$25 Billion Auto Bailout may mean some RWD projects
will move forward at GM
When the President signed the $25 billion loan to the auto industry, it may have created a bit of breathing room for General Motors to pursue other important projects, even as they work to further develop batteries, HCCI, and other fuel-conscious technologies.
GMI sources are indicating that chief among these alternative projects is a possible renewed emphasis on the Alpha platform and an expansion of that program.
The GM Global Product Board is considering putting the next generation Commodore on the Alpha architecture. This follows a move earlier this year when the Global Product Board approved making Alpha more flexible. The hope is to engineer Alpha in such a way as to build a variety of vehicles ranging from the size of a 1-Series to around the size of a 5-Series.
In another rumored move, Global Product Board has taken development of Alpha from GM Holden and has given it to the GM North America and GM Europe operations. This was done to placate Cadillac, who does not want to compromise on Alpha's development for their planned BLS-replacement. What Cadillac hopes to achieve is to get a flexible enough platform to support 4, 6, or 8 cylinder engines, as was deemed necessary by the Wreath & Crest brand.
This may also hint that a premium version of the Alpha platform will eventually supplant the Sigma platform that current underpinns the Cadillac CTS when the vehicle is replaced in the 2012-2014 time frame. Originally, GM had intended to further develop a "premium version" of the Zeta architecture that would unify both Zeta and the much more expensive Sigma platform. These plans, apparently, have been shelved in favor of a wider utilization of the lighter Alpha platform.
To make the business case for such a move, GM needed to add scale and volume to the program -- which explains why the Commodore could possibly be included. If you look back to previous comments out of GM Holden in the last few years, their former Managing Director - Denny Mooney - stated that the Commodore would have to possibly shrink and be lightened to make it viable in the future. In fact, Mooney stated that Holden's focus
may eventually shift to a smaller, lighter core product to remain competitive as world-wide energy demand is up.
This doesn't necessarily mean there won't be a large car the size of the Commodore at Holden, but whatever product emerges, it will not be the same formula we see today. And, it may also be supplemented with a smaller, mid-sized product as well. However, such a move may shift any future Alpha production from the Elizabeth, Australia plant to a possible U.S. plant.
But what does this mean for GM in North America? Its possible that if Alpha becomes the successful program GM hopes, that a new RWD Chevrolet Impala may eventually make it to market. This could potentially coincide with when the Pontiac G8 is projected to be dropped from the North American lineup around 2013 model year, or possibly earlier.
Due to rising CAFE standards and added technology, the new Chevrolet Impala would have a major price increase over today's model. With sales of the new Malibu taking off, it is possible that GM will allow the near-indentical sized Malbu to carry the current FWD Impala's banner as well as its own. This would allow a larger price difference to refocus the Impala as a RWD product -- as it was originally intended until the recent CAFE hike shifted development plans to a FWD model.
It would also mean that the Camaro and G8 would become the last vehicles to use the Zeta platform for North America. Any future plans by the Global Product Board for Alpha would include the Camaro's replacement and a possible Buick-badged vehicle.
However, regardless of these revised plans, NO Alpha product will make it to the Poncho brand. Sadly, it seems any plans for a RWD Pontiac G6 are firmly dead.
At this time, this is what GMI has heard regarding GM's future Alpha plans. We will report more as new insider information becomes available.