GMC to add minivan by 2009
For some, it might beg the question, "you're joking, right?" But according to Edmunds' Inside Line, General Motors is planning to roll out a minivan for the 2009 model year and, well, nobody's laughing. The Lambda-based sibling of the next-generation Chevrolet Uplander seeks to fill the gap between the young, affluent couples and empty nesters the GMC Acadia is expected to appeal to -- namely families. As it hits the market, GM will take the Saturn Relay, Pontiac Montana and Buick Terraza off the lots, leaving the truck manufacturer as the only brand in the GMC-Pontiac-Buick triumvirate with a minivan.
No word yet on when the HUMMER-badged Uplander will hit the streets.
[Source: Edmunds InsideLine]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
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JB 7:21AM (8/29/2006)
What a hideous mish-mash of styling cues. Looks like a slice of the new Sebring, only larger and even more nauseating. GM has never, ever, been able to make a successful minivan. Why try again?
The only plausible reason is to keep a plant or two running that is configured to make a minivan. That makes no sense either; devising yet another disastrous minivan to keep a plant open, but that kind of thinking has GM where it is now. How many people movers does GM need to make? They make too many models still, and no one buys the current minivans, which are notoriously hard to build - read poor quality.
GM should learn at least one thing from Ford - get out of the minivan business.
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Dave T. 7:31AM (8/29/2006)
two problems with this story (not autoblog's post, the original)
1. How is the Acadia aimed at couples and empty nesters and not families? it has 3 rows of seats!
2. The Pontiac Montana SV6 is already discontinued. There will be no 2007.
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Owen 7:32AM (8/29/2006)
"GM should learn at least one thing from Ford - get out of the minivan business."
Yeah, Imagine all the great cars we would have today if that's the attitude every car manufacturer takes... "Oh, our car isn't as good as the competition, so we should just give up" - Please. Granted it still may not be styled at all properly, (the headlights are nice, but it ends there I think) but I did read one important thing here, it's dropping 3 lines for one. If that ends up holding true, this could be a good step away from the badge engineering that has been wasting so much design effort. Now they can focus all of those same designers (or perhaps it's time to hire some new ones) on making ONE model look decent.
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Dave T. 7:59AM (8/29/2006)
Owen,
notice that they don't mention Chevy.
So there will still probably be a Chevy version, then one version for the growing combo dealerships Buick/Pontiac/GMC
Also this image is PURE speculation.
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Steve C. 8:14AM (8/29/2006)
Jeez -- that's a really forward-thinking exercise. Like, there's such a shortage of low, medium and higher-end minivan/SUV/crossover vehicles out there. I'm sure this one will steal 2% market share from Chrysler.
Said another way, yet more proof the General is asleep at the switch.
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pedro 8:50AM (8/29/2006)
In their defense, GMC DID have the Safari minivan, although it was based on a truck. Considering they are introducing one car based platform (the acadia), why stop there? While its odd that GMC in the Pontiac Buick GMC triumvirate is going to he holding the minivan, I guess that GM is intent on at least focusing those 3 brands with fewer models per brand.
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_O ^ O_ 9:21AM (8/29/2006)
This makes sense. Pontiac thinks its too 'sporty' to have a minivan. Buick owners are too old to need a minivan. So, by default, GMC gets the minivan. Seems like no one at GM wants the minivan.
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Corey W. 9:50AM (8/29/2006)
#1 JB
Thanks for yet another "I know the answer to GM problems with [insert topic here]" While including another "GM [insert model] sucks for [insert random reasons]"
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naif 9:55AM (8/29/2006)
i think the word is " UGLEEEY ".
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Tri-Bob 9:59AM (8/29/2006)
You guys are missing the bigger picture. They are taking away the minivan from Saturn/Pontiac/Buick, which is no competition to the Chrysler/Honda/Toyota. It is too narrow, the seats don't fold nicely, and they are god awful noisy. I have the Venture, which mechanically has been great no problems through 50,000, but the wind and road noise are HORRIBLE. You have to crank the radio just to hear it at 60mph. What this says is, they realize they can't rebadge to so many brands and still compete, this is the General awake at the switch.
