GM spoils Pontiac dealers: Canadian Pursuit arrives as G5
Pontiac dealers have been complaining to General Motors about the void created when the Sunfire small car was cancelled. With no small car to offer, these dealers have had a hard time attracting fuel- and price-conscious buyers into their showrooms. Apparently GM has been happy to oblige by bringing down the Canadian-market Pontiac Pursuit coupe, which itself is a Chevy Cobalt coupe and perhaps the most blatant case of rebadging we've seen in... at least a couple of months. It was no big deal when the twins were separated by the world's longest unprotected border, but now they'll be forced to share the same lane on the streets of America.
Renamed the G5 to fit with Pontiac's current nomenclature, the base model will be offered with a 148-hp 2.2-liter four-cylinder and the GT with a 173-hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder. The GT comes nicely loaded with 4-wheel disc brakes and ABS, 17-inch aluminum wheels, foglamps and more, though we'll have to wait until this fall to find out if there's anything about the G5's pricing structure that will set it apart from its Cobalt twin. What we'd like to know is if anyone thinks the G5 has a better beak than the Cobalt. We actually think Pontiac's flared nostrils don't look that bad on the Cobalt's beak.
[Source: Inside Line]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
D-Dog 9:13AM (7/28/2006)
What, no supercharged model?!!
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Bob 9:16AM (7/28/2006)
The beak looks slightly better and the foglights look better, but if Pontiac is your "performance" division wouldn't you roll out a GTP model w/ the same engine package as the Cobalt SS (if not better)?
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Ken 9:26AM (7/28/2006)
So GM has not learned. This type of badgeneering is a cancer on Pontiac. This is why many people think Pontiac is a generic me-too crap company.
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Glenn A. 9:29AM (7/28/2006)
When will GM EVER learn? Yet more badge-engineering.
So, when does the 4 door come out?
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Tim UF 9:34AM (7/28/2006)
Pontiac is the excitement division... they really need to do some work on their steering feel. I drove a GT G6 for about a week, had the most numb feeling steering i've ever driven... The Toyota Echo has better feel (granted it also has far less weight and performance), so does the protege. They can look racy, and go fast in a straight line, but if the G6 is representative, then they are still unrewarding to drive.
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James 9:49AM (7/28/2006)
You think that's funny? Have you seen what else GM think they can sell as a Pontiac in Canada? Ignite the passion folks, strap yourself in, and experience the mighty roar of the Pontiac Wave:
http://www.gmcanada.com/english/vehicles/pontiac/wave/index.jsp
(er, no, I'm not kidding... that's a real GM, er, 'product')
*j*
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jscro 9:59AM (7/28/2006)
I had a G6 as a rental for a week. While I was pleased to see the interior has changed and no longer looks like it was put together with old amber crt monitors and parts from the dollar store, it drove like crap.
I've also had a Cobalt a couple of times now, which didn't really strike me as much better than the outgoing Cavalier.
Putting those two things together? Man, I can even imagine the craptacularness of that car.
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daniel 10:04AM (7/28/2006)
GM will continue it's slide into oblivion as long as it continues to react and not act. A seperate entry car should have been in the works on this platform since the Cobalt and Ion intro two years ago, but they waited until gas shot up and now they rush this to market after promising no more badge marketing.
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djSyndrome 10:12AM (7/28/2006)
"With no small car to offer, these dealers have had a hard time attracting fuel- and price-conscious buyers into their showrooms."
Uh, the Vibe says hi. It performs better than the G5 in nearly every aspect, including acceleration, fuel economy, interior room...oh the list just goes on and on.
Too bad GM is doing their damndest to bury it.
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Jeff Anderson 10:17AM (7/28/2006)
Actually - I went ot see one yesterday. They had three on the lot, but one was being driven. I think they looked pretty good in person - better than the pic above and were pretty loaded out. Heck - you can get pretty much every amenity you need on the thing. The two that I saw were GT automatics with a good bunch of options and priced out at around $21K. As with the G6 - they will probably listen to the people's wants and release a GTP version next year sometime. Dual exhaust, torbo/supercharged...
