Is a four-door Pontiac G5 in the works for the U.S.?
We at Autoblog love our eagle-eyed readers. From pointing out any spelling/grammar gaffes in our posts, to sending in cameraphone spyshots unsolicited, our site wouldn't be as good a product as it is without your help. But sometimes, your attention to detail and command of minutia can even scare surprise a jaded bunch like us.
So it is with tipster Neal M, who clearly has way too much free time lives and breathes cars as much as we do. How else to explain the fact that he's pointed out a possible snafu and/or future product teaser in General Motors' new Pontiac G5 microsite on the basis of an extra couple of switches?
Scan the photo above. See anything unusual? Neither did we, at least upon first glance. But as Neal M correctly points out, there's a set of rear window toggles– odd, considering the G5 is only slated to be available as a coupe when it arrives this August.
So what gives? Did GM's people just Photoshop a Pontiac badge on a Chevrolet Cobalt sedan's interior photograph? Or (more likely), did they just use a stock shot of the Canadian-market G5 Pursuit, where the re-schnozzed Cobalt can be had in two or four door configuration? Either way, should anything be divined from this apparent slip-up?
Okay... so it's probably nothing. But we're suckers for a good conspiracy theory.
Click on the photo above for a higher-resolution image, or check out the company's site to see for yourself by following the link below.
[Source: Pontiac]
(Tip-top, Neal M!)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sid 12:06PM (6/01/2006)
Or...you could go to the Pontiac Canada website to see the 4-dr Pursuit AKA G5 AKA G5 Pursuit.
http://gmcanada.ca/english/vehicles/pontiac/pursuit/purs_mode.jsp
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Michael Karesh 12:11PM (6/01/2006)
The only way a sedan might make sense is with the supercharged engine (or the turbo from the SKY). But getting Chevrolet to recognize that sport sedans really do make sense would be a better solution.
The current Cobalt SS doesn't begin to compare with the SS Supercharged coupe.
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Carzzi 12:15PM (6/01/2006)
Could they be switches for power-operated rear quarterwindows?
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DJ 12:16PM (6/01/2006)
Why should Chevy have all the fun with the Cobalt SS sedan?
Give Pontiac a GTP version and you'll have a hot little car.
Speaking of hot cars, next fall, the G6 convertible is rumored to get a GTP version with the new higher output 3.6L V-6 with 6-speed auto......
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Bob 12:18PM (6/01/2006)
"Speaking of hot cars, next fall, the G6 convertible is rumored to get a GTP version with the new higher output 3.6L V-6 with 6-speed auto......"
Its already shown on their website, at least in Sedan version if not both convertable and sedan.
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Mark Alan 12:22PM (6/01/2006)
In other pontiac news - did everyone remember to go to www.pontiac.com/apprentice to help them donate thier money?
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Michael Karesh 12:40PM (6/01/2006)
The 3.6 is only going into the coupe and sedan. Ditto the sport suspension and 3.9/manual combo.
The convertible apparently is intended for cruising down the boulevard, not tackling the twisties.
I already have pricing for the 2007 G6 here:
http://www.truedelta.com/models/G6.php
Despite the DOHC V6, the 2007 GTP isn't much more than the 2006.
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Eric L. 12:58PM (6/01/2006)
GM hates it when people bash them for rebadging vehicles, but c'mon the G5 is virtually identical to a Cobalt.
There is nothing wrong with badge engineering if you do it right - i.e. a Lexus ES350 is clearly differentiated from a Toyota Camry even though they are essentially the same car (their interiors are vastly different though). Same goes when comparing an Audi A4 and VW Jetta - again, same basic vehicle but major difference in trim and styling. If GM put some money into differentiating shared platform vehicles (the Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G6, and Saab 9-3 is a good example) then people wouldn't view rebadging as cheap.
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Michael Karesh 1:24PM (6/01/2006)
The A4 and Jetta have little in common. Perhaps you meant the A3?
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Jay 1:44PM (6/01/2006)
>Either way, should anything be divined from this
>apparent slip-up?
Considering Lutz said a long while back that they were going to knock off all the rebadging and then later GM decided to bring a Pontiac Cobalt to the US anyway, I really don't expect them to stick to their "it's only going to be a coupe" thing.
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GM WHO? 1:49PM (6/01/2006)
Ho-hum
G6
G5
G4
G3
G2
G1
G-HAD(JIHAD)
GM is kicking itself in the nuts by churning out another senseless Pontiac twin. They should be leaving the low-buck entry-level cars to Chevy and should try to keep Pontiac somewhat upscale/sporty. You're chewing your own arm off pitting one brand against another. If someone wants to buy a GM, why do they cross shop it with another GM when it's the same car?
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Geoff 2:01PM (6/01/2006)
Woohoo GM! You've succeeded in copying the interior of my VW R32 (not that it is a bad thing, just dated) with the six year old dash design. Keep up the good work. It appears to me that the speedo is in metric...so it could be the Canuck model.
