But thus far, the powers-that-be at GM remain staunchly adamant that there will unequivocably be absolutely no (not only no, but HELL no) way, no how, a Firebird will ever return... go figure

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/02/13/p...ased-econobox/

The called it an Econobox, that's great.

I don't get it, nor do I agree with this move.
And it's sold as G4 in Mexico, why G5 here? Weird!

Well if it's just a temporary solution, then it's not so bad I guess.

Agreed. I thought GM was getting away from badge engineering?

Land Rover does that too. The LR3 is still called the Discovery in every other part of the world.

Lame. Pontiac doesn't need another model.

Well, they ARE dumping the Montana SV6 minivan after this year...

Oh no!!!!! What are we going to do now?!?!

IMO - and I can definitely appreciate the irony in me saying this, as well as the overwhelming uproar that it's going to generate - Pontiac, Buick, and GMC are all superfluous models at this point. They don't have anything to offer the American buyer that isn't badge engineered.

The Solstice seems to be moderately successful. IMO, GM should drop Buick, GMC, and all but Pontiac's performance-driven models (i.e. GTO, Solstice) like a bad habit. We don't need a Pontiac minivan that's identical to Chevy's. We don't need a Pontiac SUV that's identical to Chevy's. So on and so forth.

Pontiac hasn't got a very favorable image in the public's eye; to offer up rehashed designs and models only serves to further the media's contention that it's a throw-away brand.

Kudos to Lutz for losing the plastic cladding, grills, gills, and wings - but he shouldn't stop there.

With GTO's sales slow and future in doubt, I think you might as well kill off Pontiac all together then, if that is your goal.

I actually like the vision of pointiac as a poor man's BMW or Acura...A G6, G8 and some kind of coupe and sporty crossover could be a great lineup...

IMO you can't kill Buick, GMC and pontiac because of the dealer network. You cannot kill them and expect to make money because then you have 1200 dealerships across the country with no models to sell. IMO that's an overnight death-knell in terms of marketshare and cash flow.

The BGP dealers give you access to markets where there may not be existing Chevy/Caddillac dealers. That's nothing to scoff at.

The Lucerne is a great car, and shows what Buick could become. GMC...hey, of course they're badget engineered but unlike badge engineered cars they sell very well...so if it ain't broke don't fix it.

The G6 is selling well, Solstice is a hit and I am betting the next gen RWD GP replacement will be a hit too.