Many) Pontiac buyers stick with GM for their next vehicle

[kostby]

About 7.7% go to Toyota. MOST Vibe buyers know why! Link to full article -->http://www.autoblog.com/2011/0...th-gm/

[10vibe]

YEP! At first it is like GM retains most of the Pontiac customers, but more reflection on it says, hey GM, you lost 46.7% of the customers you killed the brand on. Ford, Toyota, and Honda are loving it.The last Pontiac to roll off the production line was not the Vibe or G6, but the G3http://www.worldcarfans.com/10...-linehttps:// ... iac..."The last American Pontiac, a 2010 G6, was built on November 25, 2009, at the Orion Assembly plant.[17] No public farewell took place, although a group of plant employees documented the event. In December 2009, the last Pontiac-branded vehicle to roll off an assembly line was in the Canadian-market Pontiac G3 Wave, manufactured in South Korea by GM Daewoo."...

[808 Vibes]

There's only one way to get us back, GM. You know what to do.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by HawaiiPontiacLover »There's only one way to get us back, GM. You know what to do.

[TONY TAT2]

The CORVETTE will keep that part of me GMas far as daily beaters,Im undecided.

[Caretaker]

bye-bye GM. Hello Hyundai.

[tpollauf]

It will be several years away if ever for my next NEW car. My 1992 F-150 truck only has 44,000 miles on it (bought it new) and the Vibe is finally up to 9000 I always drive a commercial service vehicle (somebody else's car payment, ins, gas, etc.) so either of these two rides won't get driven heavily till I retire in 13 more years I'm sure by then & beyond, GM will have even fewer choices of cars to choose from With a lot of prior family members employed in the US auto industry, I tried always to purchase domestic made cars. It is becoming more & more difficult to do such as the choices are becoming fewer & fewer each year

[jake75]

Is 53.3% a good retention rate? Is the glass half full or half empty?I suspect that the number is lower for former Vibe owners, and higher for the sedan segment

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by Caretaker »bye-bye GM. Hello Hyundai.I said that a few years ago and don't regret it. And oddly enough, Hyundai has one of the highest rates of owner loyalty in the industry. I can't see myself buying another GM. I find the bowtie repulsive on many levels. Buick is about the only division that has something I might like. The Lacrosse is a sweet car, but out of my price range and I need higher fuel economy. The Regal isn't bad -- but I would be interested in the lower end and quite frankly, it doesn't stack up well to the Sonata. I can get more bang for the buck, more power and significantly better fuel economy with the Hyundai. It does look a nice car though.Sorry, GM. If you brought Pontiac back, maybe...

[kostby]

I keep looking at the Buick Lacrosse and Chevy Malibu and thinking, 'Gee, if Opel hadn't designed that platform, there wouldn't be any midsize cars in the "General Motors" lineup! And I'm certain one reason GM sales are up is that large car rental companies are finally replacing their aging fleet cars again. I second/third the positive vibes for the Hyundai (& Kia). A relative just got a 2011 Sonata, and it's NICE.

[10vibe]

