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The Solstice - A Big Win for Bob Lutz & GM
Editorial by Ming
GMInsidenews.com
GM's image is about to change.
Bob Lutz should be congratulated once again for bringing us the Pontiac Solstice (and to a lesser extent the Chevy Cobalt), and here's why:
The image the "naysayers" - the Import Buyers, the Car Magazine Editors, and the Youth Market has had of GM: A domestic mass-producer of cars and trucks with outdated "value" pushrod engines, 20-year old platforms, and other hoary "proven" technology like 4-speed automatic transmissions driving it that has only Cadillac as a shining example of modern technology - and only for those willing to shell out big bucks required to buy one (or an expensive up-trim vehicle like the Rendezvous Ultra). The rest of the brand lineup is seen as food for fleet sales, with a few exceptions like the Corvette and Suburban standing out as "desireable".
Compare this to much smaller competitor Honda, darling of the media and the Import Crowd that manages to continuously update or keep relevant its engines (while keeping them reliable), suspensions, transmissions, product image, and purposefully pursues cutting edge tech as a means of selling its lineup of FWD cars. All this WITHOUT charging a premium penny for admission (like Cadillac).
Some will note that Pontiac had a turbo Sunbird in the 1980's that used a new, techy engine, but despite its sporty looks and convertible option, the platform was a re-engineered piece that was never very competitive or sporty, and the turbo was less than reliable. The Pontiac Fiero was also a similar hit that helped change Pontiac's image (that the Solstice reminds me of), but it suffered from more than a regular dose of serious and embarassing quality problems that plagued GM and other makers' cars in the 80's.
The coming Solstice, with GM's much improved quality as a foundation, proves to the naysayers that GM can and will build a product that is fun, small, exciting, modern, and not based on some pre-existing platform nor utilizing a tired obsolete engine or transmission to drive it. All this, and with a starting price at 20 thousand! A price in range of even the "Youth Market" GM craves.
Let's look at the hurdles the Solstice probably had to jump over to make it to production:
1. It's not a very "practical" car
2. It needed a whole new platform
3. Coupe sales tend to slide after the initial buzz wears off
4. Affordable RWD/big V8 fans, still angry about the loss of the F-bodies, would not be impressed
5. The price had to be kept low
Now the Rebuttal:
1. GM has more than its share of practical and even some downright boring family cars - surely it has room in its massive lineup for a fun, inexpensive, sporty roadster?
2. Vauxhall, Opel and other GM divisions all wanted their hands on a small purpose-built roadster, so the need was worth the effort.
3. Multiple variants off of the same platform, like the Nomad, and offering turbocharged or other engines for the Solstice in the future (a GXP version) should keep the thrill alive longer than a static, unchanging coupe
4. The RWD/V8 fans couldn't keep Camaro/Firebird sales from slumping into the toilet. And meanwhile the "youth market" was all about looks, "Importz", and low displacement engines making high-revving power -- a totally different breed than the traditional rude, crude, big & bad muscle car. Besides, the muscle car crowd should be older, richer, and able to afford the refined RWD muscle of the GTO (or they'll go out and restore an old Camaro anyway!)
5. GM is the worlds biggest automaker with the worlds biggest parts bin. Even with an all new platform, partners around the world as well as upcoming models like the Chevy Cobalt were ready to offer the donor parts to use with the new car to keep the cost low.
These hurdles were cleared, and Bob Lutz is largely to thank for it, as well as a GM that bent to accomodate Bob's vision. The passing of this vehicle to production was the big test for Mr. Lutz, and I say he passed it with flying colors, since the production version looks better to me than even the concept did (a first for me).
They even went one step further to assure the Solstice would be "relevant" and competitive and gave it a 2.4L ECOTEC with 170hp and (more importantly) 170 torque with Variable Valve Timing (for tech heads and more horses) to shame a Toyohonda's weak-in-the-torque engine, rather than resort to the cheaper method of using a supercharger on a pre-existing GM engine, or even going back to the pool of available pushrod V6s used in GM small "performance" cars like sporty variants of the Cavalier with a 3.1L V6 in the early 90's. If Honda, Subaru and Mitsubishi can do it with a 4-cylinder and get praised for it, then GM should be able to as well. That's the kind of attention to the market and GM Pride that people won't miss.
We should be wary of the GM Beancounters trying to have their say and further cheapen the vehicle from what we've seen so far, but other than that (which I doubt Mr. Lutz will allow) or the curse of recalls, I don't worry much of its success. In fact, even if the sales are not overwhelming, GM will have succeeded already in changing its image with the mere introduction of a car like this.
So let's all give GM and Bob Lutz a hand, because this time they really deserve it.
