The morning dew is still thick on the grass as we pass through the security gate at "Casa Lutz." Our shuttle winds its way up the long drive towards the oversized Swiss chalet that belongs to General Motors car czar, Bob Lutz, dropping us off on the edge of a lush, green pasture where a small fleet of sedans have been parked, waiting for the morning drive to begin.

Our starting point is an appropriate one if you consider that Lutz, the one-time president of Chrysler Corp., came out of retirement three years ago to help transform GM's moribund product development system. The brand-new Pontiac G6 is one of the first and most significant products the automaker has rolled out bearing Lutz's indelible stamp.

The mid-size G6 is a critical new entry for Pontiac. It replaces the aging Grand Am and fills a niche just below the division's larger Grand Prix. The G6 goes up against an array of well-known import competitors in a spectrum that runs from the Honda Civic to the larger and more expensive Accord.

In recent years, the Grand Am has been little more than an afterthought in the increasingly competitive U.S. market, with a large share of its production earmarked for daily rental fleets. But Pontiac is looking to shift the focus to the retail market with the G6, and is confident consumers will buy the new car without the support of heavy incentives.

"This is the first new GM car that reflects a new ethic - rather than do something barely adequate to its segment, we've set out to deliver a tremendous value proposition for the customer," explains Lutz, as he leads the way down to a display of the G6 lineup.

Three of a kind



Eventually, there will be three new vehicles displaying that badge; a stylish coupe and a surprisingly slick hardtop convertible are still a bit away from launch. For the 2005 model year, the G6 arrives in sedan form, a logical move that targets the heart of the market.

All three versions are based off of a new global architecture dubbed Epsilon. The G6 shares this platform with a variety of GM passenger cars, including the Chevrolet Malibu and Saab's 9-3. But for Pontiac, this flexible chassis has been stretched to yield a wheelbase of 112.3 inches, six inches more than the Chevy version. This offers several advantages, GM claims, including a more stable ride, as well as a roomier interior.

The G6 created quite a stir when it first debuted at the Detroit auto show awhile back. The styling of the show car was sleek and striking, and suggested that, indeed, General Motors was getting serious about design again. The production version maintains most of the cues that were so appealing on the prototype, something that could help it stand out in a segment dominated by generally bland Japanese sheetmetal.

full article and images
http://thecarconnection.com/index.as...&sid=180&n=157

 

well, it's about damn time GM had something to keep up with the competition... I think this car will give the accord and camry a decent run, but in the end it still won't be seen as equal, because it isn't japanese :roll:

 

I agree. For some reason I don't really see a Pontiac product ever being in the same category as Camry and Accord (although I think the G6 could do quite well), they just seem to be aimed at different markets. It seems as if challenging Camry and Accord on their turf is Malibu's job, and the G6 is a sporty alternative kind of like the Mazda 6.

 

I agree, the G6 is directed more towards the mazda6/ accord coupe market than the sedan/camry market, but that's not what I was getting at - people have the attitude that any import will always be better then any domestic, period. They just won't admit that a pontiac could be as good as a Japanese car, which will hurt it's public perception/reputation and therefore sales.

As I said in another thread, I think judging a car by it's origin is stupid; Honda and toyota might be the most reliable cars on the road, but it isn't because they're Japanese, it's because those companies are bent on reliability. Look at it this way - Nissan and mazda are average reliability, roughly around ford/gm, and they're imports; Mitsubishi, arguably one of the least reliable vehicles on the road, is Japanese.

Also, people see Korean cars as junk. Look at hyundai - according to JD Power and associates, they're reliability as a whole is equal th hondas now; Kia's is on the bottom of the list - meaning, you can't judge a car by it's origin, anymore than a human.

 

Yeah I know what you mean. Like I said in another thread, hopefully the reliable and well-built new product from the domestics combined with agressive pricing will help swing public opinion back to them a little more.