Most trucks I see are empty anyhow whether it be a work day or weekend.

Yeah it probably wouldn’t sell very well here. We say we want a variety of vehicles to choose from but mostly we all want the same stuff from a narrow selection of vehicles. Not enough people daring to be different. Don’t have to be obnoxious to be different of course.

FWIW I like the SSR. Never closer to one than in traffic but it is unique. I think GM had a great product even if it was too rich for me. The used market prices I could deal with except I am in that period in my life where I HAVE to have a backseat b/c a couple short people that look alot like my wife and I follow us around everywhere.

FWIW I drove alot of the little Euro-utility vehicles back in the early 90s. I doubt many here would be satisfied with them (slow, very lightweight, more utility than looks) but they did carry an amazing amount of stuff and were pretty frugal. Better than you’d imagine.

A friend in South Africa has the Ford equivalent to this Holden. He says it is very functional, he does drive it for his business, and he likes it very much. Unfortunately for some reason (previous owner gets alot of the blame for neglect) he has had alot of reliability problems with it.

To those who call this a POS, please park a Chevy Luv beside it and tell us again which is a POS.

General Motors has what, 5 “pickups” on the market? Three of which I cannot visualize what market they were seeing. What’s one more?

Good economy, fun to drive, good reliability, $19,500 start, $24,500 optioned out would put it on radar.

Bring in a few of these and we’ll use them as Flower cars. (The flower car is the one carrying the flowers behind the family limo, which is immediately behind the Hearse. For the Hearse we’ll use any Chrysler 300 wagon.)

Now, get down to somehow eliminating everything but Chevrolet and Cadillac and get to work on producing a few very good vehicles in each stable. The CTS is a great example. GM just can’t pretend to have the resources to do anything but if they want to survive. Better to have two fantastic vehicles from Chevrolet and two from Cadillac that people will actually buy than a shitload of offbeat exercises like this one that will die an early death and water down the marque.

I think Droid800 hit the mark a few posts up. With this canceled, Pontiac has…what, in the pipeline? Nothing? This decision probably has less to do with the G8 ST’s profitability and more to do with the Pontiac brand’s future – or lack thereof.

(BTW, long time reader, first time poster. You guys are doing a great job on this site, keep up the good work!)

That may be true, but it may have more to do with the money that GM got from the Australian government to start building small cars down there: http://www.themotorreport.com.au/15429/holden-announces-production-of-four-cylinder-small-car-from-2010/

The implication here is that they are going to almost certainly reduce production of the Commodore, which probably means that it makes even less sense to spend the money and effort needed to export versions of them to the US.

As for much mentioned SSR, there was no comparison, the SSR is hideous to my eye and apparently most everyone else’s as well (based on sales numbers), and lacked the functionality of the Holden Ute.

But according to others on this thread, the investment is already made. I would think it prudent to sell some (Limited Edition?) to recoup that investment.

Just sayin’

Since GM is a business, and not yet a department of the US government, this is the most important criterion for go/ no go on production.

This is the decision that GM needs to make for every vehicle it manufactures and tries to sell to the market from here on in: will we make money on it? Period.

If you are a GM stakeholder, and come to think of it, we ALL are now, we should view this development somewhat positively.

Carmakers are in business to make money, not to make a particular subset of drivers warm and fuzzy. If they can do both, fine. But in all things capitalist, the profit comes first.

If the G8 ST ever made it to these shores, it too probably would have lasted a couple of years before it got withdrawn for similar reasons – lack of interest and lousy sales (and price, too – see Chevy SSR). If you want a cheap pickup for utility, now’s the time. Big-time tax deduction for self employed business owners? was the ST’s GVWR >6000lbs? Doubt it.

Even though the tooling and engineering are all but paid for, marketing bucks would have been nonexistent, and getting unique body parts would mean waiting for the slow boat from Australia.

In shopping for a new car last month the G8 GT was a prime pick for myself. The dealership was so much in need for a sale that they let me take a week long test drive. Huge mistake on their part. At the end of day two I was more then ready to give it back.

First things first, the car was a blast to drive. Never had I been able to slide out the rear in such a slick manner. But that was it. Quality, NONE. Craftsmanship, NONE. Practicability, NONE. Reliability, its a Pontiac, NONE.

The car was a piece of poor fitted, lack luster painted, squeaky running crap that’s only enjoyment in life was sliding onto freeway on-ramps. My poor salesman when I came back into the dealership 2 days early only saying “Thanks for the test drive.” and walking out.

Again, like yesterday’s RAM post, timing is everything; big engine, poor gas mileage, recessionary economy, no credit and an automobile division that has announced its own demise.

Of course, I loved the El Camaro (sic).

Maybe you guys are the ones still arguing over why a Nissan V6 produces more power/liter than an Austrailian V8.

To each their own.

I do think they are neat, if for no other reason than they are different.

For the record, Holden were maintaining (at least until very recently) that these vehicles were profitable. The export version continues to the Middle East as Chevy, which is probably more the point.

The G8 is interesting for what is does say about GM.

1. Why are there two very similar RWD platforms, separately developed? Sigma II (CTS) and Zeta (G8/Commodore).

2. How is possible for Holden to (supposedly) be profitable on a low volume line like this in Australia?

3. How is it that Holden are able to sustainably manufacture a sedan, lwb wagon, lwb limo, ute and high performance versions across a number of price ranges from one plant?

4. How is it that Holden have leapt (really) in quality with this vehicle?

To work, it would have to have been locally produced. Wasn’t some of the tech going to Canada? So I agree, GM can’t afford such conundrums.

If it is just a halo car, what does it say about the brand? That its unique and entertaining cars have to be imported from Australia? That it could offer efficient, car-based trucks to Americans but doesn’t? That the G8 isn’t enough of a halo on its own? That camino beds make more sense than station wagons? What?

as for this abomination up there, good riddens. UGLY AS SIN. I know there is a market for vehicles like these but for GM to mass produce this is madness.

It’s OK. We forgive you. Just don’t mention the Kiwi neighbors or the embarrassing beer (no-one drinks it, we’re not sure where it goes after they “brew” it).

This is the smartest decision GM has made in years.