GM Model Bonanza in 2005-6

[Ming]

GM To Wheel Out Big New Stable
Mark Phelan
Detroit Free Press


GM insiders and other industry sources say the automaker will introduce four new vehicle architectures over the next two years.

A fifth architecture already in production will form the basis of several new vehicles to be produced around the world. An architecture -- or platform -- is a set of components and structures used to produce a wide variety of cars or trucks. The Buick Rendezvous and Pontiac Aztek SUVs, for example, are examples of two vehicles built from the same architecture.

The four new architectures are code named Lambda, GMT 900, Zeta and Kappa. The existing architecture is called Theta.

GM will spend billions of dollars to develop and build the vehicles in more than a dozen assembly plants around the world, including at least one new plant, now under construction near Lansing.

The upcoming vehicles range from completely new small sporty cars to replacements for GM's full-size pickups and SUVs, including powerhouse names like the Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra and Cadillac Escalade.

Some of the new vehicles will fill gaps in GM's lineup, such as a midsize SUV for Saturn and large performance-oriented rear-wheel-drive sedans for Buick and Pontiac. Various models from the programs will debut over several years beginning in 2005.

Several of the new vehicles are vital to GM's plan to invigorate slower-selling brands like Buick, Saturn and Saab. GM also expects the programs to provide hot-selling models for brands like Chevrolet, Pontiac and Australia-based Holden.

Once all the vehicles reach production, they could account for 2.4 million sales a year, by a conservative estimate.

The crucial program

GMT 900 is the single program most vital to GM's success. It will lead to replacements for the company's full-size pickups and SUVs, vehicles that accounted for more than 1.6 million sales in 2003. GM may change the program's name before the trucks begin rolling off assembly lines from Canada to Mexico.

Whatever it's called, though, GMT 900's scope boggles the mind, potentially accounting for annual sales worth more than the gross national product of many countries and comprising vehicles ranging from workhorse Chevy Silverado pickups to Shaquille O'Neal's customized Cadillac Escalade.

"It's GM's most important North American platform, bar none," said Michael Robinet, vice president of forecast services for consultant CSM Worldwide in Northville.

GMT 900 will face a tough competitive landscape that includes the Ford F-150, which set a new standard for pickups, the Nissan Titan and Toyota's first truly full-size pickup, a larger version of the Tundra in a new plant in San Antonio in 2006.

"It's a very competitive battleground," Robinet said. "GM knows that, and I'm confident they will meet the challenge."

Secret platform

The most contentious and mysterious of the new architectures is called Lambda, and it will fill GM's new assembly plant in Delta Township.

Lambda is still so sensitive within GM that executives refuse to acknowledge the program even exists.

Lambda began its life as a family of front- and all-wheel-drive full-size trucks and SUVs that would be built on a car-like structure to combine some of a truck's usefulness with the smoother ride of a sedan. The Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander are examples of such car-based SUVs.

That vision of Lambda sparked fierce internal debates at GM, because some executives feared it would create competition for the full-size pickups and SUVs that are GM's most successful vehicles.

Lambda will now form the genesis for a family of midsize vehicles, primarily SUVs. The first to go on sale will be a Saturn model in late 2006.

Lambda will also create the replacement for Buick's popular Rendezvous SUV, and potentially a lower-slung Saab model to complement the 9-7X SUV Saab unveiled at the New York auto show.

The original plan for Lambda included pickups and minivans, but both of those ideas are currently on hold, sources say.

Honda will introduce a car-based midsize pickup later this year, and GM may study its sales before deciding to build a Lambda pickup, Robinet said.

Lambda was also developed to spawn a family of minivans, but the extensive reworking of GM's existing minivans this fall may obviate the need for those vehicles, said Jim Hall, vice president for industry analysis in the Southfield office of consultant AutoPacific.

Full LONG Article Here

[T-Keith]

This is the most disapointing part.

Lambda was also developed to spawn a family of minivans, but the extensive reworking of GM's existing minivans this fall may obviate the need for those vehicles

Yeah right. Why design a whole new platform just for midsize FWD SUVs. Can't Theta do this? The Equinox is pretty big.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Cool. Now we just need to get the Lions in the Super Bowl.

<_< B) :afro:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[chadbarb99]

I think they should concentrate on the next GTO at the same time as they are with the Buick sedan, the current GTO isn't doin very well.

[tgagneguam]

This is an information-packed article, Ming. What a great find! If the information is true, there lies [sic] a lot of potential in GM over the next few years.

Of course, I did find one or two points of contention: "Lambda was also developed to spawn a family of minivans, but the extensive reworking of GM's existing minivans this fall may obviate the need for those vehicles, said Jim Hall, vice president for industry analysis in the Southfield office of consultant AutoPacific. " I'm glad that Jim Hall works for AutoPacific and not GM; it gives me some hope that this prediction will not materialize. I believe the present, stopgap CSV's necessitate, not obviate, the need of a Lambda-based series of minivans. If the Lambda-based minivans are aborted and the above-mentioned vehicles are truly first-class, the present CSV's will stand in stark contrast to their newer brothers and sisters. Of course, transferring them to Lambda presumes that GM execs can make a business case for this expensive(?) transfer.

[leadfoot85]

It's all BS. Don't believe it...except for that note about GM executives arguing about what to do....that is always true...'cause 50% of them HAVE to be idiots for:

1. Being Slow.....a substantial new truck platform redesign should've been prior to 2006 - it is just simply too long. It's needed NOW! Search Google for: "F-150 kicking our ***....Toyota due next round"

2. Maintaining a horribly dated and insufficient platform (f-body) underneath Camaro for years....and finally killed it. I'll never get over it!

