GM Ends Zeta Development

[ragingfish]

Quote »http://www.chicagotribune.com/technolog ... rueGeneral Motors confirmed Friday that it has stopped development on vehicles being designed for a new rear-wheel-drive platform in the North American market.Zeta was believed to be the platform GM was going to use for the next-generation Pontiac GTO as well as possibly a pair of new Buick offerings, the Velite sedan and convertible, and maybe a midsize, performance Chevrolet sedan.Some observers suggest GM scrapped what was to be a low-volume Zeta lineup to turn to a platform that could accommodate higher-volume cars, crossovers and SUVs in rear- and all-wheel-drive.David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., says this is no surprise, considering GM was not gaining market share or filling its coffers last year, either. "I'm also not surprised that they'd look at an AWD platform as well," he said. "The Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle and Mercury Montego have proved AWD is much more popular than people thought it would be. AWD in cars has really caught on."