Pontiac G5: Once again, GM shoots itself in the face

[BlaRo]

...in one of the worst rebadge jobs in recent memory. Let's hear jetsetter talk us out of this one.

DETROIT — Pontiac originally had no intention of offering its sibling version of the Chevrolet Cobalt — at least not in the United States.

But U.S. dealers apparently squawked that their Canadian counterparts were selling a Cobalt knockoff rebadged as the Pontiac Pursuit, and, voilà! A new Pontiac compact dubbed the G5 will grace the showroom floors of U.S. dealers this fall.

Spotting the differences between the G5 and its Chevy sibling is difficult, save for the telltale Pontiac twin grilles, as the two cars are virtually identical under the skin.

The base G5 coupe will come with a 148-horsepower 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine. The more robust DOHC 2.4-liter unit that powers the G5 GT will deliver 173 hp. Both engines can be fitted with either a Getrag 5-speed manual gearbox or a 4-speed automatic.

The GT receives a boatload of equipment, including 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS, sport-tuned suspension, 17-inch painted aluminum wheels, sport rocker moldings, chrome exhaust tip, foglamps, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls and a leather-wrapped shift knob.

The base G5, however, will be nicely furnished, with standard air-conditioning, power windows and locks, carpeted floor mats and a CD player.

Prices will be announced closer to the car's introduction.

What this means to you: Detroit can't seem to break itself of the badge-engineering habit. "Just this last time. Just this last time. I promise."

Edmunds.com
What the hell is wrong with these people?

And the Pontiac grille is hideous. I'm surprised BMW hasn't sued yet.

[No Boss]

Wow, that Cobalt looks like shit.... Well gee, after all their problems you think they would have learned.

Originally Posted by BlaRo

...in one of the worst rebadge jobs in recent memory. Let's hear jetsetter talk us out of this one.

yeah, I can't wait for the one liner that has it all make sense.

[jayhawk]

I kind of take pride that my Sunfire looks so different from the Cavelier, however weird looking my car is, it looks...unique.

Pretty uninspired, that G5. Even the name, they could have at least called it the Pursuit, like it is being called in Canada.

[GraemeH]

Creating self competing brands is a great marketing job for large companies. If there are 5 cars in the class for consumers to choose from, wouldn't you rather be selling 2 of them than 1?

Take the Ford Focus and Mazda 3. Mondeo and X-Type.

Okay they were slightly more than simple rebadge jobs, but you see what I mean. They're selling more cars than if they had made one car to fill each class.

[carey965]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

I kind of take pride that my Sunfire looks so different from the Cavelier, however weird looking my car is, it looks...unique.

Pretty uninspired, that G5. Even the name, they could have at least called it the Pursuit, like it is being called in Canada.

they are slowly switching the name from the pursuit to the G5

currently they are the "G5 Pursuit"

i hate the grills on that car, i would take the blown ss anyday
so much nicer, and for a little more money they are way more powerful

[C53A_4G63T]

WHY??????

[Mischief007]

Also remember that there are Chevy fans and Pontiac fans. Not really a stupid move on GM. When Oldsmobile was killed, the customer base left GM completely instead of going to other brands.

[Cobol74]

Originally Posted by C53A_4G63T

WHY??????

To make money with minimum of effort.

European manufacturers do it too, Peugeot 807, Citreon C8, VW Shran and some Lancia that is not in UK market but is available in Continental Europe. Same car built in the same factory

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Mischief007

Also remember that there are Chevy fans and Pontiac fans. Not really a stupid move on GM. When Oldsmobile was killed, the customer base left GM completely instead of going to other brands.

I doubt the fans are stupid enough to be fooled by the same car with a different grille, especially seeing as jt was developed as a Chevy first. This gives Pontiac nothing except something to shut the dealers up.

I still want a Solstice, though.

[wooflepoof]

People will buy it, because they have no clue. They'll sell thousands and its very sad indeed, but w/o GM..who would we laugh at?

People dont believe me when i say the Pontiac GTO is actually an australian car

[jetsetter]

...in one of the worst rebadge jobs in recent memory. Let's hear jetsetter talk us out of this one.

Lol, did you expect something different for the compact Pontiac? It has been known for sometime that GM was going to rebadge the Cobalt for Pontiac. Remeber the Sunfire and the Cavalier?

And btw, the Geo Prizm rebadge was worse. Only thing they changed there was the badge, that was it.

[Ianspeed]

Why dont they kill Pontiac?

I dont see any reason for GM to keep so many badges in the stable. It just dilutes the pool.

And thats a sad hack of the Cobalt.

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

Lol, did you expect something different for the compact Pontiac? It has been known for sometime that GM was going to rebadge the Cobalt for Pontiac. Remeber the Sunfire and the Cavalier?

And btw, the Geo Prizm rebadge was worse. Only thing they changed there was the badge, that was it.

I'm glad you're not going to bother defending this one; even a diehard fanatic like you (that's not a bad thing, btw) has to draw the line somewhere.

As for killing Pontiac, well, remember Plymouth was in the same situation as being rebadged Dodges for the last 40 years. And look what happened to them.

At least the Sunfire looked different than the Cavalier. (I actually sort of liked it when it first came out, that illuminated Pontiac lettering in the back was neat. )

[Ianspeed]

[quote="BlaRo"]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

...Plymouth was in the same situation as being rebadged Dodges for the last 40 years. And look what happened to them....

Who?

Honesly I didn't recognise the name. Its time for the us auto group to look to its competitiors and organise their camp.

Strip the poor sellers. Clean up the rest. Collaborate between each other (as much as we can with the anti trust lawyers about) and get back to making good cars.

Hell, the new Mustang is good, the GT40 is good (ok, designed by the British & Itallians but still) and most cars released by Ford in the UK seem to find happy owners.

Why dont they just sell the UK spec Fords here as sport models?

I would kill for a new Mondeo or Focus ST! Argh!!

[ishigakisensei]

Looks better than the Cobalt. This car was expected. Pontiac is a long way from getting its stuff together enough to challenge BMW. FF=

[youngwarrior]

hahaha pontiac challenging BMW

[IVIaster]

Americans...

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by IVIaster

Americans...

Fins.......

[watto]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

Fins.......

Everyone.....

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by watto

Everyone.....

Bingo.........