Gm changed their mind on the G8....

[Blacdout96]

http://www.fquick.com/blog/Oh_WTF__N...e_Caprice/3111

Discuss...

[sweetbmxrider]

aw man!

[fire95bird]

OK kids your going to get some candy soon.....oh wait no, never mind

[BonzoHansen]

CEO said no from what I read.

[Jersey Mike]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

CEO said no from what I read.

boo that man

[Blacdout96]

/\

[NJ346]

from my understanding, the G8 was a lot like the GTO when it came to sales, Americans simply didn't buy it. With GM in the financial state it's in, the G8 probably wouldn't bring them the profit they want....but the same could be said about the volt, I don't think GM will be making a cent on them.

[JL8Jeff]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

CEO said no from what I read.

Obama said no?

[BonzoHansen]

G8 sales have been going up the past few months.

[madness410]

i got one word..WTF

[BonzoHansen]

He got his hand slapped. I can't find the article where the CEO said "well he works for me".

JULY 17, 2009 WSJ
GM's Lutz Makes Another U-Turn

DETROIT -- General Motors Co. marketing chief Bob Lutz reversed course Thursday, saying the company wouldn't keep the Pontiac G8 sedan in its model line by turning it into a Chevrolet after all.

Mr. Lutz said Monday that GM, which is phasing out the Pontiac brand as part of its restructuring, would continue offering the rear-wheel-drive sports car in the U.S. but would sell it as the Chevrolet Caprice.

A day later, GM Chief Executive Frederick "Fritz" Henderson told reporters such a move was unlikely.

On Thursday, Mr. Lutz wrote on GM's "Fast Lane" blog that GM had been studying the idea of selling the G8 as the Chevrolet Caprice "because a car like the G8 was just too good to waste."

But he added that "upon further review and careful study, we simply cannot make a business case for such a program. Not in today's market, in this economy, and with fuel regulations what they are and will be."

The reversal suggests Mr. Henderson hasn't yet worked out all the kinks in the new, leaner GM, which emerged from bankruptcy protection on July 10. As part of the company's reorganization, Mr. Henderson is eliminating a number of senior executives' positions and shuffling his staff.

Mr. Lutz, who is 77 years old and led GM's vehicle development efforts until earlier this year, was set to retire but came back to head marketing and communications in the reorganized company. In Detroit circles, he is sometimes referred to as "Mr. Horsepower" because of his love of big, powerful cars like the G8.

The G8 was designed and built by GM's Australia unit and arrived in the U.S. market 15 months ago. With a sticker price of about $28,000 and gasoline prices high, it got off to a slow start. But this year, sales have jumped. Average monthly sales through June increased 57% to 2,615 from about 1,660 G8s a month in the first nine months of sales.

If GM sold 2600 G8s a month they'd sell more G8s in a year than probably the 04-06 GTOs combined.

[bobb1589]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

G8 sales have been going up the past few months.

probably because they are giving them away pretty cheap...i test drove one with my friend and his dad and the salesman offered it to him at some ridiculously low number

[BonzoHansen]

local dealer is advertising a gxp ~35,000

[CamaroJoe1987]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

local dealer is advertising a gxp ~35,000

mmmmmmmmm FTW!

[edpontiac91]

IMO the G8 GT is one of the finest cars GM has EVER come out with. It has style, power, performance and handling unlike ANYTHING I have ever driven. My son Darren has his 2008 GT (with a few mods) that sounds like a GTO, rides like a BMW and performs like muscle car of old. If I had that $35,000 to buy a 2009 GXP, I would do so in a heartbeat (sorry Chevy). Miller Pontiac has a Liquid Red GXP parked outside their showroom and it looks fantastic with those wheels. I can just imagine what a modded GXP would run like (mid 12's)would be a good estimate. Just when GM gets it right, they seem to shoot themselves in the foot and kill it. The Fiero started out as a piece of crap, but by 1988 they had it right and stopped production that year. If anyone has ever seen what the restyled 1989 Fiero was to look it, it was one hella of sharp looking sports car. LONG LIVE THE G8!

