ORIGINAL: 1 Bad Mirada
the problem with your idea is the exact reason that companies do make 100 cars that are all basically the same with slightly different sheet metal and plastic cladding. cost. so much R&D goes into the preproduction of a chassis, and twice as much goes into engine development; espcially with something wild like a turbo V8 or TT V6, from a company who has typically always relied on NA engines.
when i worked for dodge we got a magazine that was packed full of industry stats, but i cannot recall what it was called. that magazine had things like:
what car a given age group tends to buy
what age group tends to uy certain models and brands
what cars are more popular in what areas
it seemed like common sense to me, but having worked in the industry long enough to see what morons helped run dealerships and sell cars, im not surprised. things like "convertibles sell better in the south and west".
anyways, one of the stats was that the average age of a new dodge buyer was something like 36. the average age of a new toyota buyer was like 29. and the average age of a buick buyer was something like 62. im sure that im not exact on the numbers, but the average age of a buick buyer was in the 60s. when 90% of the people going to the dealership are that old, there is no point in plunking down a performance car in the middle of all of the nice mild grandma sedans.
we should also keep in mind that buick didnt make the GNX...an aftermarket company took the grand national and made it into the GNX.
You have good points, but I still stand on my idea for a few reasons. The cars a dealership offers are the thing that brings people into the dealership in the first place. If a company makes cars that appeal to a younger audience, the audience will come to the dealership. Besides, many GM dealerships have Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Buick altogether. A turbo or TT GNX would be more expensive but that is part of the point. A GNX is supposed to be an exclusive model. Chevrolet is supposed to be pure lowest cost model in the market. Pontiac is supposed to be focused purely on performance. Buick should be offering near-luxury with a bit of performance to help shed the senior citizen image (it help Cadillac a lot). When Cadillac made the CTS-V, it captured the attention of people my age. People that were previously obsessed with BMWs and Mercedes now were thinking about Cadillacs. Cadillac should be offer the best of everything that the company can make.