GM renaming it's platforms

[GM2004]

From Delta to Zeta, General Motors Corp.’s use of ancient numerals to differentiate its global vehicle platforms apparently was all Greek to some in the industry. GM says the designations, which it began using in the early 1990s, have led to confusion and inaccuracies in the auto press.

According to WWW.WARDSAUTO.COM

by Scott Anderson Aug 1, 2006


Delta Global Compact Vehicle Architecture
Epsilon Global Midsize Vehicle Architecture
Gamma Global Small Vehicle Architecture
Theta Global Compact Crossover Architecture
Sigma Global Luxury RWD Architecture
Zeta Global RWD Architecture
Kappa Compact RWD Performance Architecture
Lambda Midsize Crossover Architecture

[69Firebird400]

So basically they're adding the description to the name? They're right that there have been inaccuracies in the auto press (ahem - Motor Trend) but it seems a little cumbersome to have the description as part of the name.

I never heard of Gamma before - what car is that supposed to underpin? Would that be like the Corsa?

Speaking of inaccuracies in the auto press, Ward's, the platform names are NOT ancient numbers - they're Greek letters. Sheesh!

Greek Alphabet (24 letters - hey, there's room for 16 more platforms, though "Mu" isn't the most attractive name): Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega.

I knew I would someday get something helpful from pledging.

-69Firebird400 1960s muscle car

[kenman923]

Doesn't look like much of a change to me.

[Aerodynamix]

How are these Greek names more (or less?) confusing than the old system of -Body designations like J-Body, G-Body, W-Body, Y-Body, F-Body, etc. I think it's just that the person or people at Wards who wrote that are kind of up there in their years and are/were simply used to the old way since GM used it for so long. Personally, I like these new names - minus the description of course.

I'm probably wrong but could Gamma be what's under the GM-DAT-built Aveo et al?

[igor]

Yeah:
Gamma -Aveo
Delta - Cobalt

Or so it seems

Igor

[Aerodynamix]

The only thing I think could be improved about GM's architecture nomenclature is that they should've used the first Greek letters for their smaller platforms and the latter letters for their larger platforms. They've almost done this already but it seems to me that Kappa and Sigma are out of place. Oh well. As long as the product delivers, who cares what/where the name is, right?

[Hudson]

Gamma is for the Opel/Vauxhall/Chevrolet Corsa.

[mikehamm45]

Opiod receptors in the CNS are named Mu...

[KingElvis]

The "global" part seems particularly clunky. Everything's "global" except Kappa and Lambda?

Also, in Algebra if every value has the same number, you can just eliminate it completely. Ergo, we don't really need to have "architecture" - another 4 syllables to add to the 2 unneccessary ones in "global."

I find these difficult to remember too. How about going back to the letter system?

How about:

D: compact car
G: "small" car (BTW what's the difference between "compact" and "small"?)
E: midsized car
T: Compact SUV
S: Premium large car
Z: Volume large car
K: small sport car
L: midsize SUV
Y: Premium sport car

[mr_bots]

How did this confuse people. Most auto people that know anything about GM know what someone is talking about when they say "Epsilon" or "Sigma". Seems pointless to me, and they just added a description. People will still refer to them by their Greek letters.

[asim]

Originally Posted by mr_bots

How did this confuse people. Most auto people that know anything about GM know what someone is talking about when they say "Epsilon" or "Sigma". Seems pointless to me, and they just added a description. People will still refer to them by their Greek letters.

I agree, people will still refer them by the letters, so there really isn't any change here. LOL

[firesho]

my fave sorority... I Jamma Gamma..

[mgescuro]

Makes you wonder when they're gonna rename teh Y-Body... the Upsilon RWD Sport Performance Global Architecture.

[Greg Burr]

Originally Posted by mr_bots

How did this confuse people. Most auto people that know anything about GM know what someone is talking about when they say "Epsilon" or "Sigma". Seems pointless to me, and they just added a description. People will still refer to them by their Greek letters.

Well put, if you are an expert, but I was going to ask posters for this same list. After all, how do you get tp be an expert?

[boblutzfan]

Motor Trend is really bad at remembering GM platforms. The last several issues have had errors in them when referring to upcoming vehicles. Of course they never correct their errors... just go on printing unreliable filth.