GM's Zeta project back on track

[Vintalage]

General Motors confirmed Friday that it has stopped development on vehicles being designed for a new rear-wheel-drive platform in the North American market.

Zeta was believed to be the platform GM was going to use for the next-generation Pontiac GTO as well as possibly a pair of new Buick offerings, the Velite sedan and convertible, and maybe a midsize, performance Chevrolet sedan.

Some observers suggest GM scrapped what was to be a low-volume Zeta lineup to turn to a platform that could accommodate higher-volume cars, crossovers and SUVs in rear- and all-wheel-drive.

David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., says this is no surprise, considering GM was not gaining market share or filling its coffers last year, either. "I'm also not surprised that they'd look at an AWD platform as well," he said. "The Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle and Mercury Montego have proved AWD is much more popular than people thought it would be. AWD in cars has really caught on.

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

[Vintalage]

Yep, GM is in trouble.

[Jorak]

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. has killed plans for a new line of rear-wheel drive passenger cars slated to reach North American showrooms in 2008, in large part to free up resources to bring its next generation of large pickups and sport utility vehicles to market quicker.

The news comes after GM reassured investors, suppliers and Wall Street analysts last week that future car and truck programs would remain on schedule despite a new cost-cutting effort.

The automaker is under severe pressure to streamline after announcing last week its 2005 earnings would fall as much as 80 percent below previous estimates.

"While work on particular North American applications of our premium rear-wheel drive midsize vehicle architecture have indeed been stopped, we have begun to study new approaches to efficiently capitalize on future opportunities we see for future midsize rear-wheel drive applications," Marc Beckers, a spokesman for GM, said.

The rear-drive "global architecture" -- dubbed Zeta -- was to provide the basic underpinnings for an array of cars and crossover vehicles for markets around the world. It will continue to be the basis for products sold in regions outside North America.

GM's decision to kill the Zeta program puts the brakes on development of the next generation Pontiac GTO sports car, and new entries for Chevrolet, Buick and Pontiac. The current GTO is already being produced by GM's Holden unit in Australia.

Bob Lutz, GM's vice chairman for product development, canceled development of the premium rear-wheel models for North America, according to two people familiar with the situation.

It was Lutz who first championed the new rear-wheel drive platform. The renowned car expert announced the Zeta program in 2003 as the industry was turning its attention toward rear-wheel drive vehicles.

But he pulled the plug on the North America models after determining the vehicles could not be engineered and assembled to sell at prices competitive with the popular Chrysler 300C, Ford Mustang and other models, without sacrificing quality and content.

In addition, GM is anxious to free up resources to speed up the launch of its new line of full-size pickup trucks. They are not expected to arrive until 2006.

Many in the industry expected the Zeta architecture would mean the return of the Chevrolet Camaro and production versions of the Buick Velite concept car, which debuted at the 2004 New York auto show to rave reviews.

"This is scary. It puts GM behind the eight ball," said Joseph Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting in Short Hills, N.J. "It makes you wonder why can't they get it right. Where does it seemingly go wrong?"

The retreat from Zeta could delay the introduction of GM's new rear-wheel drive passenger cars by at least a year, Phillippi said.


http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosins...A01-123402.htm

[crazypontiac03]

Can we say Toyota! GM is screwed.

[GrahamKracka]

crossover vehicles....GM wants to imitate the pacifica...OMG...barf

[GTPprix]

Screw press releases, from the man himself

http://ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19487

[Vintalage]

So based on your post in that thread GTPprix, '06 will be the last year for the GTO? I figured it would come to an end soon given Holden is moving forward with a new, redesigned model.

[GTPprix]

Sounds like you read it right

[Vintalage]

Hmmm.

[Vintalage]

What I gather from this is that bascially, GM is saying "screw cars, we are going back to what makes us serious money...TRUCKS!!!"

[GTPprix]

Seems that way, kinda ghey considering gas prices.

[GrahamKracka]

foreign automakers are giving some decent competiotion in the truk arena...i expect that to get heated...very soon....I mean..look at the nissan titan.

also you have to consider ford and thier trucks

[Vintalage]

Originally Posted by GTPprix

Seems that way, kinda ghey considering gas prices.

Yes it is unless GM implements hybrid technology in all of their GMT900 offerings. I know GM plans to offer hybrid GMT900s as seperate models.

[GTPprix]

They need to make Hybrid tech available on every 900 model

[H.O. Driver]

Start saving and trying to get your name on the list of the 06 GTO. Hopefully they do something special for the last year of them

[Vintalage]

Heh. And we thought VW was making the wrong business decisions. Gm is desperate.

Could it be said that GM is in the same position that Mitsubishi is in?

[Mike3800]

[Mike3800]

Originally Posted by Vintalage

Could it be said that GM is in the same position that Mitsubishi is in?

Yep. Same bad decision to NOT use the cheap ticket as they always have in the past. It's comming back to bite both companies in the ass.

[bigbenSC]

Bad decision, GM needed a vehicle to compete with the 300C. Does this mean the G8- Bonneville/Grand Prix replacement is on hold? Or will it be an updated version of the existing Bonnie like the Buick Lucerne?

[GregFarz78]

So wait what was the point of making the GTO for 3 years then killing it again Did I miss something here, that thread link is dead