Zeta back, 6 months behind schedule

[Tal]

At least that's what Edmunds is saying. Hopefully I'm not reposting, but I found it interesting! :secret:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleI d=107210


GM Reverses Decision to Ax Zeta Rear-Drive Platform

Date Posted 09-12-2005

DETROIT — General Motors has revived the Zeta rear-wheel-drive platform for North America, six months after it chopped the program.

Jim Queen, GM's vice president of global engineering, told Automotive News a revised version of Zeta is back on track. Developed by Holden, GM's Australian division, the new Zeta platform — or "architecture" in GM-speak — will form the basis of the next-generation Pontiac Grand Prix and GTO; the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo; and a new version of the Camaro.

The cars could appear as early as next year — an indication of how advanced Zeta was before GM pulled the plug — though they are more likely to be 2009 or 2010 model-year cars. The revised Zeta program is being developed in GM's Australian engineering center.

What this means to you: The success of the Dodge Charger and the Ford Mustang has put pressure on GM to include some traditional American muscle in its U.S. range — so Zeta's back on track.

[H2OSGTO]

A big Plus for GM!!!

[RA7 GTO]

Way to go GM! That Camaro and GTO need to be homeruns, no excuses. A modern interpretation of previous gen with GM-endorsed/supplied/warrantied mods like Dodge does with the SRT-4. Less than 3400lbs with choice of small and large displacement V8s, roots S/C, bolt-ons. The top-of-the-line (SS? ZL1? Judge? Super Duty?) need to absolutely SMOKE the Cobra and anything considered close in their class and price range. There you are. Free advice. I'm not even going to charge you the 2 cents.

[cali_broker]

..Hopefully I'm not reposting...
yup..see my old ZETA thread..updated on 9/14 from AUTOWEEK! :bunny: :angel:

[cerious]

At least that's what Edmunds is saying. Hopefully I'm not reposting, but I found it interesting! :secret:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleI d=107210


GM Reverses Decision to Ax Zeta Rear-Drive Platform

Date Posted 09-12-2005

DETROIT — General Motors has revived the Zeta rear-wheel-drive platform for North America, six months after it chopped the program.

Jim Queen, GM's vice president of global engineering, told Automotive News a revised version of Zeta is back on track. Developed by Holden, GM's Australian division, the new Zeta platform — or "architecture" in GM-speak — will form the basis of the next-generation Pontiac Grand Prix and GTO; the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo; and a new version of the Camaro.

The cars could appear as early as next year — an indication of how advanced Zeta was before GM pulled the plug — though they are more likely to be 2009 or 2010 model-year cars. The revised Zeta program is being developed in GM's Australian engineering center.

What this means to you: The success of the Dodge Charger and the Ford Mustang has put pressure on GM to include some traditional American muscle in its U.S. range — so Zeta's back on track.



Beautiful! I hope they disconinue the goat though it will make ours real collectables.

Cant wait to see the Camaro and I hope its retro and will have three powerplants.

v6, ls2, and ls7 SS

[rlsedition]

Edmunds is wrong - Zeta wasn't that far along when it was canceled, so it would be a while before you'll see anything on the street, like 2010 model year.

[Rob]

Edmunds is wrong - Zeta wasn't that far along when it was canceled, so it would be a while before you'll see anything on the street, like 2010 model year.There is the word from someone in the know...unfortunately

[98Formula]

Actually they aren't incorrect because the program never stopped in Australia. GM is sourcing much from Holden on the American program and making some revisions for our market and upcoming programs, the program was VERY far along.

[rlsedition]

Yes, the Australian program is very far along (you should see a new Commodore for the 2007 model year) and that was part of the problem with the US programs - we were always playing catch-up to Holden. It would have been much better to start all the programs at the same time, so brand differences could more readily have been designed in up-front instead of added later.

The US programs, unfortunately, were not so far along at all.

[cali_broker]

Edmunds suck on news like this..Autoweek is a little better..so swing by my thread...it's much more colorful!

[Goat Lover]

I hope the camaro doesnt come back... it was cool and i liked it but i think that a Chevy RWD V8 car should be called Chevelle. That simple.

[St.Mary]

I hope the camaro doesnt come back... it was cool and i liked it but i think that a Chevy RWD V8 car should be called Chevelle. That simple.

I dunno. No real need to keep bringing back cars that haven't been made in 20-30 years (of course I say this on a GTO forum). The camaro hasnt been gone that long and I think they would have plenty of market with it.

