Due to slower-than-expected sales and the expense of recertifying the vehicle for 2007 emissions and safety standards, GM has told dealers that this year will be the last for the Pontiac GTO, with the last vehicles hitting US shores in September. Having sold 13,500 units in '04 and 11,600 last year, the GTO never quite lived up to expectations. In this case, I feel a bit sorry for GM. It did exactly what its fans wanted it to - bring over one of the magnificent rear-wheel-drive Holden products from Australia. Pontiac never quite figured out the marketing, though; it was too expensive and sophisticated for the muscle-car crowd, too GM-ish to attract buyers away from other $35K coupes, and of course its bland styling was glaringly apparent to anyone who ever laid eyes on an '05 Mustang. Let's not forget the nasty price-gouging that occurred early on, either. The power was there (400 HP - I mean, come on - that's serious), the interior was terrific, the chassis was excellent - had this product launched in the late 90s when the buzz about Holden began, I think it could have made a major impact. Launching a full lineup including a sedan and maybe a droptop would have certainly helped as well, and maybe this was more of a Chevrolet all along. Orig posted on Autoblog.com
yeah, but it looked like fucking a gran prix... that is NOT the stuff legends are made of. and to think this came from the same folks that designed the solstice (well a saturn guy did that, but still). they could have done a lot more.
yeah, read that this morning. this DOES give promise to a real GTO and the Camero comeback. With 99% of their RWD cars being Cadillacs, they NEED to build a new plant to build newer platforms. they hit the FWD market with full force in the early 80's. time to update GM.
That sucks! I thought highly of this car, and even though it was overpriced I thought it was going to do really well. I guess maybe the coupe isn't making a comeback afterall.
Friend of mine and GTO owner comments: --- Even before it was made, it was only supposed to be a 3 year run. The Monaro actually continued on because of the GTO. The Commodore has already changed over and a new Monaro/GTO is supposed to come out for '08 or '09. Also, they made 15,7xx in '04. So this really isn't breaking news as it was already a known fact before production started.
I still like them. The previous owner of my WRX has a very built one now, last I heard he was putting in some 411ci engine or something in it and talking about spraying 100+hp on top of that (shooting for 10s or 11s with an automatic).
I looked at the GTO's when they came out and bleh! strike 1, It looked like a Pontaic Sunfire on the outside. strike 2, They wasted large amounts of interior space between the back seat and trunk and extra plastic molding everywhere. strike 3, They were still price gouging at the time.