How will the Obama plan affect Camaro

[greenrail]

Originally Posted by 67camaro99

What put GM in this position was its leadership. Period.
Look at the designs and when they get updated,,, and the constant name changing
Colbolt= Cavalier (long in the tooth before cancelled), Will ne the New CRUZE
MonteCarlo (last redesign 2000, one new face in 9 models years)
Camaro = 1993-2002 (no wonder they were down to 35k units), before that, 1982-1992
The list goes on, and on...

Toyota and Honda change every 5 yrs, and KEEP the same name (brand, model loyalty)
even Ford, Taurus = 500 (what the heck is a 500), back to Taurus (sales increase), and a new redesign coming shortly).

That is not political, its common sense. Do you think that the Malibu and Impala have any history with the ones from yesteryear, or are they EASIER to Market than a Chevy Celebrity or Chevy Lumina>??? (brand/model recognition)

WHat the heck is a "500"? Are you serious. The 500 Name has a long history at Ford! Galaxie 500 way back in the '50's (comes to mind since my Dad owned a 1959 Galaxie 500) and through most of the 60's. It was a name lost on the public because it wasn't used for way too many years and Ford actually neglected to hilight the historical aspects of that nameplate.

[67camaro99]

The Cobalt is NOT a Cavalier, completely new car, even though it looks similar. They changed the name to get AWAY from the bad history of the Cav, even though the last few years were pretty decent. The Cruse is, again, a new car. By your theory, they should call it a Chevette and go for history.

You made my point... GM runs from BAD reputation... thus the alias, I mean name change.
And no, a NEW model should be introduced to keep the line up fresh...

THE CORVETTE is in a league all its own... dont get crazy...

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Zhawk

Who was working on taking it out of that? GM's leadership.
Yeah, Toyota has nameplates that go bad but where is the Corona, Hi-Lux, SR5, etc. The sales loyalty comes from people being sheep and believing that they still build an engine as reliable as the 22R series and the GM still build the Vega.

Toyota is still using those nameplates although Corona and Hi-Lux is not being used in North America.

Originally Posted by Zhawk

The Cobalt is NOT a Cavalier, completely new car, even though it looks similar. They changed the name to get AWAY from the bad history of the Cav, even though the last few years were pretty decent. The Cruse is, again, a new car. By your theory, they should call it a Chevette and go for history.

How about Nova?

Originally Posted by Zhawk

Sorry, but this we have to completely redesign every couple of years is stupid....

Seems to work well for Honda and Toyota.

Originally Posted by Zhawk

Sorry, if I ramble, been a long night. But, let's face facts. GM needs solid leadership, if the new CEO doesn't turn things around in 6 months will the gov't force him out too?

The next CEO and board of directors are going to be puppets unfortunately. Guess who will be the puppet master?

[1989-ZR-1]

Chevette, Vega, Citation.... etc I Agree, but change on good selling product lines like the Grand Am, is a mistake.
Killing the S10 and the Astro Van, replacing it with the 5Cyl Colorado and the worst looking van, the Express hurt the commercial sales. Was a mistake.
Killing Olds in favor of SAAB was IMHO a mistake.
These sales never came back. They went elsewhere.

I would never favor Cimmeron over a CTS....

[Zhawk]

Originally Posted by Hylton

Toyota is still using those nameplates although Corona and Hi-Lux is not being used in North America.

Yes, but the only nameplates that matter in North America, are the ones in North America.

How about Nova?

Unfortunately, that is still saddle with 2 problems, the 80s Nova (which was built by Toyota, it was basically a Corolla), and the Myth that it sold poorly in Hispanic communities and countries becuase is supposedly was translated as 'NoGo'
Nova was also basically in the current Malibu size range.

Seems to work well for Honda and Toyota.

Sorry, but I DO NOT want GM to be a clone of Toyota. They have a lot more to bring to American culture than bland appliances. The last Toyota I found interesting was the 90s MR2

The next CEO and board of directors are going to be puppets unfortunately. Guess who will be the puppet master?

And that is a lot of my point. GM needs to be free to build want the consumers WANT. Not what the gov't wants them to build.

Everything was just to make a point. Trust me, I know the Vette is in a league of its own. We have 2 ourselves. But I know that to regain sales, GM must break away from names that are damaged; Cavalier, Grand Am, etc, have some very bad connections with the non-enthusiast public.
Asfor keeping Olds and killing off Saab, it would have been better to kill off Saturn (which lost massive amounts of money) and turn those cars to Olds. Olds badges on the current Saturns could have made more sales. And a updated Aurora could have been a great flagship.

[TAG UR IT]

This would be a restructuring plan. I don't think it would be wise to cancel any "hot sellers" an auto company builds just because mpg's would be low. Hey, if GM is selling 100k low gas mileage ****'s a year, the government shouldn't cancel them just because they want higher gas friendly cars. In fact, they will let the consumers buy the cars, but just ....hold on....add a GAS GUZZLER TAX!!!

I knew I was missing something.

