Bob Lutz: Pontiac G8 “a good idea at the time”

GM Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, has undeniably confirmed that the G8 sedan will indeed die with the Pontiac brand – full stop.

While standing by his previous comment that the Australian-developed sedan was “too good to waste”, from a marketing perspective the task of reassigning the G8 to another brand is just impossible to achieve.

Mr Lutz made the official announcement on GM’s FastLane Blog earlier today, mentioning that as a fan of the G8 he could sympathise with its supporters although simply could not justify the cost of rebranding.

“I know that we’ll get a lot of complaints from G8 lovers, because I’m one of them. And the product guy in me is complaining as loudly as anyone. But the marketing guy says there’s no case. With budgets being what they are for the time being, the resources must be allocated elsewhere.”

The Australian engineering team behind the Pontiac G8 was also given special mention in the announcement, with Mr Lutz confirming that GM would again turn to Holden for its expertise in the future, “just not right now”.

Here is the full statement from GM Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time…

By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman

OK, I have some late-breaking news for you from the world of GM, where things are indeed moving quickly, and what I’m about to say is proof.

In fact, we’re moving so fast, we’re going back in time to, oh, about four or five days ago, when the Pontiac G8 was going away and was not going to become a new Chevrolet Caprice.

And therein lies the news: The G8 will not be a Caprice after all. I’d mentioned it, and said we were studying it, giving it a serious look, because a car like the G8 was just too good to waste.

That’s all still true. But I have to say that, with my new “marketing” hat on, 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.

I know that we’ll get a lot of complaints from G8 lovers, because I’m one of them. And the product guy in me is complaining as loudly as anyone. But the marketing guy says there’s no case. With budgets being what they are for the time being, the resources must be allocated elsewhere.

In no way, and this is very important, in no way does this mean we are backing away from performance, or backing away from rear-wheel drive. Look no further for proof than the Corvette, the Camaro, the CTS or many other present and future Cadillacs. We have a strong lineup of RWD vehicles already and we will continue to have it.

And we have a tremendous RWD team in Australia that gave us the beloved G8, a team that we will tap into at some point again in the future for its expertise and sheet metal. Just not right now.