No More GTO

[tnpartsguy]

Saw an annoucement on Automotive News a few minutes ago, No more GTO's, this is the last year for the car. Not enough sales to be cost effective to recertify the car. Sad day!

[4X4CHICHI]

I thought they were going to make something like the new consept camaro?

[BlueCrush]

Well, that didn't last long.

[tnpartsguy]

The new Camaro is 3 yrs away Minimum. Again, GM comes to the party too late, and with the wrong product. (removed) are they thinking? The only entry-level Pontiac is the Vibe.....the hated-stepchild Vibe! And next year AWD and the GT are gone. Now no GTO. The G6 is lackluster, the Montana sport van is being axed, the Bonneville has been gone.... *sighs* are we SURE Pontiac's not on the chopping block?As for Chevrolet, they have the least appealing lineup in years! They are pulling the same mistake Nissan pulled in the mid 90's, everything looks the same, you have to read a badge to know what you're looking at! From the Aveo to the Impala, you have the same basic "Chevrolet" Styling cues, with NOTHING to differentiate the differences....talk about bland! Buick? They keep dropping tried and true nameplates for words that are made up, or mean the totally WRONG things in other languages....They have 2 cars, a minivan, and 2 trucks now.... ok, the one car is GREAT, but it's priced like a Cadillac.You all know I work at a dealership, and the things GM is doing wrong behind the scenes is even worse, putting in programs that nobody wants and they won't support over 2~3 yrs...GM lost billions last year; scary thing is I don't see a change coming, I see it becoming worse!

[Mavrik]

sucks to see everything going down hill like this. I mean the GTO wasn't all that great appearance wise but part of the market that would have bought it was canada. You say the Vibe GT and Vibe AWD are going bye bye? Well that is also disapointing. I see a lot of Vibes up here in alaska and the main reason is because they are afforable, roomy and AWD. They could buy a $20,000+ AWD Subaru impreza outback sport wagon... or a $15-18,000 AWD loaded Vibe.I'm not sure who GM is saying they are marketing these styles and brands to... but those people don't seem to be buying and the rest of us are left wondering (removed) is going on.

[Raven]

Instead of axing it completely they should re-body it with a more retro style like Ford did with the Mustang. 400HP would sell if it looked good.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by tnpartsguy »The new Camaro is 3 yrs away Minimum. Again, GM comes to the party too late, and with the wrong product. (removed) are they thinking? The only entry-level Pontiac is the Vibe.....the hated-stepchild Vibe! And next year AWD and the GT are gone. Now no GTO. The G6 is lackluster, the Montana sport van is being axed, the Bonneville has been gone.... *sighs* are we SURE Pontiac's not on the chopping block?As for Chevrolet, they have the least appealing lineup in years! They are pulling the same mistake Nissan pulled in the mid 90's, everything looks the same, you have to read a badge to know what you're looking at! From the Aveo to the Impala, you have the same basic "Chevrolet" Styling cues, with NOTHING to differentiate the differences....talk about bland! Buick? They keep dropping tried and true nameplates for words that are made up, or mean the totally WRONG things in other languages....They have 2 cars, a minivan, and 2 trucks now.... ok, the one car is GREAT, but it's priced like a Cadillac.You all know I work at a dealership, and the things GM is doing wrong behind the scenes is even worse, putting in programs that nobody wants and they won't support over 2~3 yrs...GM lost billions last year; scary thing is I don't see a change coming, I see it becoming worse!Couldn't agree more. Daimler-Chrysler seems to be leading the way as far as domestics are concerned, but Nissan seems to be kicking (removed) when it comes to imports. Everyone else seems to be just hanging in there or falling off like you mentioned with Pontiac, Buick, and Chevy. Ford is so-so with some decent vehicles in their line-up and with Mazda by their side, but Lincoln seems to be just sitting still and Mercury looks to be another choppable line. Toyota isn't doing a lot and Scion seems to be losing it's initial flair and popularity. Mitsu has some nice cars, but they seem a little over-priced comparitively speaking.

[4X4CHICHI]

Hey, maybe my GT is going to be a collector's item. lol

[JustinVGT]

That's too bad they are discontinuing the GTO. I like the car, but there is some tough competition in its price range. TNpartsguy,Where did you hear the GT and AWD are being dicontinued as well? I don't want to see them be discontinued too, but not much we can do.

