GM (Government Motors) Closes Pontiac and Saturn.

**gunnut** · 28 Apr 09, 02:33

Originally Posted by zraver

Not universally true by any means. Fo example the G35 coupe and the 350Z were functionally identical. Same engine, chassis, body lines etc. Only the G35 was a 2+2 and the 350 was kept as a true sports car. The G35 sedan was basically a rebadged and upscaled Maxima. Same goes for the Acura TSX its an upscaled Accord.

Are you sure about that? I thought Maxima is a front drive car and the G35 is a rear drive car. At least my old Maxima was a front drive car. I was looking at the G35 and one of my requirements was it had to have rear wheel drive. I know they all use the same engine. It saves money to have as few engine as possible. I thought G35 coupe has a longer wheel base than 350Z...

I did not know TSX is an upscale Accord. They don't look remotely alike. TSX has only 1 standard 2.4L engine while Accord has 2 options. It's interesting the TSX doesn't get the more powerful 3L V6.

**Gun Grape** · 28 Apr 09, 02:41

I fell pretty bad about them closing Saturn. Not that I would ever buy one.

Last year I built a Saturn Dealership. Completed it in June. The sign out front had an opening date of Aug 08. They haven't stocked any cars or opened the doors. Don't think anyones even been in the building since I turned the keys over.

The owner was a really nice guy, looks like he dropped a lot of money for nothing.

The up side. I got paid

**gunnut** · 28 Apr 09, 02:44

Originally Posted by Gun Grape

I fell pretty bad about them closing Saturn. Not that I would ever buy one.

Last year I built a Saturn Dealership. Completed it in June. The sign out front had an opening date of Aug 08. They haven't stocked any cars or opened the doors. Don't think anyones even been in the building since I turned the keys over.

The owner was a really nice guy, looks like he dropped a lot of money for nothing.

The up side. I got paid

I think he will be compensated by GM. That's probably part of the cost to shut down a brand that we heard so much about.

**Shek** · 28 Apr 09, 03:22

Originally Posted by gunnut

I think he will be compensated by GM. That's probably part of the cost to shut down a brand that we heard so much about.

Dealer’s Choice: The New Yorker

**captain** · 28 Apr 09, 03:44

Originally Posted by 7thsfsniper

502 hp!!! Thats freakin awesome!!!

Chakos is right!

You do get a slightly detuned version of the Commodore, 309KW against the standard 320KW here.
Australians have always had a love of larger family cars that are at least semi-tough.

The W427 is rated at 390KW but there are tougher models available by speacial order and they are supercharged versions of the Commodore that are around the 450KW mark with much upgraded suspension and brake packages but still four door family cars none the less.

The commodore is also marketed in the UK as the Vauxhall VXR8 and is the supercharged version producing 533 HP.
The Middle East and South Africa Get the Commode rebadged as the Chevy Lumina SS.

The U.S was about to get The Holden Maloo ute, marketed as the Pontiac G8 ST but that has been canned and the production line closed down.

Without the export orders, approx 30k vehicles will no longer be produced.

South Australia has recently suffered the closure of the Mitsubishi plant that produced the Magna. The Magna was also exported world wide and went to the U.S as the Dimante (I think).

Holden has had a long history of producing cars for export and the previous Pontiac GTO was a rebadged Holden Monaro.

Australia and particularly South Australia will hurt badly if we loose GMH Holden also.

Hint,, Buy a Pontiac G8 GXP to help us out a little.. Please!

)

Cheers.

**Blue** · 28 Apr 09, 03:51

Originally Posted by captain

The commodore is also marketed in the UK as the Vauxhall VXR8 and is the supercharged version producing 533 HP.
The Middle East and South Africa Get the Commode rebadged as the Chevy......

Cheers.

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA(gasp)HAHAHAHAAHAAAAAA, god I love some typos!!! Freud would analyze the hell out of that one!! ROFLMAO!! Good thing I had just sat my beer down!!

Thanks Cap..(wiping tears) best laugh I've had today!!!

Awesome car by the way!!!

**captain** · 28 Apr 09, 03:59

Originally Posted by 7thsfsniper

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA(gasp)HAHAHAHAAHAAAAAA, god I love some typos!!! Freud would analyze the hell out of that one!! ROFLMAO!! Good thing I had just sat my beer down!!

