GMI Exclusive: Kappa II Platform Axed From R&D

[camaro chris]

I hate when people try to use an uneasy economy as an excuse. The economy grew 3.4% last quarter!!! That's very healthy!

[Blair1118]

Originally Posted by johnstarnes

Other than using aluminum and carbon fiber, what are other cost effective ways to lighten a car and its platform? Can you perforate the frame with big holes like you see in construction I-beams and trusses? How about offering old fashioned hand crank windows for a bit of exercise and drop the weight of the motors? Can the frame rails be made thinner? Front wheel drive saves weight, right? I'm just curious if there is a systematic approach that could be used across the board to shave several hundred pounds off of GM's cars and truck.

The Solstice does have crank windows on the base model, when I saw a picture of a Solstice with them for the first time I had to stare at them for a minute to realize what they were, lol, I'm a product of power windows

[jbartley]

can these cars be put on the new small rwd platoform being talked about for cadillac?

[TexCarFan1980]

Unbelievable! GM loses money on the Kappa twins, yet Mazda does not seem to lose money on the Miata (MX-5). Once again, Miata reigns supreme in the affordable roadster department! Glad I went with one

[DirtyMoney]

Will the Alpha program be the successor of the kappa II??

[04bonnie]

Originally Posted by kenman923

That's it. Goodbye GM. My next car will either be a Honda Accord or a Mazda 6.

That's a crazy statement. The Accord or Mazda 6 has NOTHING to do with the Solstice and Sky, you wouldn't have bought a Solstice or Sky anyway. The competetors to the Accord and Mazda 6 are the Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G6, and Saturn Aura. Also the Impala, the Buick Lacross could be considerations over the Accord and Mazda 6. I could see if you said your next car would be a Mazda Miata (or whatever they call it now), or something along that like, but saying you would buy an Accord or Mazda 6 makes no sense.

[scooter10572]

Originally Posted by kenman923

That's it. Goodbye GM. My next car will either be a Honda Accord or a Mazda 6.

maybe then you should leave this forum and go to a hon/zda forum.we dont need anymore anti american sentiment here!!!Good riddance!!

[johnstarnes]

Originally Posted by Blair1118

The Solstice does have crank windows on the base model, when I saw a picture of a Solstice with them for the first time I had to stare at them for a minute to realize what they were, lol, I'm a product of power windows

Wow cool I did not know they were still being made! I read somewhere once the weight of the power window mechanisms....seems like X4 for a sedan it could really add up.

[megeebee]

Originally Posted by kenman923

That's it. Goodbye GM. My next car will either be a Honda Accord or a Mazda 6.

So GM axes a money-losing pair of 2 seat roadsters, and to punish them you buy a mass market FWD sedan from an Asian manufacturer?




And by the way, Toyota is axing some programs too, you know. Especially high-end Lexus product for the very same reasons GM sites.

[eaton53]

That's it. Goodbye GM. My next car will either be a Honda Accord or a Mazda 6.

Did you have an aneurysm or something before you typed this senseless statement?
If one was willing to go RWD, you should at least get a RWD Honda or Mazda sedan. Oh wait...

[megeebee]

Originally Posted by camaro chris

I hate when people try to use an uneasy economy as an excuse. The economy grew 3.4% last quarter!!! That's very healthy!

Then why are all automakers suffering some kind of sales slump? I think if you wait to see the next quarters numbers you'll see something quite different.

[stevecmh]

awe. thats a shame.. i know alot of people liked the way these looked.

to bad.. i did not know they were loosin money on them

[CharlotteFirebird]

Originally Posted by camaro chris

I hate when people try to use an uneasy economy as an excuse. The economy grew 3.4% last quarter!!! That's very healthy!

I guess you don't read the papers much. GM has been losing BILLIONS for a while now.

[jbernie]

Originally Posted by kenman923

That's it. Goodbye GM. My next car will either be a Honda Accord or a Mazda 6.

Nest thing we know you will get pissy over the Cobalt not being right and you are going to get a Range Rover. Why on earth would a 2 door coupe influence your decision to buy a 4 door family car?

Originally Posted by camaro chris

I hate when people try to use an uneasy economy as an excuse. The economy grew 3.4% last quarter!!! That's very healthy!

Without getting too sidetracked, overall growth numbers can be influenced greatly by individual sectors, ie the car market is tanking but the oil market is booming in some ways. If one offsets the other enough you can still have growth even though most of the market is in decline.

Originally Posted by TexCarFan1980

Unbelievable! GM loses money on the Kappa twins, yet Mazda does not seem to lose money on the Miata (MX-5). Once again, Miata reigns supreme in the affordable roadster department! Glad I went with one

Keep in mind the Miata/MX5 has been around since 1989 so with the number of years in existance combined with total sales from being the dominant car in class for so long Mazda probably paid of their base costs many years ago and now just need to make the incrimental changes. Overall the body shape has barely changed, slight tweak here and there, a little extra width or length there.

GM has only had the Soltice/Sky for 2 or 3 years so no where near enough time to recoup all costs on such a small build run. To go with this they also needed stylish products to get media attention etc etc, they got people talking about GM products in a positive way (ie long delivery times/high demand) which isn't something you can just pay the media to get.

Look at the decision from a rational point of view, it is a 2 seater, with tight interior dimensions and a trunk that may hold a 12 pack of soda when the top is down. They look great but are pretty useless in many ways. With GM losing so much money per unit, it makes sense to stop a product that doesn't generate enough sales/media hype/etc now so that those costs do not influence the quality of other higher volume vehicles.

I would rather GM cut the Solstice/Sky in an effort to improve the quality/picing/features of vehicles like the Cobalt/HHR/Malibu than to let the really important products suffer.

The Solstice/Sky have served their purpose now it is time to move on and maybe later reintroduce these types of vehicles on a better platform.

[Whitesky]

Originally Posted by TexCarFan1980

Unbelievable! GM loses money on the Kappa twins, yet Mazda does not seem to lose money on the Miata (MX-5). Once again, Miata reigns supreme in the affordable roadster department! Glad I went with one

Yes, if you like a boring bar of soap on wheels. I guess that is reigning supreme LOL...