[tnpartsguy]

I read GenVibe http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=20837

[Emerica13]

That is a bummer. Although I think that part of the problem is that...the GTO would be a great car..if it wasn't called the GTO.

[mcgusto82]

the gto main draw back is the poor design. i mean, the car looks like a grand prix coupe. nothing special, and HEAVY. the car manages 0-60 times north of 5 seconds. this is a 400 hp beast, but it weights 3700lbs. the interior is great, but the outside said nothing. it's great news for those who already have them. it'll surely be a collector's item.although i don't think the general has called it quits on the GTO. maybe it'l discontinu the current car, but pick it back up along with the next camaro. well, if this holds to be true, then there is one less car to consider once the vibe is paid off.

[northvibe]

the first GTO in 2k was what 2004? was just fugly...i cant believe they released a GTO looking like that, sorta dissapointed me. the new ones look better, but i agree pontiac makes everything look the same with that van front end now days... i rode in a 04 last month and although she (the girl i was riding in the car with) wouldnt floor it it was cool sounding and nice interior but car was too expensive for what you get i think. i saw mustang GT with a s/c addon that would beat a GTO for cheaper

[ColonelPanic]

That's a bummer... I liked the car since the beginning but there's no way I can afford such a thing at this point in my life and it is all for the best that I can't. It is sad to hear it is going away, especially when you pointed out what will be left of Pontiac's lineup. Any of you guys care to tell GM that they can't slash their way to profitability, or do you want me to do it? Maybe they should focus on building vehicles that people would buy. And to stop counting on large SUV's for their survival.I love how GM makes their decisions on what to axe... "Which one should we kill next? Should it be the car we've worked on for years to get right and we've finally done that? Or, how about axing that one that is a slow seller? We don't understand why it isn't selling, I mean, we haven't even bothered to market it or change anything to address various concerns. Things like that wouldn't add it to more shopping lists, right?" I see either one of those situations occur over and over again.Poor Pontiac. They're really getting the shaft these days! Chevy is their golden child, they can do no wrong... I don't watch TV, but it seems every time I'm near one, a Chevrolet commercial is on the air. It's obvious who gets all of the marketing dollars from GM, isn't it?

[michaelgt]

The following explains why the GTO is going away.From autonews.comBy Jamie LaReauFeb. 21, 2006DETROIT – General Motors has told Pontiac dealers that it will discontinue the GTO coupe at the end of this model year. GM will make the last deliveries of the vehicle to dealers by the end of September, sources close to Pontiac say.GM will produce 10,000 to 12,000 more GTOs before dropping the nameplate, one source close to the situation says. Last year, Pontiac sold 11,590 GTOs compared to 2004 when it sold 13,569. That's a 14.6 percent drop.When Pontiac launched the GTO in 2003, it projected 18,000 annual sales. The vehicle was criticized for bland styling, and some fans of the original GTO complained that it lacked nostalgic styling cues.A Pontiac spokesman confirms the GTO will be discontinued after the 2006 model year. “There are some changes in the federal regulatory standards. One is an airbag deployment standard that would require some very expensive re-engineering of the car,” says Jim Hopson, Pontiac spokesman. “Since the architecture of this car is being phased out around the world it’s not economically feasible to continue this car.”Pontiac will continue to build the GTO through the end of May, Hopson says. The last “boatload will hit the ground in June”, he adds.The GTO first came to dealerships in December 2003 as a 2004 model, Hopson says.The GTO is built on a rear-wheel drive architecture from GM's Holden division in Australia. The present model is going out of production as GM constructs the new Zeta RWD architecture, says the source.There is no replacement coupe planned at this time and because of the strong Australian and weak U.S. dollar, the GTO had to be priced thousands over where GM originally wanted it – in the mid-twenties, the source says. "It never did as much volume as we had hoped," the source says.Pontiac is considering a replacement in the lineup for a RWD performance vehicle, but does not have anything to announce yet, Hopson says.The GTO suggested retail price starts at $31,990, including shipping. One GM source says, "the 2005 and 2006 were pretty well sold out, and sales were especially strong in areas of GM weakness, like Southern California. It's a shame it has to go – for now."

[northvibe]

seems like GM likes to kill off models so sales go up for the last models left

[Mavrik]

because what else can you buy right?Well the answer is... not a GM.