3. Not doing the things correctly with man, machine, materials, suppliers, etc. to prevent Recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall, recall.....

4. 2+ year launch dates for those limited production vehicles like SSR, Solstice, and GTO.

5. GTO...what a joke for sales...the obvious is what GM can't see...GTO is overpriced, too heavy, boring body design. Who designed this fleet car on 'roids? Likely the same guy who did the Mercury Marauder (that was a flop too).

6. Aztech...enough said.

7. No wagon release...when others have already left the starting gate....the GM horse is still in the stall wondering where the jockey went...

8. Lambda...the SECRET PLATFORM...GM just now waking up to realise that is what people want in their SUV ride quality? By the time this thing is done....everyone else in the industry will be on to releasing Hybrids and no one will know what an SUV is...

GM bureauracy(sp?) is almost as bad as the Federal government... :angry:

By the way...by miracle...the only thing GM does right...Saturn, Corvette, Caddy. I just don't know how or why considering the above....

[PontiacJ8]

wow, what a grudge

[tgagneguam]

leadfoot85, is it me, or are you having a bad day? (I'm not saying that tongue-in-cheek)

[MelvinJ]

Originally posted by leadfoot85@May 25 2004, 08:10 PM
1. Being Slow.....a substantial new truck platform redesign should've been prior to 2006 - it is just simply too long. It's needed NOW! Search Google for: "F-150 kicking our ***....Toyota due next round"

So let's see, GM introduces an all-new truck platform in 1999, and Ford's truck platform is already 3 years old, and it takes them 5 more model years for Ford to introduce a new platform. But GM is slow for waiting 2 model years to introduce a new truck platform after the new Ford is out?

Truck platforms are very expensive to redesign, and it's tough to get everybody to introduce their new platforms in the same model year, so somebody is always going to have the older truck. Ford ran their last design 8 model years. Dodge ran theirs 8 years. But you think GM is slow for running theirs 7 years? Does this make sense to anyone out there besides leadfoot?

GM's pickup sales are still very competitive with Ford's. It's not like they have dropped off. Ford's newer design requires lower incentives, but in 2 years, there will be two trucks newer than Ford and they will have to play the incentive game more. And if it takes them 8 model years to redesign, then GM will have the newer truck for 6 model years instead of only 2 that Ford will have.

[Ming]

Originally posted by tgagneguam@May 25 2004, 12:44 PM
I believe the present, stopgap CSV's necessitate, not obviate, the need of a Lambda-based series of minivans.

Well said! At least the CSVs are getting the 3.5L engine. I'm so happy they didn't just give them a China (or wherever) sourced 3.4...time to put that engine out of its misery.

[gmwsag]

1. Being Slow.....a substantial new truck platform redesign should've been prior to 2006 - it is just simply too long. It's needed NOW! Search Google for: "F-150 kicking our ***....Toyota due next round"

Yeah, it can be done easily if you Superman or something.
You can't just bring out a new model like that. It takes time and lots of money. GM can't make you happy. People might actually like the current styling of Tahoe, or Silverado. They might feel inspired by the design (or something like that). GM will not just change for you. You though can express your OPINIONS and SUGGESTIONS for the General.

[silverado_13]

I think GM should update the current model Silverado to stay competitive. They could overhaul the interior, update the engines and make some changes to the suspension and chasis. That would be enough to hold off ford and company until a new silverado comes out.

[tgagneguam]

Originally posted by MelvinJ@May 25 2004, 09:02 PM
"...so somebody is always going to have the older truck... GM's pickup sales are still very competitive with Ford's. It's not like they have dropped off."

Agreed.

And it's important to note that GM's f.s. truck sales are up more than the overall market, so they cannot be all that bad, despite their collective ages. It's kinda like the increasing sales of the 5 y.o. Impala; that's even more mystifying to me!

I agree that the Chevy/GMC f.s. truck interiors are almost painful to look at, but overall, the Silverado and Sierra remain generally strong packages.

[MelvinJ]

I read another article today from the Detroit News about the new braking system that GM is putting in it's full-size trucks for 2005. They got together with Bosch to decrease stopping distance and have markedly better pedal feel.

I think this is great, and I wish they would fix more things as they go rather than wait for the next complete redesign. I can only assume that the braking system will transfer over to the GMT900 platform without big changes, or else they wouldn't have done it for one year. In the case of the truck's interior, I wonder if the public at large is as turned off on them as much as some of the press and some very vocal GMI members. I don't think they are top of the class, but they aren't the horrible abominations that people here make them out to be.

I would have liked to see them go for better steering feel, since the press gets all worked up about how bad they think it is, although maybe customers are happy with it. In the case of the brakes, these were items that were definitely marked down on J.D. Power surveys, so maybe that was a better thing to go after.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

7. No wagon release...when others have already left the starting gate....the GM horse is still in the stall wondering where the jockey went...

[quote]

***** dude, you must be in a bad mood. You need to get some p*ssy.

Well they had the Nomad which the automotive press killed. I thought it was cool, even back then. With the sleeker front end, it looks even cooler now though.

GM is about ready to have import owners stopping at stop lights next to these 'bad boys' GM has coming out, and having them thinking to themselves, "What the ***** is that?! That is f*cking cool!", then seeing who makes it and really putting them back on their heals. Will they go to showrooms and get out their checkbook? That is the big unknown. And that is GM's mission, to visualize import owners getting out thier checkbook at a GM dealership.

I'm cautiously opptimistic the auto consumer will return to Detroit.

<_<