Originally posted by stewacide@Mar 4 2004, 06:34 PM
The new Grand Prix, Malibu, LaCrosse, G6, etc. are half-hearted efforts hobbled by either old platforms or old engines. Also none of their interiors are up to current standards (perhapse the LaCrosse but all I've seen are pictures, and I doubt the materials are other than GM sub-par). Lets not mention the Aveo...
The Cobolt might turn out to be a real competitor but it has the handicap of really boring looks, which perhapse wasn't the best way to go with their first serious compact entry in a long time. The first gen' Focus had to win buyers over with its innovative style and looks, and is only now established enough to slip into Civic/Carolla blandness (sad but true).
For a company of GMs size and marketshare it's incredible to the degree which they don't figure in the top-selling vehicle lists. Besides the (badly ageing) Silverado, (outclassed) Impala, and (incentive driven) Cavalier, you have to go a long ways down the charts untill you start running into many of their vehicles. GMs mainstream midsize sedan the Malibu, for instance, is outsold in the US by the Nissan Altima!!! (just one of TWO Nissan mainstream FWD midsizes in fact). That's absolutely pathetic for what should be their best selling car (see: Camrey, Accord, Taurus).
In fact I can't off the top of my head think of any segment in which GM has either the best seller or the widely recognized best vehicle in a segment where there is competiton - Impala, Corvette, etc. don't have real competitors at their price and performance points. Ford has all the best selling pickups and SUVs, while Toyota and Honda have all the best selling cars.
Edit -- it just came to me that perhapse the XLR could make a claim to being best in class, but it's in a very competative segment so you'll never get a concensus there. The CTS is also a great car for GM but again it's in a class of its own (5-series size at 3-series price with a high-displacement v6). The 9-3 is competative as well but it can't really compete with the AWD Volvos and Audis, and RWD BMWs and Mercs', etc., especially not having anything over an i4.
...if you can think of something tell me...
As for the Solstice it is nice, but perhapse you've heard of the Mazda Miata? Best selling sports car of all time? Widely aclaimed as the most enjoyable driver ever made for any price? The car responsible for the revival of the mass-market sports car when it was all but dead?
Few problems with GM they need to address:
- Instead putting the time, effort, and cash into developing a few incredibly capable and versitile platforms on which they can base all their cars they develop a whole slew of low-content platforms that spin off only one car and a few barely disguised clones. Something like Epsilon, for example, really suffers not having AWD built into it from the start, although it's a decent first try at a global platform. Their numerous small and large car platforms are even more confused and lacking in versatility.
- GM has a very nice i4 family in the Ecotec, but they've never developed an affordable, high quality, high-displacement DOHC v6 - something they NEED to be competative in the North American midsize sedan market. Putting trashy decade-old OHV units in the otherwise very modern Epsilon cars for instance is a travesty. I can't count the times they've tried and failed to build a v6 to match Toyota/Honda/Ford (the cut-down Cadi' ShortStars, the converted OHV blocks, the Opel/Saturn/Saab units, etc.). The fact that they have to borrow an engine from Honda for the Redline Vu is a disgrace - they've had well over a decade now to do one of their own!!!