Nope. Camaro is safe.

And, there is no gas guzzler tax for the Camaro...we're fine folks.

[1989-ZR-1]

It's hard to imagine anyone on this board buying a Grand Am on purpose, but we sold a lot of them. A lot went to customers that traded in Grand Ams. Had customers that bought 3, 4, 5 of them. Then the G6 came and lost about 80% of those customers. (we even kicked around the idea of adding Grand Am badges to the G6) Still trying to figure out where they went. Never underestimate brand/name loyalty. Ford learned this with the 500/Taurus and the Zypher/MKZ only in opposit directions...

[Zhawk]

Originally Posted by 1989-ZR-1

It's hard to imagine anyone on this board buying a Grand Am on purpose, but we sold a lot of them. A lot went to customers that traded in Grand Ams. Had customers that bought 3, 4, 5 of them. Then the G6 came and lost about 80% of those customers. (we even kicked around the idea of adding Grand Am badges to the G6) Still trying to figure out where they went. Never underestimate brand/name loyalty. Ford learned this with the 500/Taurus and the Zypher/MKZ only in opposit directions...

Never have underestimated brand loyalty, but as a lot of the guys at work keep telling me, families that bought one brand for years eventually got tired of their kids telling them 'GM/Ford/Chrysler sucked, all domestics sucked' and went to foreign cars.
No lie guys, I hear it from airmen, NCOs, officers, and civilians. When I ask for why their old Chevy sucked, they couldn't give me specifics, only 'all American made cars suck'. Apparently, that doesn't apply to Hondas or Toyotas assembled in the US.
Tell me this, how was the loyalty to the Grand Prix, I have a lot of friends who absolutely love them, other people can't stand them. (That's just a question to satisfy my curiousity)

[kanakattack]

early Pontiacs' were cool, Firebirds,GTO, Grand Prix, but then they just got gaudy. They all started to look like they had facelifts from a doctor practicing out of a motel room, remember the Aztec? And even though I loved them the late model Firebirds/Trans Am also suffered a bit from this plastic overkill. I really think that if they kept the lines and the fascia simple they would have done a lot better.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by kanakattack

early Pontiacs' were cool, Firebirds,GTO, Grand Prix, but then they just got gaudy. They all started to look like they had facelifts from a doctor practicing out of a motel room, remember the Aztec? And even though I loved them the late model Firebirds/Trans Am also suffered a bit from this plastic overkill. I really think that if they kept the lines and the fascia simple they would have done a lot better.

Ya - I couldn't stand all the lower body clading that went on every high optioned Pontiac sold: Grand Am, Montana, 6000 STE, Grand Prix - clad it up boys!

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

I'm Extremely interested in borrowing your Crystal Ball....





Camaro will be fine so long as there's a General Motors to produce it. And so far...that's looks to be the case. The bulk of this Generation's development has been completed and paid for -- all they need to do now is build and sell the damned thing. Nothing to worry about.

I know the Camaro will be fine. Most people will be happy with a DI newer faster and more efficient engine, even if it is not an 8 cylinder LS engine. We are only a select few here of enthusiasts that care about tradition and rumble of V8 engines. We all know those engines are a dying breed.. The Camaro and Corvette will live on, and I do predict one day both will be electrically run and use no fuel whatsoever and have massive torque and power. It won't be a bad thing, however I'll still have my Ls3 Camaro that guzzles gas sitting in my garage and have fun while driving it. My crystal ball is nothing more than common sense. GM and all the other car companies are working towards more fuel efficient vehicles and yes they are being strong armed by politicians worldwide which is speeding up the efforts. However the only people that really care about V8's and the throaty rumble are enthusiasts in which we are the few.

[CaptianSam]

there will ALWAYS have to be Chevy/gmc trucks and always have to be v'8s, this is because of commerical transportation... the v'8 will never 'die' there might just be better alternatives to it, and they will always be in demand.

so relax.

take a deep breath...

the only thing we can count on is... more people losing jobs... and product crossing over to stop... and hopefully bs contracts to be nulled by the government....

AND I PRAY TO GOD!!!

that the exec's STOP TAKNG THIER DAMN BONUSES!!!!!!!
what integrity does a person have if they take a 560000 dollar bonus flying private jets, blah blah blah... if thier company is losing money...
corperation = limited liability FTMFL

[terndude]

Sounds like they'll stick with the internationally known labels like Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick (the Chinese love Buick, they sell loads more over there then they sell here!)

I always kinda liked the front-end looks of the GMC trucks over the Chevy trucks, and bought my '02 Sierra for that reason, but almost the entire line is redundant or could be retrofit into the Chevy truck line-up.
I'll miss Pontiac cause I've had 4 of them, but hopefully they'll keep some of the nice interior design in future models. I was always a sucker for the solid red dash lighting.

Time will tell.

[Punk_rider]

If any the government into GM means = no Z28, give me a call coz' I'm actually waiting for it!! and seeing guys talking about no more V8 ... scarrry!!