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Corey W. 2:13PM (6/01/2006)
Sorry, you can't compare a Toyota/Lexus rebadge to a Chevy/Pontiac rebadge... Although I don't have a problem with the Cobalt or G5, but how much different are you going to make the interiors? Make the buttons on the Pontiac a little rounder!! The current G5 is temporary and will get a redesign. GM is on this Brand Identity initiative, they want each brand to be able to stand on their own. They don't want a Pontiac buyer to go to a Chevy dealership because Pontiac doesn't offer a certain class car. So they felt Pontiac "desperately" needed a small car... So, Wha-La!! You have the G5.
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GM WHO? 2:31PM (6/01/2006)
I can't think of anything outside of the Camry platform that Lexus shares, but who cares, a Lexus is just a compensation for something its buyer lacks!
It's word asscoiation time
Chevrolet should stand for Cheap
Buick should stand for Becoming old/Bewildered
Pontiac should stand for Performance...NOT PHOTOCOPY
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Eric L. 2:39PM (6/01/2006)
#8 - you are correct, i meant the passat and a4. I believe also the a4 no longer uses a VW platform with the B7 variant (itself an evolution of the former B6 which it did share with VW). In either case, the point I was trying to make is that badge engineering can be done well if enough differentiation between shared platform models warrant a price difference. It makes no sense to build the same vehicle, rebadge it, and have it compete with the original vehicle in the same class.
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Matt 2:58PM (6/01/2006)
# 13 You are aware that the Lexus SUVs are direct rebadges of Toyota models? For example, the RX is a Highlander.
At any rate, the short of it is that the Japanese do a better job at rebadging because they have fewer models and brands to worry about. What GM needs to continue to examine the product mix. Are Pontiac and/or Buick still necessary? The problem is GM is too worried about sentimentality and potential public backlash to dropping another name plate, but in order to survive, they may have to do it again.
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Chris 3:15PM (6/01/2006)
The fix is simple: Make all GM dealers GM dealers. I mean do away with the Chevy/Pontiac/GMC/Caddy/Saturn/Saab/dealerships. Next apply the Saturn 1-price no-haggle method to all their products and all their dealers.
Then kill off all duplicate GM products such as the G5/Cobalt and that damned ugly minivan that ever division sells that has the big nose on it. My sister and her family has a Chevy version, my friends have the Saturn version and it is the same ugly van. And I'd buy one of thos instead of a Siena or Odysesey WHY?
Pontiac has some decent unique products right now as does Chevy. The rebadging is a stupid way to do business but GM doesn't build cars for us the consumer, they build what their dealer want to sell.The dealers demand products that cover ever nich market so Pontiac has to have a full range from minivans to convertibles and then so does Buick and then so does Caddy, then so does Chevy. Stupid.
Until GM gets their stuff together I'll not touch one. Not to mention the Asian transplant vehicles are almost to the point where they have more American content than the GM vehicles.
Gm has been screwing up for my whole life. I'll not buy one until they straighten themselves out. Maybe they will be a better company after they go bankrupt. Maybe then they will realize that the car market demands something besides 300 HP muscle cars (doesn't fit our frugal family budget), SUVs (same problem), pickups (same problem), and cars that makes a senior citizen get heart palpatations... I suggest they kill off Pontiac, kill off the Cobalt and Saturn and sell all cars smallish as Opels. Sell the same Opels here they sell in Europe with upgraded drivetrains as necessary (but offer the 1.6L engines, they are good frugal engines - I drove alot of them when I lived there).
The only problem with that is the dealer network and the fact that they INSIST on putting that ugly Saturn frontend on their cars. Getting better I know. Check out the Euro-spec Opels which have Saturn cousins. In every case - in my opinion - the Saturn is the uglier of the two.
Chris
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G. Snyder 4:52PM (6/01/2006)
#15 - The RX is not a DIRECT REBAGE of the Highlander. They share the same underpinnings and powertrains, but they are pretty different in terms of looks, trim, and equipment.
Direct rebadge would seem to mean putting on a new grill and a different steering wheel emblem (like the cobalt and G5) and calling it a different car.
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Eric L. 5:18PM (6/01/2006)
#17 - this is what the GM fans don't seem to understand. To them, Lexus is identical to Toyota, when in fact the RX and ES have nearly wholy different interior and exterior treatments vs Highlander and Camry. As pointed out above, GM doesn't take this approach with some of their shared platforms, such as the Equinox/Torrent/Vitara, Uplander/Terraza/Relay/SV6, Colorado/Canyon, Tahoe/Yukon, and Cobalt/G5.
They did make an effort to differentiate platform mates such as Malibu/G6/9-3/Aura, Corvette/XLR, Lucerne/DTS, and Impala/Gran Prix/LaCrosse in terms of exterior styling. For many though, the interiors are almost identical to each other (same switches, controls, guages, etc...) so its not quite to the level of differentiation of Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, and VW/Audi yet.
GM is not the only offender - Ford also does the same thing selling essentially the same car as multiple forms - Fusion/Milan/Zephyr, 500/Montego, etc...
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Michael Karesh 6:52PM (6/01/2006)
It's harder to defend the LX vs. Land Cruiser. Personally, I find both the LX and GX laughable. Both, especially the LX, are designed for serious off-roading. But no one's going to take a Lexus off-road. Especially not one with the gold package.
At least Cadillac admits this and doesn't bother equipping the Escalade with a low range.
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