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Sedans Pontiac G8 2008 Pontiac G8
1266 messages, Last post on Dec 07, 2009 at 12:07 PM
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I'm sorry but I have real doubts that the demographic group of 40+ year old professionals and corporate executives who buy M45s, (the few that are sold because the M35 outsells the M45 by 6 to 1), will be shopping a Pontiac G8 GT against an Infiniti M45. The professional or executive who is buying a car for conspicuous consumption will likely want to arrive at business meetings, at the country club which requires a $10,000 annual social expenditure, or at the courthouse for a significant case he is trying in a luxury marque car. While the G8 seems to about as attractive a piece of machinery as has been offered by American automakers in many years, the Pontiac never has been nor is it being currently marketed as a luxury marque. Just as the Chrysler is not a luxury marque. The G8 and 300C fall into that peculiarly American (Canadian & Australian) automotive category known as the muscle car sport sedan. Likely the only American make of car that directly competes with the M45 is the Cadillac STS Northstar (if you can call a car being phased out competition). That orthopedic surgeon and trial lawyer just might have some fond memories of a second hand Pontiac Sunbird or Chrysler K car, that they drove while in medical or law school, which ran rough and was prone to corrosion. To be sure the G8 directly competes with the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300. It offers a RWD alternative to the FWD Toyota Avalon (Aurion which it competes with in the home Australian market) and the Nissan Maxima. Given the current state of the economy I believe the impact a offering V8 will have in this market segment is still being over-estimated by GM. The G8 GT may try to steal some entry level luxury buyers of Acura TLs, Infiniti G35s, MB C-class, BMW 3s and Audi A4s, but those cars are firmly entrenched in the market. Each has just been redesigned and offers similar performance in a true luxury brand. I can conceive the G8 doing the most damage in the market place to the Cadillac CTS. The last generation CTS brought out a V spec model with 400 hp and that car made little market penetration in its segment (against the E39 BMW M5). But to say the G8 GT competes with the BMW 550 and Infinti M45 (why not throw in the Audi A6, MB E-class, Lexus GS, and for good measure the new Jaguar XF) I find to be a fantastic claim. It's just in that same way that neither the Infiniti M nor even a BMW 550i directly compete with a Maserati Quattroporte or a Bentley Continental.
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| why does everybody over analyze the g8? the car is big, drives like it's much smaller and seems well built. gm seems to have finally built a decent rwd car...let's all just be happy about that! | |
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Replying to: athens (May 23, 2008 1:26 pm) That's where I see this car going. Folks who don't want a Maxima, Camry, Tarus, etc. -mike |
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The fuss is based on the FACT that American automobile manufacturers that had once made that transformed the automobile into everything from an affordable form of mass transportation to truly sublime products envied all over the planet have since relinquished that role to foreign manufacturers. In the 1960s American Cadillac Fleetwoods, not Benzes (except in German speaking countries), nor BMWs, nor Audis, nor Jags (except in the UK) were the choice of the tycoons and heads of state. I dare anyone to name one celebrity or head of state outside the US who currently drives a Cadillac in their native land. Current American made automotive products (including models made exclusively for the US market in the US by foreign car makers such as the Japanese and Koreans) have only one purpose. Making the manufacturer a quick profit and keeping Americans addicted to conspicuous consumption and that formerly inexpensive drug, gasoline. Jeremy Clarkson, the BBCs Top Gear host, though himself no a stranger to hyperbole, came to the same conclusion in his "Good, Bad & Ugly" comparison of American cars and SUVs in California. He posed a reasonable question: How is it that the nation that makes the Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carrier, the Trident class nuclear submarine, and the Space Shuttle, can get it "so wrong" that 5.5 billion other people on the planet will absolutely not buy our domestic made cars? Except for a few Vettes and the Ford GT. Manufacturers constantly use hyperbole such as comparisons to similar products beyond the market level of their own product to market. That is called commercial advertising. Even professional automotive reviewers will use hyperbole to extol the virtues of a product. Likely without such sensational comparisons, pure technical writing about what are basically machines might otherwise come across as ... well rather dry and technical. Again while the G8 GT is attractive and has some positive attributes, as many professional car reviewers have written "it may be regarded by some as the Wrong Car at the Wrong Time" for both GM and American consumers. Only time will tell but my personal belief is that GM (and Ford which also has a global presence) can do a heck and a lot better at making what American consumers need, rather than merely what their passing fancies desire. SEE: http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp?revid=53137&indcriteria=ASSET_TYPE-A- - ffiliate+Review%2cBuying+Guide%2cVehicle+Profile%7cM-_40_%7cD-_8816_%7cY-_2008_%- - - 7cresultStructure-combined&revlogtype=19&makeid=40&modelid=8816&year=2008&myid=&- - - revlogtype=19§ion=reviews&mode=&aff=national ALSO: http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp?ASSET_TYPE=Affiliate+Review%2CBuying+Gui- - - de%2CVehicle+Profile&revlogtype=17§ion=reviews&makeid=40&modelid=8816&year=2- - - 008
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Replying to: athens (May 24, 2008 5:48 am) Why did I buy a BMW in 2006? Exactly what you said...US autos have morphed into non desirable appliances for both quality and design AFAIC. You can't tell me BMW, Audi and Merc-class cars can not be topped by the US. There is no desire to do so to date. That is what makes me so defiant. In the 60's Caddy was KING. Pontiac was KING. Oldsmobile was HOT. Chevy was PASSION. What the heck happened?? Greed. No passion, no sale. Regards,
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Replying to: circlew (May 24, 2008 7:01 am) -mike |
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More accurately that is the FANTASY that we Americans have become accustomed to for the past 30 years. Frivolous and disposable consumerism supported by high ratios of personal debt. NOW, as a result of living that DREAM, Americans and American businesses will see REALITY. A reality which this generation will likely have to pay for by working well into old age because they cannot afford to retire. All in the name of "Disposable Consumerism". |
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for me, the g8 gt was the right car at the right time. i didn't even bother looking at bimmers or mercs because in order to get the options you want...you are unloading at least 40k from your pocket...and always for a car that offers less room and barely better performance than the g8 gt. the g8 is the first rwd car from gm in a long time that offers performance, reasonable nvh and good driving characteristics all in an attractive package that lists for around 30k. it's the rwd performance bargain of the year imo! even though gm uses high brow bimmers in some of its comparisons, it's really the chrysler rwd cars that are it's competition.
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Replying to: emale (May 24, 2008 2:50 pm) Regards, OW |
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Replying to: circlew (May 24, 2008 7:01 am) And, your summation....GREED! While other countries look 5+ years out, and are willing to take a short-term profit hit for a long term gain, US auto makers look primarily at the short term. The proof is the recent re-introduction of low-mileage high performance cars when gas prices are rising exponentially. If gas prices stay at their current levels, all of these models will disappear in 2-3 years due to the limited sales potential. Technically, however, there is absolutely NO reason the US couldn't be leading the pack...if the manufacturers were so inclined.... |
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