[xcaliber]

Chevelle. That simple.

I can only hope.....

[Goat Lover]

I dunno. No real need to keep bringing back cars that haven't been made in 20-30 years (of course I say this on a GTO forum). The camaro hasnt been gone that long and I think they would have plenty of market with it.
While the Camaro is famous, that is all it ever will be... The Chevelle name on the other hand is LEGENDARY just like the GTO's name :judge:
:hail:

[cali_broker]

While the Camaro is famous, that is all it ever will be... The Chevelle name on the other hand is LEGENDARY just like the GTO's name :judge:
:hail:
Legendary?! You weren't even born yet! :bunny:

[Goat Lover]

Legendary?! You weren't even born yet! :bunny:
And yet i still know about it...thats gotta tell ya somethin right there.

Plus i think Chevelle is a cooler name...

When i hear the name Camaro i think of this guy ---> :mullet:
When i hear the name Chevelle i think of this guy ---> :cool:

[Rob]

Camaro is much more marketable than Chevelle. More identifies with muscle of today. I love Chevelle's and hopefully will get a 67 or 70 one day.

Don't forget the last Chevelles of the 73-77 era, not exactly cool cars. Or even the first SS 6cyl cars. Only a few years was the Chevelle "the car".

[cali_broker]

And yet i still know about it...thats gotta tell ya somethin right there.

Plus i think Chevelle is a cooler name...

When i hear the name Camaro i think of this guy ---> :mullet:
When i hear the name Chevelle i think of this guy ---> :cool:
:gr_jest: lol..just messin with you ;) Don't shoot me :wall:

I do agree however that the Camaro nameplate is more common and identifiable vs the Chevelle name...but who knows? The way GM has been back and forth resurrecting old names like every other manufacturer going retro..they don't really care as long as they can sell more cars;IMO.

[Tal]

I'd imagine GM will pay some marketing group to compare reactions to the two names. We all have opinions on Chevelle vs Camaro and it's hard to say which is more favored in the groups likely to buy either car. But it'd be a simple matter for a focus group/survey on the matter which is how I would expect it to be settled unless one name has a very strong preference in upper management. Personally they are about the same to me, though they may stay away from Camaro in the effort to distance themselves from the 70s-90s GM.

[Goat Lover]

I'd imagine GM will pay some marketing group to compare reactions to the two names. We all have opinions on Chevelle vs Camaro and it's hard to say which is more favored in the groups likely to buy either car. But it'd be a simple matter for a focus group/survey on the matter which is how I would expect it to be settled unless one name has a very strong preference in upper management.
...
Personally they are about the same to me, though they may stay away from Camaro in the effort to distance themselves from the 70s-90s GM.
...And mullets ;)

[darkitec]

It's really sad. There was once a time when GM was ahead of the game and every one else had to play follow the leader. Now everyone even kia is kicking butt and the general is forced to play catch up.

[cali_broker]

It's really sad. There was once a time when GM was ahead of the game and every one else had to play follow the leader. Now everyone even kia is kicking butt and the general is forced to play catch up.

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/7566/toyota4bz. jpg
Associated Press

Members of the United Autoworkers Local 588 of the Ford Motor Co. stamping plant wield sledgehammers and bars on a 1975 Toyota Corolla on March 3, 1981, during a rally against buying foreign-made products.

Toyota fears U.S. backlash as GM struggles

By Yuri Kageyama / AP Business Writer

TOKYO -- With the heads of General Motors and Toyota meeting this weekend in Japan, their concerns couldn't be more different: GM is losing money and market share, while its Japanese rival is worried about doing too well and sparking a protectionist backlash in the United States.

Some analysts say it is only a matter of time before Toyota surpasses General Motors Corp. as the world's No. 1 automaker.

GM's problems are many. Saddled with huge health care and pension liabilities, it lost $1.1 billion in the first quarter. Its bonds were just downgraded to junk status. Its stock hit a 10-year low in April.

Toyota Motor Corp., meanwhile, reported $2.8 billion in profit in the same quarter and commands an edge in the market for environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles, which run on a combination of electricity and gasoline.

The companies' divergent fortunes -- symbolic of the two nations' broader auto industries -- have Japanese auto and government officials worried about a replay of the "Japan-bashing" trade friction of the 1980s, when Toyota and others were blamed for stealing car sales and U.S. jobs, prompting outraged auto workers to smash Japanese cars in protest.

