BREAKING: Lutz says Pontiac G8 to survive as Chevy Caprice in U.S.; Camaro Z28 reportedly dead
by Alex Nunez on Jul 11th 2009 at 12:19PM 
2009 Chevy Caprice SS (Middle East) - Click above for a high-res photo gallery
Bob Lutz is back, and after what seems like five minutes into his job as GM's new marketing kingpin, he's doing what he does best: making headlines. Rest assured that this is a good thing, as El Generalissimo Roberto Maximo told Automobile Magazine that yes, the Pontiac G8 will live on in the United States as the Chevy Caprice. So much for Fritz "I'm not a fan of rebadging" Henderson's statement to the contrary a couple of weeks ago.
"The last time we looked at [the G8], we decided that we would continue to import it as a Chevrolet. It is kind of too good to waste," Lutz told the mag. As for the G8 being "too good to waste": Amen to that, Bob. This also makes us wonder if law enforcement-grade models will be part of the deal with Holden to continue production. Chevy Caprice police cars? That's got a very familiar ring to it. The next question is whether a U.S. Caprice would mimic the Middle East-market Caprice, which is based on the long-wheelbase Holden Caprice/Statesman, or whether it will simply be a Chevy-badged version of the standard-wheelbase Holden Commodore/Pontiac G8/Chevrolet Lumina. Frankly, as long as there's ultimately a Caprice SS that is identical to the Pontiac G8 GXP in every critical way, we don't care.
In his conversation with Automobile, Lutz also essentially confirms that next year's Cadillac CTS coupe will be joined by a V-series variant, saying that the CTS-V coupe was the car that had most of the Presidential Task Force members' tongues wagging during the product-pipeline tour they were given by GM. Lutz even hints that a CTS-V wagon is not completely out of the question. (We'll take the wagon in brown, with the stick, Bob.)
On the bad news side, in a separate blog post, Automobile reports that Lutz kind of throws dirt on the idea of an LSA-powered Camaro Z28 (though he doesn't specifically state that the program's toast). He says that for "mainstream" sports models like the Camaro, powerful sixes (like the one in the Camaro LS and LT) and turbo fours (like the one used in the now-dead Cobalt SS, HHR SS and Solstice GXP) are more indicitive of the automaker's future direction in that regard. Hmmm. Well then, how about bolting a blower to the direct-injected V6?
Welcome back, Bob. This sounds like it could get pretty fun.
Gallery: 2009 Chevrolet Caprice (Middle East)
Gallery: 2009 Chevy Lumina SS (Middle East)
[Source: Automobile Magazine]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Kevin 12:23PM (7/11/2009)
Way to go and take a decent, aggressive looking sedan and beat it with the fugly stick of the Chevrolet brand image.
Reply
MikLawry 12:29PM (7/11/2009)
If I may ask, why do you dislike Chevrolet so much? I think it is a great idea personally. Just curious as to why you dislike the Chevy brand so passionately.
jv2k 12:34PM (7/11/2009)
He does have a point. The car looked a lot better with the pontiac or holden front end, but it's good to see the car living on.
Why was it that people disliked Lutz again? I never quite understood it.
why not the LS2LS7? 12:35PM (7/11/2009)
I think the car looks very appropriately Caprice-like. I do agree I like the G8 better, but that's the way it goes.
Could they please black it out, hot up the motor and call it the Impala SS now? If there's any (non-Corvette) Chevy that deserves a true follow on, it's the mid 90's Impala SS.
thomas 12:36PM (7/11/2009)
it is a great idea. if this is true, GM has potential to have a huge hit on their hands. however, i hope they plan on giving it a bit of a facelift.
as the article clearly states, the vehicle pictured is the current middle-east spec caprice. i would imagine, especially with Lutz around, that the American version will get a little beefed up. this car will compete with the likes of the Dodge Charger and Ford Taurus. as it looks, this caprice will have its lunch eaten by the Taurus SHO. personally, i believe the American spec caprice will be injected with a little more excitement before its ready for our muscle-car obsessed buyers.
Rev 12:37PM (7/11/2009)
I'm with Kevin. With the Chevy trimmings it looks like a 10-year old rental car.
The Cobalt looks like an old Neon. The Vette looks pretty out of date and Vettes used to be one of the sexiest cars on the road. Pretty much their whole line up looks cheap and dated.
Lots of manufacturers pump out unsightly/quirky/weird looking cars, Chevy's are just plain sorry looking...
Pokey 12:39PM (7/11/2009)
Yeah, how dare they take a great, affordable performance sedan and sell it alongside Camaros and Corvettes!
That's sarcasm by the way.
I do however think they should have used a different name than Caprice. Even the Lumina name would have been better, or even Chevelle.
why not the LS2LS7? 12:42PM (7/11/2009)
I fail to see how this car can have its lunch eaten by a car that costs about $10,000 more than it. The Taurus SHO simply isn't in the same market as this vehicle.
