Edmunds: Pontiac G8s Are Still Weeks Away; First Boat Docks Jan 28

[Perian]

Link: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=124400

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — With Job 1 officially behind them, the first shipment of 2008 Pontiac G8s is currently floating its way from Australia to the United States. A total of four ships will soon arrive in Northern California's Benicia port, with the first ship expected on January 28. Aboard will be 1,800 new G8 sedans, a 50/50 mix of the 3.6-liter V6 G8 and the 362-horsepower 6.0-liter V8 G8 GT.

The G8 is expected to arrive in Pontiac showrooms by March 1, with West Coast dealers likely to receive their cars first due to the San Francisco Bay Area arrival port. General Motors used the same port for the Australian-built Pontiac GTO that GM imported briefly from 2004-'06. Pontiac says it will have 7,000 G8s on U.S. soil at launch, and expects to reach an annual sales volume of 40,000 cars in a full production year.

Customers won't necessarily have to wait for the G8 of their choice to be configured on the Australian production line, but instead may choose a G8 that is already in transit. Craig Bierley, Pontiac marketing director said, "The dealers and plant are so far apart, orders would take a lot of time. Instead, we've configured cars 11 different ways, and dealers will be able to use a "tagging tool" to choose cars that are already on the boat and reduce the order lead time."

Full article at link.

[Perian]

Originally Posted by Perian

The G8 is expected to arrive in Pontiac showrooms by March 1...Pontiac says it will have 7,000 G8s on U.S. soil at launch.

So I guess the official 'launch' date will be sometime in mid-March by the time they get 7,000 units to dealers. Sounds like it will be a long time before we see one here on the East coast!

What a shame none of those 7,000 units will have manual transmissions.

I really wanted one.

[mrgto]

Can they still not learn from the GTO delivery problems? Are they going to start producing the 2009 G8 starting in June for a July shipping and a august arrival on the west coast and a Sept delivery in dealers around the country?

[jkennedy293]

I hope it gets to NC by mid-March so I can check it out at our auto show. I always feel guilty checking out cars at the dealership when I have no intention of buying in the near future.

[tholland]

Still no Canadian pricing... I doubt we'll even see any of the initial shipments.

[CamaroCrazy]

Originally Posted by jkennedy293

I hope it gets to NC by mid-March so I can check it out at our auto show. I always feel guilty checking out cars at the dealership when I have no intention of buying in the near future.

My thoughts exactly. Where in NC are you?

I'm not going to feel too guilty test driving the G8. I want my first taste of Zeta so I can get a rough idea of what the new Camaro will be like. I suppose if its wasn't for the new Camaro, I'd buy one of these instead. Gotta love RWD and a V8

[377Z]

Hope Pontiac dealers have enough velvet rope and markup stickers.

[GXP Lover]

Originally Posted by jkennedy293

I hope it gets to NC by mid-March so I can check it out at our auto show. I always feel guilty checking out cars at the dealership when I have no intention of buying in the near future.

The Detroit Autoshow had at least two, I think three, on display. Two you could get in, a GT and a base (what's that one called, just G8?).

[04bonnie]

Originally Posted by jkennedy293

I hope it gets to NC by mid-March so I can check it out at our auto show. I always feel guilty checking out cars at the dealership when I have no intention of buying in the near future.

I would think the G8 would be at all the shows, I'm expecting to see it here in Detroit next week. I'm sure Ponitiac has a few around for shows, if not then they really are missing the boat. (no pun intended)

[04bonnie]

Originally Posted by GXP Lover

The Detroit Autoshow had at least two, I think three, on display. Two you could get in, a GT and a base (what's that one called, just G8?).

If you were at the show, can you tell me if the Traverse was there? (Sorry to get off topic, just curious.)

[caddycruiser]

Originally Posted by 04bonnie

If you were at the show, can you tell me if the Traverse was there? (Sorry to get off topic, just curious.)

No, that's not something that's being shown yet.

As for the G8...the tagging system sounds interesting, as in there's no ordering (right?), Holden just keeps pumping them out in the configurations pre-set by GM...and it's up to a dealer to put their name on one of those, for a customer. We'll see how that goes.

[GXP Lover]

Originally Posted by 04bonnie

If you were at the show, can you tell me if the Traverse was there? (Sorry to get off topic, just curious.)

Not sure. We had no more than two hours so we hit all the concept cars and didn't get to play around, getting in and out of the vehicles, much. I did make it a point to get in the G8 though. I was a little disappointed in the base interior with up level looking a bit nicer with the silver accents as seen in the various pictures.

[jkennedy293]

Originally Posted by 04bonnie

I would think the G8 would be at all the shows, I'm expecting to see it here in Detroit next week. I'm sure Ponitiac has a few around for shows, if not then they really are missing the boat. (no pun intended)

The NC Auto Expo is sponsored by the local dealers, so we only get a few 2 year old concepts that they rope off and won't let you breathe on, and the rest is from the dealers themselves.

[04bonnie]

How are you able to go to the show this week, I thought it didn't open till Sat? Anyway, can't believe the Traverse won't be shown, that's crap. GM needs to get those vehicles to the shows to get customers. ANYTHING that comes out anytime this year needs to be at the show, my opinion. No biggie, I think I will buy an Enclave anyway, so I'll see that at the show for sure.

[jkennedy293]

Originally Posted by CamaroCrazy

My thoughts exactly. Where in NC are you?

I'm not going to feel too guilty test driving the G8. I want my first taste of Zeta so I can get a rough idea of what the new Camaro will be like. I suppose if its wasn't for the new Camaro, I'd buy one of these instead. Gotta love RWD and a V8

Holly Springs. I kind of want a Camaro too, but the wife and I are starting a family and it will probably be easier to transport the kids with 4 doors.