According to the Automotive News and a few sources from GM the odds look good that Pontiac could be the recipient of a new Ute and Sportswagon to model along their G8. GM’s Australian company Holden received some positive attention from their release of the VE Commodore Ute; especially when they included their 362-hp V8 engine in its SS package. Pontiac will hope to make the same splash with their version of the Ute in the US.
Consideration was made about making both models GMC cars, but it was decided that the VE Commodore Ute and the Sportwagon concept would compliment the Pontiac lineup best.
With Funkmaster Flex and 50 Cents in attendance at this years SEMA to promote the cars that borrow their fame we are beginning to wonder whether the gamble pays off. Celebrity endorsements and affiliations seem to pay high dividends in other areas of the market; from clothes to sunglasses and on down to water. However do similar endorsements perform the same way in the car industry? Obviously Ford and Pontiac are hoping that they do.
As video game fans flocked to their local stores to score their copy of the new Halo 3 game for the XBOX 360 there will be one lucky(?) gamer about to win a new car. BestBuy has souped up a Pontiac G6 into a special Halo 3 GXP Street Edition coupe in tribute to one of the most financially successful games. To win the specially decal-ed G6 all you have to do is buy the Halo 3 video game and register as a contestant on this site on the release date of the game (September 25th).
From all the registrants there will be a drawing of 144 winners who will walk away with a substantial collection of Microsoft Points. From the 144 points winners one name will be drawn that will be the winner of the Halo 3 Pontiac G6 GXP Street Edition that is emblazoned with the Halo 3 graphics and interior package.
While the graphics may leave a lot to be desired for some there may be a few fans out there anxious to display their loyalty and devotion to the game. The interior received the Halo 3 treatment aswell with LCD screens in the headrests and an XBOX 360 mounted between the seats.
A suggestion for next time BestBuy wants to grab a cheap car and give it some Halo inspired alterations: go mini van. It may not be totally cool to cruise around in a mini van you can at least game in comfort and have installed larger LCD screens.
News was released today that Pontiac’s 2008 G6 GXP will carry a sticker price of $26,795 for the sedan and $26,595 for the coupe. The regular GT version of the G6 will have a price of $22,995 for either coupe or sedan. So what makes up the bulk of the difference between the two cars that would warrant an increase in price that is over $3,000? Try a sport tuned suspension, 6-speed automatic transmission, 18″ wheels and a lim 35 extra horsepower from a 3.6 liter engine (that is .1 liter larger engine than the GT).
While we should know that the G6 is not the G8 and will not have the same performance expectation (i suppose), it just seems as though we should expect more for $26,595. For that price point a Mustang GT can be had that has 48 more horsepower than the G6 GXP.
The Pontiac Solstice and the Saturn Sky were released at the same time in 2005 to many raving responses. The Solstice was the greased lightening for Pontiac right out of the box as the waiting list for the new roadster stretched out for many many months. Now two years later and the Sky is the steady date and the Solstice is sitting along the side of the gym waiting for someone to ask her to dance.
The New York Times tackled this subject and focused the microscope on the reputations of the two GM brands. What they found is that no matter what Pontiac builds their cars will eventual suffer from the brands poor reputation; no matter what the initial response is when the car is unveiled. The Transformers movie could not even Jazz-up the status of the Solstice to the car buyers eye (making the fact that Jazz, the Solstice in the movie, was killed off even more foreshadowing for the car and brand).
The 400 Saturn dealerships across the U.S. are cranking out on average one Sky per month (with a lower production total than the Solstice). With 2,700 Pontiac dealerships selling the Solstice they are achieving an average of 1 car every 2 months. Thus Pontiac is on pace to sell approximately 18,000 of the 20,000 Solstices scheduled to be built in 2007.
When the Vice Chairman of your parent company, Bob Lutz, is referring to your brand as “damaged goods” and your own marketing dollars tend to favor the youngster of the brands over the tainted older sibling a rough road is surely ahead. GM will need to reassign some creative resources in engineering, design and marketing on the Pontiac brand if they hope to revive the one time powerhouse. So far there are no indications that GM is inclined to make that effort.
The Pontiac Stinger is yet another concept that never saw the light of day. As with many concept it was merely a litmus test to see how the market would react to some of the built-in ideas found within the car. This is not an uncommon practice and sometimes it yields fruit and in some cases it yields diamonds. In the case of the Stinger the numerous compartments and removeables add-ons (okay, not too many removeable 2-burner grills in cars today, but many compartments), and the electronic adjustable steering wheel and gauge cluster were good designs. Also, the open cockpit and wide car stance have been mirrored in some of the Jeep concepts of the late ’90s that never came to market either.
 Ofcourse the real story is in the concept cars promotional video. For some of us who watch it now it is like a promotional time-warp for the decade that was. From the neon green to the famed ’80s California beach barbecue the following video will take you back to the days of hair-do’s you wish you could forget.
