Comments on: Pontiac to drop VE-based G8 range?

By: Spider

Spider — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:22:26 +0000

Funny how no matter how much the future looks bleak for Fords and holdens, the loyal fanatics still manage to see the bright side. And always blame any negatives on everything else, including caradvice writers…

By: GQB

GQB — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:30:15 +0000

For any sale of GM’s various subsidiaries to go ahead you need a willing buyer. Unfortuantely in these times we can’t rely on our past experiences, current events show us that even the biggest companies can fail, and these are very unusual and turbulent times. I do hope that all goes well in the long run as I like the current release Commodore particularly the Sportwagon.

By: john achterberg

john achterberg — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:27:58 +0000

shouldnt be problem for pontiac as i doubt very much that there will be a commodore to replace the woefull ve,unless holden learns what quality and customer service means and i cant see that happening.

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:02:31 +0000

Captain Man whinging – GM may be in financial trouble at the moment but what do most people do when they are in need of funds…? they sell off their assets – and a company is no different. so it’s more likely GM will sell off Holden to another company

Either that or they will stop production in the USA and start making RWD cars in either Australia or Canada and their FWD cars in Europe then simply import them into the USA.. that is after streamlining their line up by getting rid of Hummer Pontiac and Buick etc leaving the two “traditional” companies Chevrolet and Cadillac

The reason behind this is simple; when in trouble you focus on your strengths and in terms of RWD cars Holden are the experts in GM family whereas in terms of FWD cars its Opel – compared to the cars Holden and Opel make most US built GM cars are in a word CRAP.

By: Captain Mainwaring

Captain Mainwaring — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:43:19 +0000

You guys are all in dreamland. There will not be a next-generation Commodore anywhere except on the drawing board, because GM will be gone before it arrives. What you need to understand is that the mothership in the USA is about to impact with the ground, and that means goodbye Holden. Very sad, but we live in dramatically-unfolding economic times and only the cleverest global car companies are going to survive.

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:33:05 +0000

Wheelnut,
ha ha ha,
i already assumed that.
i agree, holden will play the perception game with their route to build a smaller car.
the new commodore could possibly be worse on fuel because it would retain pretty much the same weight whilst taking on the speculated smaller 3.2L engine.
Also didnt they learn anything with the 4cyl commodore of many years ago?? it was worse than the 6cyl on juice!!!!

but with my thoughts aside, they will probably shift a few more numbers due to the poor perception out there.

BM,
Yeah thanks.
Im really happy with the colour of it.
i wasnt too fussed on it in BF shape, but in the FG i reckon its a winner. everyone who has seen it loves the colour too.
yesterday morning i went to pick up a load of gravel (no, I didnt put it in the back, thats why i have 2 trailers), and as i was about to drive out one of their truck drivers flagged me down.
he asked me what the colour was called, and said he was considering painting his crane truck that colour because he really liked it

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:37:52 +0000

Ooopps….The last 2 comments made under “Bavarian Missile” were actually made by me; “Wheelnut”.
It’s just that ATM we are sharing the same computer [until my gear arrives from Adelaide next week] and I forgot to change identities.

By: Bavarian Missile

Bavarian Missile — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:02:18 +0000

Andrew ML: I can’t see a smaller Commodore being that more fuel efficient either given that the current model is a “poofteenth” off that of a Camry [around town] and even better on the open road – particularly when both cars are loaded up with a family of 4 + their dog and all their luggage on a holiday.

It’s all just a matter of perception people will see that it’s smaller and automatically think that its lighter and therefore more fuel efficient.

By: Bavarian Missile

Bavarian Missile — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:56:06 +0000

Yep as expected the next generation Commodore 2012-14 WILL be the same size as the TT-36 Torana.. its likely to have 4cyl V6 “DITTO” V6 and possibly a Diesel engines.. V8?

I expect it will be built in RWD as that’s what Holden and the Commdodre are known for – with the possibility of AWD…. and switching to FWD will require more testing to equal the same performance handling dynamics of the current car. Not to mention the characteristics and carrying capacity of the Aussie Ute.. Plus if the Falcon gvecomes FWD they will pick up a few extra sales

Hopefully Holden also decide to build a coupe version and call it the Torana A9-X [I've seen some images of it and it looks awesome]

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 09:37:22 +0000

the story was on CH10

By: Bavarian Missile

Bavarian Missile — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 09:26:24 +0000

Hey Andrew,Wheelnut and I will watch the news in another 35 mins………I know the US had major problems with banks not lending money for cars ,didnt know it had happened here too !