[gnnr]

It really is sad to GM sinking like this. I knew the GTO wouldn't last long without a major refresh, and that wasn't going to happen without better sales... but the rest of the GM line up across it's branded lines is terrible. Too much overlap, too many SUVs, too many unkown cars/names (G6 anyone?), and confused pricing changes (albeit their previous over pricing and then offer incentives hurt them more than flat pricing now). I am a pontiac guy. I have had 4 pontiacs over the years and the Vibe will be my fifth and probably last the way they are running Pontiac into the ground. IF/When the camaro returns Pontiac... their friggen performance division... isn't getting a version. DUMB. The G8 is nice looking but from what I hear it is going to be a severely compromised design from the prototypes we saw at car shows of recent past and not powerful at all... if it gets built at all. I know everyone is big on chrysler but honestly... I hate them. Their fierce retro styling, generally crap engineering and aerodynamics/mileage, and high prices do nothing for me. Ford. Outside of the Mustang (I owned an 02 V6... crap, but the GT was nice and they continue to be nice cars) what are they doing... lots of gas hogging SUVs, a bland sedan in the midsize and large size ranges, the dated and rather ugly focus... blech. Their other divisions have too many SUVs and too high of a cost as well.GMs only interesting division is Caddy and they are generally over priced given the hit you take off what you pay when you drive away.Looking abroad the euro cars do nothing for me... declining quality and reliability year after year in their 'affordable cars' and way too much cost across the line for what you get in any line from Mercedes or BMW.The Asian makers are the only ones offering innovation, style, good mix of lines, mileage, safety, reliability... and occasionally they are affordable. Throw out the shockingly popular (as in why didnt' the Aztech do well if the Scion box SUV does well) little SUV's that look like boxes on wheels and there really isn't an ugly, poorly built, or bad design amoung the top four from that part of the world.

[kostby]

Don't bury the GTO forever quite yet!Leflane News has a teaser about a possible 2009 Goat --> http://www.leftlanenews.com/20...w-gto/

[AKLGT]

very sad to see GM letting all their models go. taking all the fun cars out, and leaving the boring ones it seems. guess i won't be purchasing another GM anytime soon.... and the one left in the family will be replaced in a year or two with an AWD subie....

[MACMANIAC]

I gotta agree with you on Chrysler. The Magnum is O.K., but it's a soccer mom mobile pretending to be a performance car. The Charger? Can you say "Diplomat"? The 300 looks like a checker cab. No self respecting man would be caught dead driving a Neon (not even the S retard 4), much less a P.T. loser. Ford is the only one who got it right! The new mustang is the car the GTO and the Charger should have been. The Charger, I believe, will soon go the way of the '90's Impala SS and become so passe it will turn into a fleet vehicle for taxi companies. The 2005 version of the GTO was at least a fair attempt to revive the GTO. The addition of a ram air hood that should have been part of the 2004 package made it a little more aggressive, but still missed the mark. What a shame!G.M. started the "Muscle Car" era and set the standard in the original GTO. Who would have ever thought they would have fallen so far from such great beginnings? On the link at the begining of this thread they mentioned the Holden concept. These are shots of it. Looks a little to "Acura" for me, especially the tail lights.

[MACMANIAC]

This is a little closer to how the GTO SHOULD have been introduced in 2004....

[TRDman]

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Poor Pontiac. They're really getting the shaft these days! Chevy is their golden child, they can do no wrong... I don't watch TV, but it seems every time I'm near one, a Chevrolet commercial is on the air. It's obvious who gets all of the marketing dollars from GM, isn't it? For good reason. Sad as this is to say, for the health of the company, Pontiac is not the best brand. GM can survive with three brands: Chevrolet (melting pot division), Cadillac (performance luxury), and Saturn (which seems to want to, now, be Euro-luxury). GMC, Buick, and Pontiac really don't add anything but extra marketing dollars. You could make the argument that Pontiac could take the place of Saturn, but from the moves GM is making it looks like they're set on Saturn. Sure, the Solstice was a valient attempt at a performance car, but does it seem telling that a Saturn is being introduced right afterwards? Perhaps not, because for a while Pontiac looked like GM's most vibrant division, but it seems like the excitement is just not quite there anymore. Forgive me, but it seems like the GTO was an idiotic car to introduce in the first place. Its only purpose would have been as an image car, and would it not have been wiser to have produced a car more in the vein of the original GTO (sporty version of existing car; differentiated, but nevertheless with a potential to be a car appealing to a wider audience than the GTO). The GTO, as it was, was a car that was never going to appeal to a large demographic. 18,000/year was optimistic in and of itself (the car appealed to too narrow of a demographic to be successful without the mystic of a Mustang GT) because the car, conceptually, was like selling a GT version of the Mustang only. This ignores that most people don't buy Mustang GT's; they are outsold by the base model. So why did it fail? The market wasn't there-the sports car market was never huge-and it was not the kind of car the market really wanted anyway. Maybe GM can be smarter about the next muscle car it puts on American roads.

