Pontiac G8 Wagon and Sport Truck Planned

Holy crap, how the hell does it weigh almost 4,000 lbs?!?! My CX-7 is about 3,700!

I'm hesitant, but I've got to admit that red one looks pretty sweet...
 
I saw these Holden "utes" all over ther place in new zealand. Its a very popular truck thats been around for a while, so this is far from "new". In person, they are really not that bad and from what I heard from the locals, quite reliable and practical. I saw quite a few being used on construction sites. Also they are fast as hell. p.s. their government uses these too.

People here in the States b**** and moan that we dont get all the "fun goodies" (i.e. turbo diesel sedans) europe and the rest of the world gets. This Pontiac truck will probably tank due to:

Americans don't recieve new ideas and designs very well. There are so many better and reliable makes and models out there (i.e. Toyota Hilux truck) that would absolutely blow away the competion here in terms of reliablilty and longevity. Why don't we have them? I contribute it to narrow-mindedness: "thats the way we've always dunnit" and "thats ugly as f*ck".

Rant over.(stfu)
 
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Mike Levine over at Pickuptruck.com has managed to scoop a tasty nugget of info about the Pontiac-branded ute that will soon be for sale in the U.S. The Aussie-import based on the same platform as the rear-wheel-drive G8 sedan will be called the G8 ST, as in "Sport Truck".

That pang of disappointment you feel is the missed opportunity of paying homage to GM's most well known car-based pickups and their colorful names: the Chevy El Camino and GMC Caballero. Rather than dubbing Pontiac's ute the "Tamale" or "El Camino Redux", we get a measly little two-letter suffix. Sigh.

Also of note is that the pickup will only be available with a 6.0L V8 and is likely to start around $31,000.
 
That pang of disappointment you feel is the missed opportunity of paying homage to GM's most well known car-based pickups and their colorful names: the Chevy El Camino and GMC Caballero. Rather than dubbing Pontiac's ute the "Tamale" or "El Camino Redux", we get a measly little two-letter suffix. Sigh.

Also of note is that the pickup will only be available with a 6.0L V8 and is likely to start around $31,000.

I was right, a decent name was really needed plus it will be niche (scarce and pricey) to say the least :D.

The "Tamale", (lol)
 
Holy crap, how the hell does it weigh almost 4,000 lbs?!?! My CX-7 is about 3,700!

I'm hesitant, but I've got to admit that red one looks pretty sweet...

Remember, if you put 400hp in a rwd car and you don't want to make a bow knot out of the frame it has to be stong. Strong means heavy unless you want to spend 60k or more. Pluse this thing will likely have a 4-6k towing rate too.
 
We can hardly believe our eyes. We all were under the impression after the last set of rumors from Automotive News that we here in the U.S. would be seeing a Zeta-platformed wagon and ute sometime before the end of the decade. We'd even done our darndest trying to track down that rumor ourselves -- first with Rick Wagoner at CES, then with Lutz himself at Detroit on Tuesday morning. Now, Australian auto media site GoAuto is reporting GM's main product man told them and other members of the media from down under the United States will not be seeing a Holden VE Sportwagon-based wagon. How could "Maximum" Bob Lutz leave us out in the cold like this? Here's how and why -- straight from his "Maximum" mouth:

"We looked at that, but the amount of change to meet US regulations was going to be quite a lot of money...and the sad truth is, as much as some of us like 'sportwagons', they just don't sell in the US.

"How often do you see an Audi wagon? How often do you see a BMW wagon? How often do you see a Mercedes wagon? The answer is, almost never...they're just not fashionable. I can't explain why."

We understand Bob, we understand -- just as long as you don't kill the ute. Please don't kill the ute. And if you are going to kill the ute, give us the exclusive on it, so we can personally slap you in the face for teasing us -- and so you have to watch us cry. You big mean Bavarian man.
 
I hate you Bob Lutz. I hate you with every fiber of my being.

Would you like to know why sportwagons don't sell in the US? It's because there hasn't been a good one that's reasonably affordable in years. The people who could buy a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi wagon are buying Escalades and BMW/Mercedes/Audi SUVs. Soccer moms with cash don't want wagons. The Magnum was a typical Chrysler product: Looks good, but the interior and transmission choices were crap. Just bring one quality wagon over, and give it a chance.
 
Now, Australian auto media site GoAuto is reporting GM's main product man told them and other members of the media from down under the United States will not be seeing a Holden VE Sportwagon-based wagon.

Boooh, I'm sure that out-of-the-box, up-to-the-challenge, fearless attitude will bring the business back for GM. Well, at least the G8 and the Astra made it, let's see how they fare...
 
Boooh.................

The G8 sportwagon would sell better then the sport truck!
 
Although I agree, the Mazda 6 wagon was reasonable.

True. That one I can't explain.

Edit: I can explain it--They never marketed the thing at all. The companies that do well stand on mountaintops and scream "Look at us!!! We've got wagons!!!" See Volvo and Subaru.

Subaru seems to do pretty well with wagons, though.
(dunno)
 
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True. That one I can't explain.

Edit: I can explain it--They never marketed the thing at all. The companies that do well stand on mountaintops and scream "Look at us!!! We've got wagons!!!" See Volvo and Subaru.

Subaru seems to do pretty well with wagons, though.
(dunno)

Absolutely right.

I want a wagon as a daily, I agree with all of your points.
 
Edit: I can explain it--They never marketed the thing at all. The companies that do well stand on mountaintops and scream "Look at us!!! We've got wagons!!!" See Volvo and Subaru.

Subaru seems to do pretty well with wagons, though.
(dunno)

Yup. There are several Mazdas that have not received any advertising although they are good cars. Just check this post on a thread where there are several owners (same household or relatives) who own 2 Mazdas (same model i.e. a Mazda5 or a Protege). In the case of the Mazda5, the 2nd purchase was mostly based on the 1st one experience (or the word of mouth). I think Mazda NA focuses on its cash cows the Mazda3, CX-7, CX-9 and maybe the Miata IMO. There may be no more marketing bandwidth for the rest.

Yet another shame that Mazda doesn't Advertise the 5 in NA. It's not that often that people like a car so much, they buy 2. I love our 5 and if I was made of money, I'd go by myself on (a 5MT if possible). It reminds me of My family and Toyota Camrys. At one time, 5 of 6 family members all had ones in the 97-2000 range.
 
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