Paladin06

Well this could be good news for us. It's proof that sticking a badge on a car and expecting the masses to flock to the dealer is the wrong answer. read below and tell me what you think.

Pontiac will drop the GTO this year

Jamie LaReau
Automotive News / February 21, 2006 - 10:08 am

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DETROIT -- General Motors has told Pontiac dealers that it will discontinue the GTO coupe at the end of this model year. GM will make the last deliveries of the vehicle to dealers by the end of September, sources close to Pontiac say.

GM will produce 10,000 to 12,000 more GTOs before dropping the nameplate, one source close to the situation says. Last year, Pontiac sold 11,590 GTOs compared to 2004 when it sold 13,569. That's a 14.6 percent drop.

When Pontiac launched the GTO in 2003, it projected 18,000 annual sales. The vehicle was criticized for bland styling, and some fans of the original GTO complained that it lacked nostalgic styling cues.

A Pontiac spokesman confirms the GTO will be discontinued after the 2006 model year.

“There are some changes in the federal regulatory standards. One is an airbag deployment standard that would require some very expensive re-engineering of the car,” says Jim Hopson, Pontiac spokesman. “Since the architecture of this car is being phased out around the world it’s not economically feasible to continue this car.”

Pontiac will continue to build the GTO through the end of May, Hopson says. The last “boatload will hit the ground in June”, he adds.

The GTO first came to dealerships in December 2003 as a 2004 model, Hopson says.

The GTO is built on a rear-wheel drive architecture from GM's Holden division in Australia. The present model is going out of production as GM constructs the new Zeta RWD architecture, says the source.

There is no replacement coupe planned at this time and because of the strong Australian and weak U.S. dollar, the GTO had to be priced thousands over where GM originally wanted it -- in the mid-twenties, the source says. "It never did as much volume as we had hoped," the source says.

Pontiac is considering a replacement in the lineup for a RWD performance vehicle, but does not have anything to announce yet, Hopson says.

The GTO suggested retail price starts at $31,990, including shipping. One GM source says, "the 2005 and 2006 were pretty well sold out, and sales were especially strong in areas of GM weakness, like Southern California. It's a shame it has to go -- for now."

deranged

If you recall when these things first came out they were $40K vehicles. Now they're selling at $30K so hopefully DCX has learned something from GM's mistake. Granted these are two very differently styled vehicles and that was a big part of the GTO's problem But price point will be a real factor with the Challengers success. People are used to getting better value for their money when they purchase a Dodge vehicle.

Paladin06

Here is more. It's gone, It's coming back with a Firebird/Trans Am. Those guys at GM are in a panic. The great GM ship is sinking and the rats are running crazy.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...ck=1&cset=true

TechmanBD

Figured if they are coming out with a camaro that they would bring back the T/A

RLSH700

I couldn't read the article from the Chicago Tribune because it requires a membership. What did it basically say? I'm glad to see the GTO disappear. Pontiac needs to move on from the 1997 Grand Prix coupe styling in all of their cars and show some styling diversity. Did they have any pictures. I hope the Firebird will look good unlike the Camaro concept, in my opinion. I hope GM learns to add a base model to both the Camaro and Firebird if they produce it. I hope DCX is paying attention to this; however, they might be able to pull this off since it has been around three decades since they had this styling unlike the GTO which borrowed the styling of their other cars in the same division.

Racer X

The Camaro was the base and the TA was the upper model. It makes sense to do the same again, or at least share the platform with a car like the GTO, but with a different skin. A 10 year old platform with lack luster sales was the reason it was droped. The General figured that they couldn't recoup the investment in retooling for a car that would be even more expensive than it was before. It couldn't compete with the Mustang for the price. So they droped it. [sm=badidea.gif] Now they have nothing!!!!

TeeWJay426

The biggest reason the Goat is being dropped is because Holden is discontinuing the Monaro (the platform on which it's based). It wasn't just because of sales numbers, although they didn't help.

Racer X

Sorry, in my previous post I wasn't clear, but that comment was about the F-body not the GTO. The Monaro/ GTO platform was meant to be a limited productin car from the start, and the platform that the cars built on will not meet the 07 government crash/safety ratings for the air bags. This was known from the start that the GTO was to be a 3 year run only. But you'd have thought, that the GM would have come up with something in the last 3 years knowing this. Now they have no RWD performance car, except the Vette. No wonder GM is failing, with decisioons like that.....

TeeWJay426

Wasn't that long ago the same could have been said about DCX..... just substitute 'Viper' for 'Corvette'........

Racer X

Its sad that these companys let the bean counters pull the strings instead of the enthusiasts, like us!!!