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Howard Kerr 9:59AM (8/29/2006)
If Pontiac and Buick REALLY are dropping minivans...then building and selling one as a GMC makes sense. I just have this feeling, that in a few years time we will be back to Pontiac and maybe even Buick screaming they need a version of this minivan too. And/or that Saab will finally get a minivan. In other words, history will repeat itself at GM.
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Myron 10:04AM (8/29/2006)
GM consistently builds the dumbest looking minivans. Keep the streak alive GM. We're all rooting for you.
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Z 10:09AM (8/29/2006)
AP . Breaking News ... GM hires new design guru Timmy Johnson, age 6, to take the reins at GMC. "I like trucks," Timmy told the media as he introduced his latest design exercise a new GMC minivan for 2009. "I really like fire trucks" Timmy also reiterated "because they make big nose!" Before coming to GM, Timmy was the head of the playdough automotive group at Center Middle School in Youngstown, OH. GM now has the oldest and youngest automotive executives in the business.
Seriously were did you guys get this drawing. Its terrible.
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Nick 10:14AM (8/29/2006)
Getting out of the minivan business wouldn't be entirely stupid, but it would demonstrates just how lazy GM and Ford would have become. Neither will forfeit this market for that very reason.
This image, pure speculation, looks exactly like any boring minivan we've ever seen. If they build this, it's a waste of time. There's 10+ sharks fighting for the same peice of meat in this market. If my memory serves me correctly, the minivan market is bordering on shrinking, if not still stagnant.
I do, however, like Ford's approach to this market. They'll simply take it in another direction. The Fairlane was the right idea, no matter how strange it looks. Ford's hoping the Fairlane's unique styling and features will bring some of those competitors minivan customers over to Ford and maybe grab some of those SUV people as well. This GMC sketch is just same old, same old......that's a mistake.
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cowboy bob 10:22AM (8/29/2006)
Myron @12, you hit the nail right on. I have yet to see a GM minivan, or the full size van either for that matter, be anything but " Day of the living dead" designs. I owned a '66 chevrolet van back in the late "60s, and havn't seen anything in a van that has appealed to me since. The Astros weren't to bad looking, but were too big to be a mini-van, and too underpowerd to be a full size.
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Jeff 10:33AM (8/29/2006)
Personally, I do not like minivans. I would never own one. On the other hand, my wife loves minivans. The more cupholders the better. I never have understood why a 7 passenger vehicle needs 21 cupholders, but my loving wife assures me that is a good feature.
We currently have a Toyota Sienna. It two more years when it is time to buy another van, we will most likely look at this vehicle. I have a preference for GM products and have owned many of them. I've owned Mazda, Toyota, Ford, and Honda as well. They have all been good reliable vehicles with different intended purposes.
If the GM minivan has the features my wife likes at a reasonable price point compared with other products out there, I'm sure she'll buy it.
I think it's smart for GM to cover this part of the market. Not everyone is going to buy a 4 door sedan based on gas milage and "technological advances", there are people out there who want a bunch of cup holders and enough room to haul around the entire neighborhood of kids. Why abdicate that market segment there are a lot of them out there.
I say Go GM. If you can build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.
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The other Bob 10:27AM (8/29/2006)
The new minivan will be built on the same platform as the Saturn Outlook and the other crossovers. It will most likely also be built in GM's newest plant just being finished in Lansing alongside.
Thats means a better build and much higher quality.
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Tommy 10:39AM (8/29/2006)
And I thought GM couldn't hit lower than the wannabe-SUVans or Aztec.
My mistake...
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Tri-Bob 10:43AM (8/29/2006)
Jeff you are exactly right, the cupholders only serve to hold McDonald's cups (which incidently, melt in the summer releasing soda into said cupholder, which then turns into a sticky sludge that is damn near impossible to clean), I am not a fan of the minivan, but have one. I use it all the time, whether hauling 3+ kids, loading it with plywood and building supplies for the house or loading it with bikes on the way to races. The minivan isn't cool, but it sure gets the job done.
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