Regarding the smaller Holden I cant see it being that much smaller and I thought even the current V8s are pretty fuel efficient ! On another note Andrew love the colour of your new UTE,almost the colour of my car ! Tonyn is currently driving a F6 Ute,text me a pic of it this arvo…..N….I…C…..E ! Ill drag Wheelnut out of the spare room for a chat,hes playing with Georgia on the car racing set,guess what he is ? hahaha not the Ford !

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:39:00 +0000

Wheelnut,
on the news this evening, there was a story on the falling car industry in general.
Not just ford and holden, but the entire industry is feeling it.
Also concerns over their credit providers have people predicting many dealership closures.
They also had holden confirming that the next Commodore will be a smaller sized car.

The funny thing is, i cant see a smaller commodore being much more fuel efficient.

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:40:20 +0000

Duck – The Commodore is likely to be down-sized to that of the TT-36 Torana Concept Car from a couple of years ago.. along with the Direct Injection Twin Turbo Optimised [DITTO] V6 – capable of producing 280-320Kw

thereby making it about the same size as the new Mondeo. However as it will probably be built on the same platform as the Insignia which can take both FWD RWD and AWD;
I expect the Commodore to remain RWD and therefore not directly comparable to the FWD Mondeo [RWD vs FWD]

Because I think [as Andrew M says] if either Ford or Holden switched over to FWD they would lose the dynamics of the car not to mention half the carrying capacity of the Sedan based utes which would be reduced to that of a Proton Jumbuck. which would mean loss of sales to the Beige Side

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:17:53 +0000

frontman,
i totally agree, well said.
I too am over the pesmistic B.S.

I think both Ford and Holden would have to think very carefully about whether or not a switch to FWD would be worth it.
if they went to FWD, it would be bye bye to the car based utes.
and for ford it would spread further to bye bye territory.
I reckon it would cost more for ford to reengineer the territory to FWD than it would be worth, but its a catch 22 because if it didnt, it would lose extra sales volume that made the FWD venture worth while in the first place

By: jason

jason — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:39:20 +0000

Well with the talks of GM and Chrysler becoming one company it wouldn’t shock me if Dodge replaced the Pontiac division. Dodge already has the Charger which sells well and would be cheaper to keep around instead of importing a car built by Holden.

By: Al Juraj

Al Juraj — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:23:04 +0000

Well, it’s GM cars in general that are unreliable, not just Pontiac. Sometimes these speculations are only a marketing strategy to trigger reactions from buyers. The G8 is a hit stateside, with one of the cheapest V8s available. From its stance it looks better screwed together, and with cylinder shut-off technology available there at a cheaper price, the VE suddenly made sense. I actually appreciated the mirror-image of the otherwise rubbish Holden yet again. In fact, I’ve seen a few Pontiacs on the road, with LHD caution stickers. They just looked better made for some reason. While some people find the American front end uglier, I think it commands more respect.

The Sport truck may be a dead car walking, but the sedan is there to stay I believe.

By: Duck

Duck — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:03:23 +0000

“Quote [Tom]: The reason it failed is because its badged as a Pontiac. Pontiac is known for making rubbish cars, and just because they make one good one people still don’t want to buy it….

I totally agree with you Tom on a number of USA auto blog websites [similar to this] there are hundreds of GM fans who think that GM should simply change the name “Pontiac” over to “Holden””

That’s right Wheelnut the history of Pontiac has effected it’s image. (The Pontiac Badge). (Terrible, unreliable cars etc).

It’s like the opposite when Holden put the Holden badge on the TK barina or Viva. People will buy the car seeing it has a holden badge, thinking it would be “a quality product” but it’s not when its the Barina or Viva. Which if Holden does continue to have their lion badges put on crap imported korean cars it may wreck and destroy their image in the future like Pontiac and go broke.

By: Duck

Duck — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:55:19 +0000

Wheelnut, what compact enough for the new Commodore to be in the mid size car catergory against the Mondeo, Mazda 6 etc?

By: CB

CB — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:37:15 +0000

Realcars Says:
October 24th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
“Farkin Yanks them and their super size takeaways and arses.

Rest of the world is now paying for their excess as usual.

Farkin Yanks!!!!!”

The Aussie car industry would have died out a long time ago if it wasn’t for the Americans and the Aussie tax payer – Holden and Ford loyalists need to thank both. ;-)

By: Falcodore

Falcodore — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:09:03 +0000

I read the article on Inside LIne also and they also said the next gen commy could be based on the Torana concept (medium size RWD platform) The Insignia will be badged as a Buick or a Saturn in the U.S.
It seems as though Pontiac are just going back to bieng the badge engineered company of FWD cars which is what nearly killed them in the first place.
It is a shame that Holden spent all that money on VE knowing it was going to the U.S and now, if the rumours are true, the parent company aren’t going to back them.
As ive said before the american CEOs are just plain IDIOTS!