Holden Confirms Commodore Will Return To the US Under Chevrolet
12-14-2010, 11:52 PM
#181
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There is nothing horrible about the Commodore in general; although it's certainly not my taste, I could see it as a good replacement for the current Impala. And a performance V8 variant, "Impala SS" would be ideal and fitting for this car (it's styling is certainly no worse than the last generation of LS4 Impala SSs). 
12-15-2010, 02:26 AM
#182
I don't know about calling the US Commodore an Impala. Isn't the Impala suppose to be the "Lincoln Towncar" of the Chevrolet line? I haven't got the chance to look the G8 over really good in real life but from what I've seen just driving around town it looks more like a mid-sized car.
Personally, calling this car a Chevelle doesn't really sit right with me. Although Dodge calling the new Charger a Charger doesn't really sit right with me either.
Personally, calling this car a Chevelle doesn't really sit right with me. Although Dodge calling the new Charger a Charger doesn't really sit right with me either.
12-15-2010, 07:19 AM
#183
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Dropping a FWD impala is the dumbest idea yet. They sell on average well over 100k of those a year, probably more like 200k. Look at RWD car sales (e.g., Charger), maybe 40k a year, tops. The majority of Americans could give two ***** about a RWD V8 car or RWD V6 car. People want bland boring transportation (i.e., Camry, Impala, etc.) that gets good mileage. You come to the snow belts and RWD cars are non existent unless they are optioned with AWD and then fuel mileage goes down even more. Replacing a FWD excellent selling car with a RWD (poor fuel mileage) car is ludicrous.
12-15-2010, 11:25 AM
#184
Dropping a FWD impala is the dumbest idea yet. They sell on average well over 100k of those a year, probably more like 200k. Look at RWD car sales (e.g., Charger), maybe 40k a year, tops. The majority of Americans could give two ***** about a RWD V8 car or RWD V6 car. People want bland boring transportation (i.e., Camry, Impala, etc.) that gets good mileage. You come to the snow belts and RWD cars are non existent unless they are optioned with AWD and then fuel mileage goes down even more. Replacing a FWD excellent selling car with a RWD (poor fuel mileage) car is ludicrous.
How about Caprice SS (afterall it is a RWD 4 door)?
Or, not to go the Captain Obvious route but, Commodore SS?
I still like Biscayne SS as well.
12-15-2010, 03:00 PM
#186
Dropping a FWD impala is the dumbest idea yet. They sell on average well over 100k of those a year, probably more like 200k. Look at RWD car sales (e.g., Charger), maybe 40k a year, tops. The majority of Americans could give two ***** about a RWD V8 car or RWD V6 car. People want bland boring transportation (i.e., Camry, Impala, etc.) that gets good mileage. You come to the snow belts and RWD cars are non existent unless they are optioned with AWD and then fuel mileage goes down even more. Replacing a FWD excellent selling car with a RWD (poor fuel mileage) car is ludicrous.
12-15-2010, 04:38 PM
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12-15-2010, 05:09 PM
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I would like to know how many actual car buyers buy them.
Look at RWD car sales (e.g., Charger), maybe 40k a year, tops.
The majority of Americans could give two ***** about a RWD V8 car or RWD V6 car. People want bland boring transportation (i.e., Camry, Impala, etc.) that gets good mileage.
This will also improve GM's image (which is something they really need to work on) by getting another higher quality car in their line up that is also fun to drive.
12-15-2010, 06:53 PM
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I can definitely see them doing both. Simply because the FWD w-body sells so damn well, I think it would work in this case. MY own opinion would be to bestow the legendary Impala name on the RWD performance oriented car, and resurrect a more tame nameplate, ala "Lumina" for the replacement for the FWD sales leader. I have a bad feeling though that the Impala name will remain where it is and the RWD car will be getting a much less cool name.
01-04-2011, 06:51 PM
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That was from last winter, going on winter number 2 and in fact just got the first real snow accumulation last night. I had a 2000 Grand Prix GT (yeah yeah, no supercharger) and this car is leagues ahead of the GP in the snow. Granted I'm running a dedicated set of rims with Blizzaks on the G8, but still, it's a 400hp (approx, I'm lightly modded) RWD car.
01-04-2011, 07:16 PM
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While not a terrific achievement it is nice to know that a FWD family car can give a similar year "muscle car" a good run.
