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Why Shouldn’t Good Pontiacs Become Good Chevrolets?
Monday’s General Motors reorganization update confirmed that no current Pontiac model will find its way into the Chevrolet lineup. This is a mistake. There are two, perhaps three, Pontiac models that I believe would live good lives as Chevys.
The first and most obvious is the G8. I say nix the current Impala SS: As a transverse V-8 front-driver with a yestertech four-speed automatic trans, it isn’t and will never be the muscle sedan America wants. But if they recooked the 415-horse G8 GXP as the Impala SS, they’d really have something to attract musclecar and sport sedan types.
The standard, V-8-powered G8 GT becomes the Impala GT. This again gives Chevy a model that can be sold for law-enforcement use. When Ford phases out the Crown Victoria (probably in 2010), the Dodge Charger will have that market all to itself (GM abandoned it years ago). Ford sells approximately 60,000 Crown Vics a year for police use, and if GM could pick up 30,000-40,000 of those sales, it would ease the post-Pontiac pain, and support GM’s Holden division, which builds the cars and will be hurt by the Pontiac void. There’s probably not enough room in the lineup for the G8 V-6, as it might bump heads with V-6 editions of the Malibu and Impala.
What would be wrong with offering the Solstice as a Chevy? It’s not perfect, but it’s cool, attractive, relatively affordable, and gets good mileage (which could help on the CAFE front). And there’s a wide variety of Pontiac, Saturn, and Opel body and interior bits to pick from, so they could mix and match and make it look different than the current (outgoing) models. As my buddy Kirk (with whom I spend a lot of time BS-ing and solving all the automotive industry’s problems) says, “It wouldn’t hurt Corvette sales one bit.” Use one of the old Corvair names, like Monza or Spyder.
Finally, why not the Vibe? It’s different enough from the Cobalt and upcoming Cruze sedan, and a big step up from the Aveo. Strip it down, offer just one model to keep it simple, and make it irresistible in terms of versatility, mileage, and value. It would also serve as another CAFE-off-setter, which would help allow the sale of the G8 GXPs, er, Impala SSs mentioned above.
GM says Chevrolet is one of the four core brands that will define its future in America. Chevy is also destined to continue as the company’s volume player. Why not give it a few more unique models? Chevified versions of the G8, Solstice, and Vibe will no longer have competition among other GM brands, so nobody can point the “badge-engineering” finger at these moves.
The G8 and Solstice ride on two of the newest and best chassis architectures in General Motors’ global arsenal, and the Vibe has Toyota-level quality. Why dump them now?
