February 21, 2006

[Redwood]

-Aston Martin DBS - First Look
-BMW at the Geneva Motor Show 2006
-Interior Designers Eye Natural Plastics (Bamboo in Mitsubishis?)
-Exclusive Bentley Diamond Series Continental GT and Arnage
-In-car navigation systems can be dangerous: report
-Lexus Boosts SUV Prices
-European Automakers Making Money
-Aston Marton Rapide To See Production Mid-2007
-First Sign of next BMW 7-Series Generation
-Saturn's Rebirth Vexes Chevy Dealers
-Racing Results: February 17-19, 2006
-It's a Friggin' Diesel: Audi's All-New R10 Le Mans Racer
-Canadian Auto Show Gets "Coolest" Camaro Concept
-Saab Aero X Concept
-GM Holden Gives Hint of Future Design at Melbourne Auto Show
-2006 Geneva Motor Show: MINI GP
-Audi RS4 Cabrio in Geneva! - $38K Mini? No thanks
-A look at Ford's Supercharged Mod Motors
-Mini GP Interior

[McCall]

Re: February 21, 2006

--First Sign of next BMW 7-Series Generation

YIKES!!! Lets hope those headlights are just for disguise!!

[McCall]

GTO is Dead

Breaking news!

I'm not surprised by this news seeing that the Monaro production has halted and the new Zeta platform is not ready for prime time yet.

----
from www.autonews.com (subscripton required)
Pontiac will drop the GTO this year

Posted on 02/21/2006 8:11:58 AM PST by Mikey_1962


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.

"For the remaining life of the car, it simply wasn't
worth the engineering expense or effort to re-certify
it as an '07 for a very limited run, when we could
continue selling them as '06s," says a source close to
GM who is familiar with the program.

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.

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."


(Excerpt) Read more at autonews.com ...

[Dean!]

Re: GTO is Dead

But then Pontiac was earlier blasted for having too much plastic armor on the Grand Ams and Grand Prix, so like the Avalanche, they started taking the body armor off, and ala GTO....then it becomes too bland. Now Ford on the other hand, they make some great looking vehicles, from the new Mustang to the Lightnings to the Harley Davidson F150's to the King Ranch - all very tasteful and stylish.

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.