The U.S. allotment of GTO's was capped. Not sure about the G8. While the production may have ended that had no effect on sales here so I don't understand why that matters when I pointed out that GTO's were on lots for 6-12 months after the production run. They didn't sell that well.
So you want more Caddys? They are the brand to go after Audi and BMW. (Well Buick might be able to go after some Audi buyers.) I see what your saying but there is a market for full size cars in both FWD and RWD. Chrysler is going after the RWD market. While sales of the J-body cars are solid I doubt G.M. is salivating to be in that market. Especially if you take the rental fleet sales out of the equation since G.M. stated that they were trying to reduce fleet sales.
Agreed.
They were slow sellers here. Thats why they had them on lots for 6-12 months after production ended.
Which is why I believe the GTO by name was a blunder. LeMans or Tempest would have worked well. Or a new non alpha numeric name.
That is a difficult blanket statement to make. The Malibu (since its birth as a FWD car) has shown that sales can increase without the need for a new name. The FWD generations prior to the current one were horrible transportation appliances. The new one is in many respects leaps and bounds better and sold very well at least at first. I don't know if sales stayed up but I know it showed that G.M. could build a better car than it had been and still keep it competitive. Do you think that Toyota will change the names of its models in the wake of all the recalls? Sienna, Tundra, Camry? I don't. Yet the stigma of problems is still there. People will flock to what consumer reports tells them to buy. Many view a car as a transportation appliance not a statement of ones self or a fun getaway device. And thats sad. We, as a nation used to go to cruises in our cars, now we get ticketed for it. Maybe it comes with maturity. I used to drive my cars as hard as possible (course they were 4 cylinder imports, I may have just been leaving a stop sign and had to floor it to move it ) With kids and a wife I no longer enjoy time just cruising. Unless I'm by my self and I would rather share the experience of the thrust of a V-8 and the sounds it makes. Wow, I got off track. Sorry.
Terrible example, just because someone doesn't park their sports car or muscle car (both more than likely have sport driving tires on them as well) outside in the snow doesn't mean they won't park/use a RWD sports sedan in the same weather. I don't think GM needs more sports cars, just more RWD cars (that means coupes or sedans).
Keep the small cars like the Cobalt FWD, and maybe the Malibu, but then give us nice RWD/AWD sports sedans like BMW and Audi. Not some front heavy, cheap, ugly and underwhelming FWD sedan like the Grand Prix or Impala
Keep the small cars like the Cobalt FWD, and maybe the Malibu, but then give us nice RWD/AWD sports sedans like BMW and Audi. Not some front heavy, cheap, ugly and underwhelming FWD sedan like the Grand Prix or Impala
Anything other than a completely new name wouldn't have worked. Its a totally different new car like nothing else Pontiac has made. It needs a new name so there is no preconceived notion about the car. With the name "GTO" people expected a wild, crude muscular ride but got a 2 door sports luxury sedan.
And mainstream buyers already have certain biases for/against car names before the car is out. Names like Sunfire/Sunbird have been tarnished to the point of (hopefully) no return because of how shitty of a car they were, so even if the name was put on an outstanding car it would still get negative attention.
If there is a totally new car it needs a totally new name unless they want some preconceived notion.
If there is a totally new car it needs a totally new name unless they want some preconceived notion.
) With kids and a wife I no longer enjoy time just cruising. Unless I'm by my self and I would rather share the experience of the thrust of a V-8 and the sounds it makes. Wow, I got off track. Sorry.
01-04-2011, 07:29 PM
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So true its sad, my wife HATES driving and she hates me modding/working on my car as she does not understand my love of the machine and what it represents to me. I know many other people that see cars as nothing more than a means to get from point A to point B.
03-29-2011, 11:02 AM
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GMI has some rumor-mongering today to add fuel to the fire.
The Zeta drama continues at GM
March 28, 2011
By: Nick Saporito
Zeta rumors have been the hot topic of General Motors’ enthusiasts and mainstream media since the first inklings of the return of the Camaro. Initially the platform was going to see production in North America, hosting an entire lineup of rear-wheel drive greatness. Then gas prices spiked the first time and GM’s cash position dwindled, thus killing the glorious plans. Fast-forward to today and drama still surrounds Zeta, but future plans are starting to become clearer.
