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2002 Auto Shows: New York
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| Lutz says, G'day, GTO at press breakfast |
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| Updated |
Mar 17, 2005 19:41:50 |
| Rating |
 21 ( -6 -28.57% ) | | Author | Dan Lyons |
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Description:
Addressing a group of journalists gathered at the New York Auto Show, GM's Bob Lutz confirmed a comeback. Lutz, Product Development Head and Chairman of General Motors, said that GM will import the Holden Monaro and modify it to become the reincarnation of the Pontiac GTO. Holden is an Australian subsidiary of General Motors. "Monaro will become the 21st century GTO", said Lutz, "..and will deliver the type of performance that made GTO famous." The announcement was made during his Keynote speech at the annual Auto Show meeting of the International Motor Press Association. It followed years of speculation in the automotive press about possible revivals for the GTO marque - one of the most revered names from the muscle car era (GTO: New Life for an Old Legend). The former President and COO of Chrysler Corporation went on to predict that the first versions of the new Pontiac would appear early in the 2003 auto show season (most likely at Los Angeles or Detroit), with production beginning in the '04 model year. Monaro's resume reflects solid performance qualifications. The coupe offers a 5.7 liter V-8, six speed transmission, independent rear suspension and four wheel disc brakes. Rebirth of Cadillac
Beyond the formal unveiling of plans for the new GTO, the Chairman singled out two more significant accomplishments for General Motors. Referring to the Ion - the new small car entry from Saturn that made its début at the NY Auto Show - Lutz noted that its flexible architecture will form the basis of other, future GM small car offerings. The GM exec also pointed with pride to the development of the new Cadillac CTS. The first manifestation of a new, rear wheel drive premium platform, Lutz said that the CTS, "..looks like the beginning of the rebirth of Cadillac." Despite the consistent strength of domestic truck sales, Lutz said that future success for General Motors will depend on both the car and truck markets. "GM won't be truly successful until they become a key player in cars again." Speaking on the topic of rebounding and recovery, Lutz found reasons for optimism with both General Motors and the country's economy as a whole. Citing GM estimates of 16 million unit sales for the year and a 1.4% increase in the GDP in the fourth quarter of 2001, Lutz characterized these as, "Signs that things are starting to pick up again." One last rebound was singled out for attention - New York City. "The way the city responded (to September 11 and its aftermath) made everyone proud." Questions and Answers
In an extended question and answer period that followed his prepared remarks, Chairman Lutz was by turns candid and entertaining. Asked when General Motors would bring back Camaro and Firebird, Lutz quipped, "Where were you when we needed you?" He went on to say that there were "..no short or medium term plans to bring them back.
We will have other exciting, high performance cars, but they will be different than Camaro and Firebird." When queried on his vision of the future for non-gas powered cars, Lutz reflected on American's preference for large, V-8 powered vehicles ("We can't legislate what our customers buy"). Noting the government's efforts to mandate higher CAFÉ standards, he observed that asking automakers to do so was like asking clothiers to solve the national obesity problem by only offering clothing in small sizes. In response to a journalist's question about CTS and the possibility of sharing its architecture with other divisions, Lutz remarked that, "The (CTS) Sigma architecture is high featured..of a nobility only suitable to the Cadillac brand, where we can charge for it." While clearly not ruling out technology sharing between divisions, Lutz affirmed, "Sigma is for Cadillac. It's premium." He reflected that "American premium brands have shot themselves in the foot by being too generic", adding, "We are going to make Cadillac the Standard of the World again." Quizzed by a reporter about the possible dangers of the current price wars among automakers, Lutz quipped, "It reminds me of the story of two hikers who are approached by a Grizzly Bear. One guy puts on his sneakers. The other guy says, "What are you doing? You can't outrun a Grizzly Bear?" The first guy replies, "No I can't. But I can outrun you!"" |
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