The U.S. Big Three automakers -- GM, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group -- have seen their combined U.S. market share fall from more than 63 percent four years ago to about 57 percent, according to research firm Autodata Corp. During that same period, Asian makers have boosted their share from 30 percent to 36 percent.

As GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and Toyota President Fujio Cho were meeting this weekend near Toyota's headquarters, Japanese auto executives appeared to be making some pre-emptive moves to head off any anti-Japanese sentiment among American consumers.

Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda caused a stir recently by saying he was considering raising prices on Toyota cars in the United States in a bid to aid ailing U.S. rivals, as well as sharing technological research with American automakers.

"The decline of the once invincible American auto industry in the face of Japanese competition could set off a nationalistic backlash among American consumers," the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun warned in an editorial this past week. "There is every reason for Japanese automakers to work hard to avoid unnecessary conflict."

Such fears are overblown, analysts say.

For one, the Bush administration is much more concerned about imports from China than Japan. And over the years, Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have made a point of opening plants in the United States and buying U.S.-made parts.

Also, Japanese cars are not only popular, they're viewed as setting the standard. Americans are global consumers, seeking the best quality and price on products, regardless of where they are designed or made.

"Ultimately, U.S. consumers are consumers first and citizens second. Most people don't really think about where their vehicles are made," said Walter McManus, an auto analyst at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

"The attitude of 'buy American' -- in cars at least -- is pretty much gone," he said.

If anything, McManus said, Okuda's comments about raising prices on Toyota cars to help GM could backfire, at least among U.S. autoworkers.

"It may have been said with the best intentions, but it sounds condescending," he said.

Still, Japanese automakers remember well the trade friction from the 1980s and the Clinton administration's threat to curb Japanese auto imports 10 years ago for alleged unfair trade practices. And as a country heavily dependent on exports, Japan wants to do everything possible to avoid trade friction with the United States, its biggest market.

"The executives of Japanese automakers today all endured tough times back then and don't want to see a repeat of that history," said Koichi Sugimoto, auto analyst with Nomura Securities Co. "They can't help having that gut level reaction."

Clyde Prestowitz, a former trade negotiator in the Reagan administration, said a massive slowdown in the U.S. economy could chill ties with Japan.

"In a booming U.S. economy, it's fine. But if there's any kind of economic downturn, I wonder what the politics of that are," Prestowitz said.

A significant step toward closer cooperation between U.S. and Japanese auto companies would be a possible joint venture between GM and Toyota to produce environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles or fuel cell vehicles in the United States.

The venture would allow the world's two biggest automakers to share the costs of developing fuel cell cars -- which many in the industry believe will eventually replace gasoline-powered vehicles. Fuel cell vehicles emit no pollution because they run on power produced when hydrogen stored as fuel in the car combines with oxygen in the air to make water.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's biggest business daily, reported Thursday that Cho and Wagoner could discuss the project at their meeting Saturday, although the report denied a deal was imminent. GM's spokesman for advanced technology Scott Fosgard denied that any specific talks about a technology pact were planned.

In another move that could be seen as trying to warm ties with the U.S., Toyota said earlier this year that it will build hybrid vehicles at a plant in the United States. According to a report on the Kyodo News wire service Thursday, Toyota picked its plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, as the production site, but Toyota officials would not confirm the report.

Toyota and GM already have a partnership, although it does not involve investment stakes in each other. They run an auto plant in California together and have exchanged research before, including a 1999 pact to work on environmental technology together.

Still, the worries keep looming.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donahue discussed concerns about GM at a meeting Thursday.

Koizumi told reporters he had also met with Okuda, who said he was very worried about the plight of American automakers, and they agreed on the need to work out cooperative relations with U.S. automakers.

"The auto industry is a symbol of the United States, and we wish the best for GM," Koizumi said.
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/8605/toyotagm6b k.gif

[JCS30TH]

It's really sad. There was once a time when GM was ahead of the game and every one else had to play follow the leader. Now everyone even kia is kicking butt and the general is forced to play catch up.


umm. the 1964 GTO was the last time they were ahead of any game. They have been late ever since. I wonder how many charger/Mustang/300C sales would have been GM's if they had a product ot offer?

[bnvus]

Zeta is dead for the US. Lutz just gave a speech about how Zeta will live on through Holden and sold in the Mideast. Because of the Aussie dollar getting stronger against our dollar, importing cars from down under would be a bad business decision for GM. Basically in a few years their profit potential will be non-existant. Blah Blah blah... :cry:

Sounds like they don't want another Canada biting them in the a$$.