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Editorial by Ming
GMInsidenews.com
GM's image is about to change.
Bob Lutz should be congratulated once again for bringing us the Pontiac Solstice (and to a lesser extent the Chevy Cobalt), and here's why:
The image the "naysayers" - the Import Buyers, the Car Magazine Editors, and the Youth Market has had of GM: A domestic mass-producer of cars and trucks with outdated "value" pushrod engines, 20-year old platforms, and other hoary "proven" technology like 4-speed automatic transmissions driving it that has only Cadillac as a shining example of modern technology - and only for those willing to shell out big bucks required to buy one (or an expensive up-trim vehicle like the Rendezvous Ultra). The rest of the brand lineup is seen as food for fleet sales, with a few exceptions like the Corvette and Suburban standing out as "desireable".
Compare this to much smaller competitor Honda, darling of the media and the Import Crowd that manages to continuously update or keep relevant its engines (while keeping them reliable), suspensions, transmissions, product image, and purposefully pursues cutting edge tech as a means of selling its lineup of FWD cars. All this WITHOUT charging a premium penny for admission (like Cadillac).
Some will note that Pontiac had a turbo Sunbird in the 1980's that used a new, techy engine, but despite its sporty looks and convertible option, the platform was a re-engineered piece that was never very competitive or sporty, and the turbo was less than reliable. The Pontiac Fiero was also a similar hit that helped change Pontiac's image (that the Solstice reminds me of), but it suffered from more than a regular dose of serious and embarassing quality problems that plagued GM and other makers' cars in the 80's.
The coming Solstice, with GM's much improved quality as a foundation, proves to the naysayers that GM can and will build a product that is fun, small, exciting, modern, and not based on some pre-existing platform nor utilizing a tired obsolete engine or transmission to drive it. All this, and with a starting price at 20 thousand! A price in range of even the "Youth Market" GM craves.
Let's look at the hurdles the Solstice probably had to jump over to make it to production:
1. It's not a very "practical" car
2. It needed a whole new platform
3. Coupe sales tend to slide after the initial buzz wears off
4. Affordable RWD/big V8 fans, still angry about the loss of the F-bodies, would not be impressed
5. The price had to be kept low
Now the Rebuttal:
1. GM has more than its share of practical and even some downright boring family cars - surely it has room in its massive lineup for a fun, inexpensive, sporty roadster?
2. Vauxhall, Opel and other GM divisions all wanted their hands on a small purpose-built roadster, so the need was worth the effort.
3. Multiple variants off of the same platform, like the Nomad, and offering turbocharged or other engines for the Solstice in the future (a GXP version) should keep the thrill alive longer than a static, unchanging coupe
4. The RWD/V8 fans couldn't keep Camaro/Firebird sales from slumping into the toilet. And meanwhile the "youth market" was all about looks, "Importz", and low displacement engines making high-revving power -- a totally different breed than the traditional rude, crude, big & bad muscle car. Besides, the muscle car crowd should be older, richer, and able to afford the refined RWD muscle of the GTO (or they'll go out and restore an old Camaro anyway!)
5. GM is the worlds biggest automaker with the worlds biggest parts bin. Even with an all new platform, partners around the world as well as upcoming models like the Chevy Cobalt were ready to offer the donor parts to use with the new car to keep the cost low.
These hurdles were cleared, and Bob Lutz is largely to thank for it, as well as a GM that bent to accomodate Bob's vision. The passing of this vehicle to production was the big test for Mr. Lutz, and I say he passed it with flying colors, since the production version looks better to me than even the concept did (a first for me).
They even went one step further to assure the Solstice would be "relevant" and competitive and gave it a 2.4L ECOTEC with 170hp and (more importantly) 170 torque with Variable Valve Timing (for tech heads and more horses) to shame a Toyohonda's weak-in-the-torque engine, rather than resort to the cheaper method of using a supercharger on a pre-existing GM engine, or even going back to the pool of available pushrod V6s used in GM small "performance" cars like sporty variants of the Cavalier with a 3.1L V6 in the early 90's. If Honda, Subaru and Mitsubishi can do it with a 4-cylinder and get praised for it, then GM should be able to as well. That's the kind of attention to the market and GM Pride that people won't miss.
We should be wary of the GM Beancounters trying to have their say and further cheapen the vehicle from what we've seen so far, but other than that (which I doubt Mr. Lutz will allow) or the curse of recalls, I don't worry much of its success. In fact, even if the sales are not overwhelming, GM will have succeeded already in changing its image with the mere introduction of a car like this.
So let's all give GM and Bob Lutz a hand, because this time they really deserve it.