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by MACMANIAC »This is a little closer to how the GTO SHOULD have been introduced in 2004....Exactly, that should of been the first release of the GTO. its all about muscle car, which it wasnt. Dual pipes, ram air hood, mean look, big engine, etc etc.

[Merzbow]

The one Kostby posted has been a concept since the mid to late 90's I beleive. It was in a video game I have from a while ago. Yes they should have made that the GTO instead...

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow »The one Kostby posted has been a concept since the mid to late 90's I beleive. It was in a video game I have from a while ago. Yes they should have made that the GTO instead...it also looks somewhat similar to the camero concept.......

[jeffgtx]

i need to correct tnpartsguy on one thing...m about buick names.the lucerne.out here in Cal, Lucerne is the name of our store brand dairy products. you've got your yogurt, milk, cheese.so, clearly you can see lucerne is not made up and definately comes from an inpsiring situation.

[george]

Wow really impressed with you guys knowledge of te gto and very good points and I agree what a shame about the gto not the car but just the name and history of all the awsome ram-air iii and iv cars that are out there the judges and all the neck snapping torque i sure miss theose days my first car was a 70 GTO big block car and when the new car was said to be released to be honest i wasnt excited as i should have been simply because the last 5-8 years GM has screwed everything up design wise, just a damn shame and this comming from a guy who named his kids after Chevy's i own a 56 chevy show car street machine and will always be a GM man will i buy a new GM not anytiem soon unless i hit the lottery the first car will be a new Z06 vette but thats the sad part you average guy cant get into a great real wheel GM car now adays reasonably, like Parts guy said 3 more years before the Camaro that they claim will have to be in the mid $20's to sell but agin the gto i think was doomed from day one when they thought they could fool the muscle car world into thinking they could badge up a holden and be a winner plzzz, and in the GTO's defense the car is amazing perforance wise really sound car probably the best bucket seats you'll ever sit in but suffers from GM's poor fit and finish and clunky plastic interiors and most of all the reason were all speaking of the pooriest Designs on the planet I can hear the funeral trumpets hailing as i speak for GM

[gnnr]

The current and now defunct GTO did not have poor quality or fit/finish issues. Far from it. It is probably, outside of Caddy, the best fit and finish car GM has produced in recent years. The issue with the GTO was that in 04 when it came out it had somewhat uninspiring performance and power and through out the line's duration on the sale's floor it's exterior styling was simply too similar to the late model Cavys... uninspiring and certainly not befitting the GTO name. The 05 and 06 models made a few steps to correct issues, such as dual exhaust and a new hood, but nothing was going to out and out save it short of a body redesign... and that wasn't going to happen thanks to changes in US airbag laws. You should see what some of the owners have done with them though, both in terms of looks/appearance and in terms of power. There is a dual turbo setup pushing close to 750HP for instance and there are several really tricked out rides that have been worked over by some of the best aftermarket minds out there that are just awesome.If GM had stuck more with the concept ideas it would have sold better but even then the styling was just too 'gentle' to inspire and fit with the GTO heritage. Dumb.

[kostby]

Dry your tears, GTO-lovers!Apparently, according to Bob Lutz, it's BAAAAAAACK for 2008/9...Link --> http://www.leftlanenews.com/20...eturn/

[george]

GNNR great point and i agree ecps comming froma fan of thr goats and being a previuos owner of a 70 i wish they would have came through, shamealtough one last thing it would not matter how many turb's this car had or how much performance it could and yet already has...bottom line is it looks like a grand am with a v8 in it period!!! americans are all about image perfect xample look how many mustangs are selling and the gto will run circles around that damn ford again make it pretty they will come......