Among the corporate reshuffling that is taking place at the new GM is the retention of Bob Lutz, the product czar that is largely responsible for the lack of suckiness in the company’s most recent offerings.
Staying on as vice chairman responsible for all creative elements of products and customer relationships, Lutz has made his first proclamation: According to Automobile Magazine, the much-loved (but little-bought) Pontiac G8 will live on as the Chevrolet Caprice. Since this is a car that’s already sold as a Chevy in the Middle East (see photo), this is a pretty obvious move, but one that was recently denied by CEO Fritz Henderson, who said that he wasn’t a fan of rebadging. Hey, left hand, check out what the right’s doing!
Anyhow, no timetable was given, but the only real question is whether we’ll get the actual Caprice that’s sold in the Middle East with its longer wheelbase, or will the Middle East’s Chevy Lumina simply be rebadged as a Caprice for the States? I’m just glad we’ll have this platform around a while longer. Now, if GM can upgrade the interior a bit, that’d just be icing on the cake.
Automobile Magazine
You’ve seen the news about the failing domestic auto industry, and maybe it’s stirred just enough patriotism in you that you want to make your next car a domestic brand, just to help. Problem is, every single time you’ve visited a GM, Ford or Chrysler showroom in the past few years, you’ve come out laughing and headed down the street to the competing Japanese or European dealership.
Old Glory
The truth of the matter is that American manufacturers are really making some pretty compelling vehicles today, cars and trucks that compete on merit and not because their respective manufacturers have piled the cash on the hood. So you can go into, say, a Chevy dealership and drive off in a Malibu knowing that you actually have one of the best cars in its class. But the ‘Bu isn’t a one-off, as there are lots of good cars out there now with American nameplates. These are 10 of my favorites, running the gamut from sedans to crossovers to luxury cars. I skipped the trucks; despite Toyota and Nissan’s best efforts, they’re still blown away by Ford, Chevy, GMC and Dodge
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Among the corporate reshuffling that is taking place at the new GM is the retention of Bob Lutz, the product czar that is largely responsible for the lack of suckiness in the company’s most recent offerings.