Sean Eagen 12:47PM (7/11/2009)
While I agree that the Pontiac version looks MUCH better, I'm so glad they are keeping it around. I've had my G8 GT for just over a month and this car is so damn great I'm glad that more people may get to experience it. The chevy version definitely won't turn as many heads as the Pontiac version, but as long as it drives the same, it's all good.
pmalik 1:04PM (7/11/2009)
I'm surprised they didn't decide to brand it as Buick, since the tooling is all there (in china). That might have actually reduced the average age of a Buick buyer by like 10 years.
thomas 1:11PM (7/11/2009)
@LS2
um... the Taurus SHO costs $10,000 more than.. what exactly? i don't see a price discussed above.
if we assume prices of the future Caprice will be along the lines of the current G8, then prices are competitive with the Taurus.
the pontiac starts at 28,250 while the Taurus starts at 25,995
the GXP starts at 37,610 while the SHO starts at 36,995
so i fail to see how there would be a 10,000 dollar difference if it were branded as a chevy.
and besides i was speaking of looks alone and based on that, the SHO expresses much more attitude as compared to the tame looking Caprice.
which is why i said i expected it to receive a face lift in order to make it competitive in our market.
sheesh!
thomas 1:17PM (7/11/2009)
@PM
this type of car fits Chevy's brand identity better than Buicks (here in the US anyway)
granted, it would save a lot of money to simply import the version sold in China (Park Avenue) but the styling of that car is just as tame and uninteresting to the american buyer as the above caprice.
why not the LS2LS7? 1:24PM (7/11/2009)
You said Taurus SHO, not Taurus. You can't compare all potential Caprice models against the SHO, because of the price differences. If you want to talk about some theoretical GXP version of the Caprice, we can. If you look at the G8 GXP versus Taurus SHO, I don't think there's any comparison. The Taurus doesn't hold any advantage except fuel economy. Seriously, read the reviews of the G8 GXP and the SHO.
Farmboy 2:22PM (7/11/2009)
I hate the idea of the G8 becoming a Chevy, especially with a name like Caprice. I had one for a little while, but I hated it. Worse than my aunt and cousin's Luminas. But hey at least it has the spirit of the G8. Too bad about Camaro Z28 for Camaro fans. Bad news for them.
XiozTzu 1:44PM (7/11/2009)
@ MikLawry
"If I may ask, why do you dislike Chevrolet so much?"
This is my opinion on the Chevy/Chevrolet brand. Growing up mostly in the US the folks I knew that were die hard Chevy proponents were complete tools. I admire what GM has done lately with quality and actually like some of there aesthetics. But every time I see the Chevy bow tie I get ill. The thought of some jerk with a Chevy belt buckle or Calvin peeing on sticker will not leave my mind. Because of this I will likely never buy a Chevy vehicle. I'm sure others have similar reactions to this or other brands.
chconline 1:56PM (7/11/2009)
At least where I live (Alberta), the Chevrolet name has a WAYYY better image than Pontiac could ever hope to achieve. That's not saying either is great, but Chevy's the good one.
Judy Zik 4:12PM (7/11/2009)
I really want to see the G8 live on. I just hope they get it right. The pictured vehicle screams rental. Hopefully the version they cook up for North America will look better without that stupid bird beak grill they have been sticking on other Chevys.
The biggest worry is that they will repeat past mistakes. Fortunately it seems doubtful that an Aussie import can be built cheap enough to appeal to fleet buyers like Police and Taxis and still make a profit. Doing so would kill resale value and desirability just like it did in the old Caprice. In order to make importing this vehicle worth their while they need to sell higher trim lines to retail customers. The Caprice name doesn't bring that kind of image to mind.
the4thheat 1:50AM (7/12/2009)
I think one of the problems here is that a lot of people, frankly most people actually because most people are not car fanatics, think of the 90s Caprice when you hear the name. Which makes the name more associated to cop cars and taxis than "sports sedan".
And if you ignore the 90s and take it back to the old school the Caprice was meant to be a nice full size luxury sedan. So frankly I find it a little baffling that the Pontiac G8 is now a Chevrolet Caprice. It feels like they probably would have wanted to call it the Impala SS if it weren't for the fact that there's already an Impala.
Nude Love 9:59AM (7/12/2009)
Wait... Why isn't this the new Impala?
Chris O 1:14AM (7/13/2009)
In the spirit of disclosure, I've owned a G8 GT and currently own a G8 GXP.
Aside from a gripe about the cooling capacity of the A/C (I live in Houston), I have nothing but good things to say about my experiences with both cars.
It was mentioned that someone was surprised that the car wasn't going to live on as a Buick. All I can say about that, is that the interior overhaul required to Buick-ize the G8 would be prohibitively expensive. The dash is laid out in such as to allow the maximum amount of parts sharing for LHD and RHD configurations... and that comes with a tradeoff in interior styling quality. I think the current interior, aside from the Pontiac-red LCD would carry over well as a Chevy.
I'm not sure that the Taurus/Taurus SHO comparison is all that valid. From everything I've read, the Taurus is a decent car, but not really all that interesting from a driving dynamics standpoint. The G8/Caprice won't have AWD, and that might hurt it in messy climates. The G8/Caprice won't have sat nav, or a cool integrated system like Sync. The G8/Caprice WILL, however, be able to stop without needing an aftermarket set of brakes. The car also handles competently. The other stick point would be pricing... there really aren't more than a couple options on a G8, while there are a ton of options on the Taurus. The starting price on a G8 is basically the ending price, while the Taurus can easily pick up thousands in options.