Hyundai/Kia is putting out a strong lineup with a great first buyer warranty. Their depreciation rates are getting better. The Elantra does not depreciate nearly as quickly as the Vibe, and also outperforms the Toyota Matrix now. The Honda Civic barely does better in depreciation than the Elantra. I have not compared the others recently. Hyundai has a few hybrids coming out and looks to be pushing with new technology like the Lithium ion battery packs.All Hyundai and Kia's are average or above in Consumer Reports' reliability ratings, except for the Kia Sedona. Gm has improved in CR's ratings, but I am having questions to some of them that are now rated at average. Not having the raw data, I can not prove anything, but by just looking at individual categories and years past averages, I think something hinky is going on. I also have questions to the Honda Accord's ratings to be just average. I can somewhat understand the v-6 with the last three year average, but not the 4 cylinder. The Buick Enclave, the Caddy SRX and DTS, the Chevy HHR, Impala, and Suburban all look like they should not get their average ratings. Some of this is probably due to insufficient data. Sorry for the rant. The point is I do not see a particularly bright GM future when looking at the competition. Unfortunately the Volt and Cruze are not going to do it for them. The only thing that still gives them hope are their Trucks and SUV'S, and prices at the gas pump will kill them.I have a feeling that as a few years go by 53.3% will look like a wonderful distant memory. Remember that a lot of people that were going to upgrade their Pontiac's did so during cash for clunkers in 09, and they have a few years to go before they trade in. They have no choice, depreciation has already bit us badly. If we were going to get out, it would be now, if not 6 months ago. The Vibes might actually see a stop to the depreciation free fall and possibly a short term appreciation if gas prices go terribly bad this summer.Personally I cannot wait to take a close look at the Ford Focus 5-door, and to a lesser extent the Kia Forte 5-door. I will probably hold pat with what I have though, unless a used hybrid or diesel comes my way at the right price.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by kostby »I keep looking at the Buick Lacrosse and Chevy Malibu and thinking, 'Gee, if Opel hadn't designed that platform, there wouldn't be any midsize cars in the "General Motors" lineup! IIRC, GM was quite desperate to ditch Opel a couple years back, no? Kinda ironic.They need to keep them around to offer some variety, otherwise they would probably just be peddling GMDAT products to us. Which goes back to "if I'm going to buy a Korean engineered product, it probably wouldn't be a Daewoo."

[10vibe]

ColonelPanic, Kostby, all, you guys are batting 1000.https://secure.wikimedia.org/w.../Opel:..."All in all, Opel plays an enormously important role in the global GM corporate group as it has for instance developed and engineered the Epsilon (I) platform, Epsilon II platform, Delta (I) platform, Gamma platform and played an important role in the development of especially the higher-end, more-refined versions of the Delta II platform and the Gamma II platform......Even the idea and concept behind the Chevrolet Volt/Opel Ampera is rooted in Opel/Germany with Frank Weber, the former "Global Vehicle Line Executive and Global Chief Engineer electric vehicle development" and therefore leader of the Volt-development"...https://secure.wikimedia.org/w...trainh ... 00:..."The Auto platform was replaced by GM Gamma platform, developed by GM Daewoo engineers."...https://secure.wikimedia.org/w..._Aveoh ... nderpinned by the front-wheel drive GM Delta II platform, GM has confirmed the Cruze development program occured under a global design and engineering team.[23] Most of the design work was conducted by GM Daewoo, with Opel responsible for most of the engineering."...https://secure.wikimedia.org/w..._VoltInteresting that the Cruze and Sonic will have the same powertrains.

[wt2ga]

[10vibe]

I want to "heart" GM. I like some of their pickup trucks and suv's and think they are very competitive. Many models have improved. The problem is that the competition is improving too. The Cruze has disappointed me because of the mpg's of the 6 speed auto. Consumer Reports' only got 26mpg's overall with both engines equipped with the auto. Hopefully that might improve like I hope the Volt's mpg and pure electric range will improve as they test in warmer weather. Torsion beam suspension, drum brakes on most models, and iron blocks are a few other things that surprised me. The only Cruze that really makes sense is the manual eco version. Sad that they had to shrink the gas tank to massage the mpg's. I would probably take a 4 cylinder 6 speed auto Malibu over the Cruze. Jury is out on the upcoming Sonic. The Corvette is hard to beat. I can really dig some of the new Buick's, until I compare them with the competition. The Buick Enclave seems really nice and very competitive. I hope GM makes it and keeps improving the models. Sometimes I am overly critical. I might be too focused on pure gas mileage and reliability ratings lately. I will try to be more upbeat. Edit*Now this is more like it. Direct inject the Cruze and it might even be better:http://www.mpgomatic.com/2011/...eview/They get 42.2-45.5mpg on interstate depending on speed and driving techniques...."We rolled up more than 500 miles in our Ice Blue Metallic review unit and had no problem slipping past the official mileage estimates, with an average of 43.9 MPG on the Interstate highway and 36.3 MPG combined, with temperatures ranging from the mid-teens through the high-thirties. The test vehicle was delivered with just over 1000 miles on the odometer. "...