[sweetbmxrider]

Originally Posted by madness410

i got one word..WTF

is that one word? in fact, is that even a word at all?

[Jersey Mike]

Originally Posted by madness410

i got one word..WTF

pronounce that word for me, if you could, please

[NJ346]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

If GM sold 2600 G8s a month they'd sell more G8s in a year than probably the 04-06 GTOs combined.

Total GTO sales for 04-06 was 40,808. G8 is nowhere near that. G8 is a great car, just americans aren't buying it. The 57% in sales isn't much when you think of last years sales of under 2,000 a month. Selling G8's at 2600 a month steadily would still only put production at about 31,000 a year...that wasn't enough to keep the f-body a live...so what has changed now other than the economy is worse?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

IMO the G8 GT is one of the finest cars GM has EVER come out with. I has style, power, performance and handling unlike ANYTHING I have ever driven. My son Darren has his 2008 GT (with a few mods) that sounds like a GTO, rides like a BMW and performs like muscle car of old. If I had that $35,000 to buy a 2009 GXP, I would do so in a heartbeat (sorry Chevy). Miller Pontiac has a Liquid Red GXP parked outside their showroom and it looks fantastic with those wheels. I can just imagine what a modded GXP would run like (mid 12's)would be a good estimate. Just when GM gets it right, they seem to shoot themselves in the foot and kill it. The Fiero started out as a piece of crap, but by 1988 they had it right and stopped production that year. If anyone has ever seen what the restyled 1989 Fiero was to look it, it was one hella of sharp looking sports car. LONG LIVE THE G8!

I've checked out this car. If I didn't love my IOM and the payment jump was a bit more reasonable, I may have traded up.

[NastyEllEssWon]

gm loves not making money

[Blacdout96]

Where's BigAl to put his 2 cents in?

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

Total GTO sales for 04-06 was 40,808. G8 is nowhere near that. G8 is a great car, just americans aren't buying it. The 57% in sales isn't much when you think of last years sales of under 2,000 a month. Selling G8's at 2600 a month steadily would still only put production at about 31,000 a year...that wasn't enough to keep the f-body a live...so what has changed now other than the economy is worse?

Everything has changed.

GTO vs. G8 is really apples to oranges. Assuming a continuing trend of 2600 a month it is nearly as many GTOs built in 3 years (thanks for proving my math, lol). You cannot look at sales from 8/08-5/09 because the whole industry just about stopped, total collapse. And it is not ripping now and won’t be anytime soon. So I think that jump is pretty impressive and may very indicative of the potential of this car. Yes, it is one month, my point was simply it is catching on and gets great mainstream press. I know a lot of folks ask me about it. Killing this car seems really stupid.

Are 31,200 G8s annually enough? Not sure, but as things get better I’d expect that 2600 to continue go up if not for the demise of PMD. The auto business, both GM and industry wide, is very different now than 2002. Expected total sales are projected to be down 20%+ across the industry for the next few years. And GMs footprint is much smaller than before, as well as their capital structure – this is huge, really. So selling 35,000 cars may be a much more viable situation now. Plus it is generally accepted the Camaro died for other reasons as well so no comparison there either.

[BurninrubberGT]

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

from my understanding, the G8 was a lot like the GTO when it came to sales, Americans simply didn't buy it. With GM in the financial state it's in, the G8 probably wouldn't bring them the profit they want....but the same could be said about the volt, I don't think GM will be making a cent on them.

gm actually hit their mark for how many g8's they wanted to sell, so it actually did sell well, it was never meant to be a big production car

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

local dealer is advertising a gxp ~35,000

anyone want to loan me 35k? please? haha

[NJ346]

Originally Posted by BurninrubberGT

gm actually hit their mark for how many g8's they wanted to sell, so it actually did sell well, it was never meant to be a big production car

That's why earlier this year GM cut their production for the first 6 months of the 09 G8 from 10,000 units to well under that.....right

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by NJNETSFAN

That's why earlier this year GM cut their production for the first 6 months of the 09 G8 from 10,000 units to 1,000.....right

they cut everything. hell for a while they cut almost all production.