Since the demise of the Holden derived Pontiac G8 sedan, there has been much internal debate about bringing the Holden Commodore back to the North American market. GM’s high executive turn rate since emerging from its 2009 bankruptcy has not helped that matter, with each of the three post-bankruptcy CEO’s having a different position on the importation of Holden products.
Back in September GMI first reported that Chevrolet was aspiring to have a Commodore-based sedan on the North American market. Internally the sedan has been referred to as “SS Sedan.” Initial reports had the car launching for the 2012 model-year, but that has since been pushed back to 2014 model year, likely to capitalize on the redesigned Commodore that will launch around the same time.
According to documents obtained by GMI, the ‘SS Sedan’ is now operating as an approved program. The program is running under the code Z2SC and is expected to launch in North America in early 2013 as a 2014 model year vehicle. GMI was able to independently confirm the time frame with Holden sources as well.
Perhaps the more interesting news is that GM is also considering the Holden Ute and Holden Commodore SportWagon for the North American market. Unlike the ‘SS Sedan,’ the Ute and SportWagon based models are not currently approved for production. If approved, the documents suggest the Ute would launch at the same time as the sedan, with the SportWagon launching later in the 2013 calendar year. The documents list the Ute based vehicle as ‘El Camino.’ The El Camino’s program code is Z2RC, while the SportWagon code is Z2WC.
GMI expects that the approval of the El Camino and SportWagon will hinge on fuel prices in North America and potential profitability of the two models, as both would likely be very low volume products.
In other Zeta news, GMI has also been able to confirm that the Caprice patrol vehicle is expected to have a second generation on the North American market starting in 2014 model year as well.
It’s important to note that the Zeta program at GM has been a near constant source of drama internally. As our reporting has reflected, there has been a tremendous amount of back and forth about Zeta. GMI is, however, starting to see some consistency with regards to the future of the ‘SS Sedan.’
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f...merica-101692/
The Zeta drama continues at GM
March 28, 2011
By: Nick Saporito
Zeta rumors have been the hot topic of General Motors’ enthusiasts and mainstream media since the first inklings of the return of the Camaro. Initially the platform was going to see production in North America, hosting an entire lineup of rear-wheel drive greatness. Then gas prices spiked the first time and GM’s cash position dwindled, thus killing the glorious plans. Fast-forward to today and drama still surrounds Zeta, but future plans are starting to become clearer.
Since the demise of the Holden derived Pontiac G8 sedan, there has been much internal debate about bringing the Holden Commodore back to the North American market. GM’s high executive turn rate since emerging from its 2009 bankruptcy has not helped that matter, with each of the three post-bankruptcy CEO’s having a different position on the importation of Holden products.
Back in September GMI first reported that Chevrolet was aspiring to have a Commodore-based sedan on the North American market. Internally the sedan has been referred to as “SS Sedan.” Initial reports had the car launching for the 2012 model-year, but that has since been pushed back to 2014 model year, likely to capitalize on the redesigned Commodore that will launch around the same time.
According to documents obtained by GMI, the ‘SS Sedan’ is now operating as an approved program. The program is running under the code Z2SC and is expected to launch in North America in early 2013 as a 2014 model year vehicle. GMI was able to independently confirm the time frame with Holden sources as well.
Perhaps the more interesting news is that GM is also considering the Holden Ute and Holden Commodore SportWagon for the North American market. Unlike the ‘SS Sedan,’ the Ute and SportWagon based models are not currently approved for production. If approved, the documents suggest the Ute would launch at the same time as the sedan, with the SportWagon launching later in the 2013 calendar year. The documents list the Ute based vehicle as ‘El Camino.’ The El Camino’s program code is Z2RC, while the SportWagon code is Z2WC.
GMI expects that the approval of the El Camino and SportWagon will hinge on fuel prices in North America and potential profitability of the two models, as both would likely be very low volume products.
In other Zeta news, GMI has also been able to confirm that the Caprice patrol vehicle is expected to have a second generation on the North American market starting in 2014 model year as well.
It’s important to note that the Zeta program at GM has been a near constant source of drama internally. As our reporting has reflected, there has been a tremendous amount of back and forth about Zeta. GMI is, however, starting to see some consistency with regards to the future of the ‘SS Sedan.’
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f...merica-101692/