Thanks Cap..(wiping tears) best laugh I've had today!!!

Awesome car by the way!!!

)

) Yep, jokes on me and I love it.

The Commode is what Ford fans here often call the Holden.

Enjoy your beer!

Cheers.

**Inst** · 28 Apr 09, 04:00

Bah. At this rate, all the US automakers will just move over to the Chinese market, where they actually produce decent cars and make decent profits.

**zraver** · 28 Apr 09, 04:07

Originally Posted by JLaw4591

I'm going to really miss the G8. That's one of my dream cars.

The decision made sense, however. Buick is extremely profitable and popular in China, the world's fastest growing car market. Getting rid of that would be suicide. Buick has had a strong resurgence in the US as well. it is one of GM's most profitable brands and has helped GM's quality reputation lately by placing among Toyota, lexus and other bigger names in the latest reliability/quality surveys.
GMC has a very high profit margin. That's what keeps them around. It doesn't make business sense to keep pontiac and get rid of Buick and GMC.
Pontiac, unfortunately, just didn't make money. The reason? Bad management IMO. For every stellar car(G8, Solstice) they had they also sold a lame vehicle with it(G5, G3, Aztek). Had they been marketed properly, they'd still be around. I am convinced of this. As it is, the previous management was too incompetent to guarantee the brand a future.

Welcome,

I dissagree, no one is saying they have to shut down Buick in China. But I just don't see it selling around here. Pontiac is nailing the young family crowd in Arkansas. ranted this is a small population, but it should hold true. Compared to Chevy its more styish and compared to Japanese cars its more car for the money. The cost of a base model G6 is lower than the base for a Scion Tc. The Tc is a bit more stylish but a lot smaller and this is important if you have kids. In fact its about the same price as the much smaller Ford Focus around here.

**zraver** · 28 Apr 09, 04:14

Originally Posted by chakos

HSV W427

Just when you thought we Aussies whern't mad enough

)

Your not, we did plus luxury in the Cadallac CTS-V 550-660hp supercharged V8 same as in the z06 Corvette for when Granddad has to get to the office at formula 1 speeds but in style.

**chakos** · 28 Apr 09, 05:40

Originally Posted by zraver

Your not, we did plus luxury in the Cadallac CTS-V 550-660hp supercharged V8 same as in the z06 Corvette for when Granddad has to get to the office at formula 1 speeds but in style.

Fair cop but for us the Holden Commodore SS is considered not uncommon at all. We see it as a family car wheras for most people a 400hp vehicle isnt something you take the kids to school in. And we aint talking 400hp trucks that you guys have that need a small nuclear reactor to keep them moving at a decent clip.

In Aussie the somewhat derogatory nickname for the Commodore is the 'common dore' because everyone and their dog has one... and if they dont its because they like Fords and Ford does something similar too.

**zraver** · 28 Apr 09, 05:47

heh, true enough.

**Maxor** · 29 Apr 09, 21:41

Originally Posted by zraver

Welcome,

I dissagree, no one is saying they have to shut down Buick in China. But I just don't see it selling around here. Pontiac is nailing the young family crowd in Arkansas. ranted this is a small population, but it should hold true. Compared to Chevy its more styish and compared to Japanese cars its more car for the money. The cost of a base model G6 is lower than the base for a Scion Tc. The Tc is a bit more stylish but a lot smaller and this is important if you have kids. In fact its about the same price as the much smaller Ford Focus around here.

They are selling a pretty large % of the cars to young and early middle aged buyers here in ohio. Honda is slightly better but they are definately based on my informal hey who owns what doing better than ford and chevy, and slightly better than toyota.

**Equilibrium** · 30 Apr 09, 20:04

I had until two days ago a Saturn Sky roadster. I ordered it from the factory two years ago. But with Saturn's demise, I wanted to get some return from my investment before it went down the drain. It was a nice car. I would still get the questions two years later as to whether it was a Ferrari or Porsche and the confused looks when I told them it was a Saturn.

**gunnut** · 01 May 09, 03:19

You had? Did you get rid of it? That's an awesome looking car. I bet it's fun as hell to drive. I certainly don't mind having one.

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