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John 10:17AM (7/28/2006)
It is a shame that everone can see this is not a good idea.....but GM? So Pontiac does not have a small car.....CHEVY does. Does anyone at GM get it yet?
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Rice Poppers Nightmare 10:19AM (7/28/2006)
Well I see most everyone but the rice poppers have left this board. The Cobalt is a good, well made car and all of the above posters don't know that asses from a hole in the ground. I don't really know why I come to this site, it has turned to carp.
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CoffeeJedi 10:26AM (7/28/2006)
I don't like the styling, the Sunfire looked way better than this, it had more personality. This is just a bland by-the-numbers design by committee.
Why can't we have the Astra instead? It's the same platform, but it looks... hmm, what's that word.... oh yeah.... GOOD.
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DC_1 10:28AM (7/28/2006)
The Cobalt is trash. I had one last year while my Mazda3 was in the shop(hit by an Expedition).The Cobalt is nothing more than a Cavalier with a new hairdo. Mind you I had a load Cavalier oop Cobalt,Heated Leather,Very Nice sound system loaded. The ride was hard and brakes where mushy along with a loud lazy engine. I was not impress and could not wait to get my 3 back. The only thing the 3 and Cobalt has in common is that they are both compact.
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Craigefa 10:32AM (7/28/2006)
I agree with djSyndrome. The Vibe is actually the most fuel efficient vehicle that GM offers, more efficient even than the Aveo.
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Finished.Law.School 10:44AM (7/28/2006)
Wasn't there something about GM planning to stop badge engineering?
I assume that GM will stop badge engineering once they stop manufacturing these crap cars...
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irloyal 10:56AM (7/28/2006)
GM is DOOMED if they continue along these lines. Why do they need Pontiac anyway? It's time to kill off Pontiac or Buick and incorporate the worthwhile auto's from each division into a single badge. Me, I'd kill Buick, give the Lucerne to Pontiac and kill the rest. Pontiac needs to drop the Torrent, Grand Prix, and build a real GTO.
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UpIrons 11:02AM (7/28/2006)
Quote from Rice Poppers Nightmare "all of the above posters don't know that asses from a hole in the ground. I don't really know why I come to this site, it has turned to carp."
Wow, glad I am not one of the above posters... I sure don't want to turn into a CARP!!! ROFL!!
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Rastus 11:09AM (7/28/2006)
GM will continue to make excuses till they day they drop dead. Much like those idiots with tracheotomy's (sp) who smoke through it.
Pathetic, there GM. Is this how the BEST and BRIGHTEST and those MOST UTTERLY CONCERNED with their wellbeing behave?
Naughty, naughty. Someone ought to Bitch Slap the fool who approved of this. This is a disgrace.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/images/christmas/gallery/nov04_zoe_sharon.jpg
Pontiac, we Build Excrement!!!
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worst case of rebadging... 11:26AM (7/28/2006)
This is the worst case of rebadging since the Bentley SUV story last weekend. Or maybe since the Lambo SUV story before that. Oh hell, I see Audi A3s running around all over the place, and they're just a tarted-up Rabbits. And boy, there sure was a long line of comments of people loving that SEAT Leon Cupra (http://www.autoblog.com/2006/07/15/seat-leon-cupra-uncovered/) which is also just a Rabbit.
Why do people act as if GM has cornered the market on badge engineering?
CoffeeJedi: for the Astra, you'll have to wait for the 2007 Saturn Ion, which is a rebadged Astra. I don't think you'll see rebadged Opel cars as Chevys or Pontiacs soon. American small cars are built to be cheap, because anyone in the US who has enough money to spend doesn't want a small car. Europe has relatively fancier small cars, but they cost thousands more. They simply can't be sold with Chevy or Pontiac type prices. This is the same reason we don't have the latest European Ford Focus here as a Focus, only as a Mazda 3 (which runs to $22K+ with the more expensive models).
This is why I think you'll continue to see Opels as Saturns and Saabs for the time being. Just like the Vectra and Astra.
It's kind of funny, I start out explaining how everyone badge engineers and end up explaining that there are differences between GM's divisions and that you can't just sell the same car through all of them, which is pretty much what badge engineering is. Perhaps the original complaint, that there isn't enough difference between Chevy and Pontiac is a valid one.
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