# Pontiac GTO is Back at ‘Full Tilt’



## 05GTO (Oct 6, 2004)

*Pontiac GTO is Back at ‘Full Tilt’ *
*General Motors plans a follow-up to today’s GTO, and a high Australian dollar means it will likely be built in North America*

By GREG KABLE 

AutoWeek | Published 03/02/06,​
The Pontiac GTO lives! It will be replaced in late 2008 by an all-new model underpinned by General Motors’ latest rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform, with a strong likelihood of it being built on the same production line as the Chevrolet Camaro in North America.

That’s the message from General Motors vice president for global product development, Bob Lutz, at this week’s Geneva motor show.

The replacement for today’s slowish-selling GTO was canceled last year when General Motors announced it was reorganizing its North American operations and was set to focus its efforts on creating a new line of sport/utility vehicles, pickups and crossovers. 

But Lutz has told AutoWeek that reports of the rear-wheel-drive coupe’s death were premature and the next-generation GTO’s development program was only really placed on hold, and—after some internal reorganization to ensure profitability targets can be met—it is now back on.

“The reason we said it was canceled is because that way our people would put their pencils down,” Lutz said. “In GM if you say something is deferred, then people keep working on it. We really needed to get that message through to everybody.” GM’s 74-year-old product guru said the program into which the GTO is incorporated was ‘getting out of control’ and running up costs that would have made it unworkable.

“It was my fault that it got out of control in the first place,” he added. “It was going to be the world’s greatest car and apparently cost nothing to make. So we’ve started over now. The program is back on and it’s going full tilt.”

Lutz confirmed that the GTO was “only ever off for two months, but that break has enabled us to get a more feasible program up.” The program he points to is General Motors’ Zeta rear-wheel-drive platform, which is being developed by Holden in Australia and set to underpin the new-generation Commodore due to be launched in August.

Besides Camaro and GTO, other models set to be based on the Zeta platform are upcoming replacements for the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, and a new car called the Buick Statesman, according to Lutz.

Contrary to rumors, however, Lutz said General Motors is not planning to revive the Pontiac Firebird. “No, that’s not something we are planning. We are not going to do that car,” he said.

When pushed on whether GM was thinking about bringing back the El Camino off the Zeta platform, Lutz beamed with enthusiasm. “The kids in the company, myself included, would love to do another El Camino, but the grown-ups amongst us don’t share that way of thinking,” he said. “It would be fairly simple. We’d only have to put a Chevrolet face on the Holden Ute [a car-like pickup sold in Australia]. The building blocks are there.”

Less sophisticated than the existing rear-wheel-drive Sigma platform found beneath the Cadillac STS and other high-end GM models, the Zeta architecture is said to be considerably cheaper to produce, owing to a simplified rear-suspension arrangement and other features.

Lutz suggests the individual character of GM models would not be compromised by basing them around one platform. “We have developed different dash-to-front-axle lengths for various models,” he said. “It [the Zeta platform] is a really flexible platform.”

Along with Australia and North America, Zeta-based rear-wheel-drive models are also being developed for sale in the Middle East and China. Details remain scarce, though GM’s business case for the new GTO is rumored to be based around sales of between 15,000 and 20,000 per year in North America. After a promising start, today’s model has failed to live up to initial estimates recording 13,569 sales in 2004 and just 11,590 in 2005.

Lutz confirmed that GM’s Australian subsidiary, Holden, would play a leading role in the engineering of the GTO [where it is sold as the Monaro] and its sister car, the Camaro. “Holden is responsible for the large rear-drive architecture that these cars are based on. If it happens, Holden will do the development on the Camaro as well as the GTO,” he told AutoWeek.

Despite being developed in Australia, however, there are strong indications the next GTO will be built in North America. “Whether the GTO will be built in Australia [as the current Pontiac GTO is] will largely depend on the [U.S. vs. Australian dollar] exchange rate at the time,” said Lutz. He added, “With the current strength of the Australian dollar and the recent Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the U.S., it would be more feasible to build the GTO in North America. This raises the possibility of both the new-generation GTO and Camaro being imported to Australia in right-hand-drive guise.

Production of today’s Pontiac GTO is planned to end in September, leaving GM with two years before the new Zeta-based model arrives in North American showrooms. As with the recently unveiled Chevrolet Camaro, it is expected to carry a more retro-inspired design with cues from earlier GTO models. Today’s model started life as the Holden Monaro and was never envisaged to carry the GTO badge, leading to complaints from North American buyers that it lacks any visual connection with the original.


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## k1200lt (Jan 18, 2006)

Kinda sux. I liked the idea of the Aussies building them. Makes a great conversation point.


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## Groucho (Sep 11, 2004)

_Please_ build them in Oz....pleasepleaseplease....


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## TexasRealtor (Oct 4, 2004)

Any word on the fuel tank placement on the new platform?


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## dealernut (Oct 22, 2005)

TexasRealtor said:


> Any word on the fuel tank placement on the new platform?



:lol: :lol: :lol: Love the Avatar:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## V8INTERCEPTOR (Feb 22, 2006)

*Great news*

This is great news. Long live the GTO. Well, once my 2005 GTO lease is up in December of 2008, I know what I will be getting.


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## ralniv (Dec 21, 2005)

I think this is a smart move on GM's part for a few reasons...

1. The Holden-built GTO was more expensive than GM intended the car to be due to the weakness of the US dollar

2. I read somewhere that GM was limitted on the # of units they could import from Holden based on union contracts. If this is accurate, then moving the platform stateside will allow them to mass market the product

3. A firebird is a direct competitor to Camaro and GM would end up canibalizing itself again. The GTO is more family/passenger friendly and opens up a market niche that the Camaro (or Firebird) doesn't address.

I hope smart choices like this reflect a long-term shift in GM business practices.

<edit>Oh wait, I just read the last sentence about retro. I'm always scared by that word. Lets hope they carry historical design cues (ala Corvette) and not tons of plastic body cladding that screams "we're trying too hard for retro".</edit>


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## MeanGoat (Jan 4, 2006)

Hate to say I told you so to the nay sayers. Not

Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for two things:

1. It doesn't go too retro.

2. The power level increases. (What can I say? I'm greedy that way)

Overall this news makes me  from ear to ear

   :cheers


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## NT91 (Aug 30, 2005)

ralniv said:


> I think this is a smart move on GM's part for a few reasons...
> 
> 1. The Holden-built GTO was more expensive than GM intended the car to be due to the weakness of the US dollar
> 
> ...


Like the Mustang has done (2005-2006)


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## purplehaze (Dec 27, 2005)

woooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooo that is GREAT news, but we are still gonna have limited editions.... Are they putting the LS2 in the new ones??? or maybe the 6


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## JWCACE (May 12, 2005)

If it is built wth the past quality of a Camaro...or many other us made Pontiacs....were in trouble.


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## CarzyCaz (Mar 6, 2006)

05GTO said:


> Production of today’s Pontiac GTO is planned to end in September, leaving GM...


What about those unlucky and financially crippled college kids that think the current GTOs are modern works of powerful art, and in boring classes, thinks of the roar of an LS2 to wake himself up?

I want my tiger 

*Sorry to start off on a bad note, as soon as I heard the GTOs were going to be a rare species... I had to check it out, and where better than THE GTO forum :cool


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## BigNick (Jan 7, 2005)

Building them in the US will also allow them to be offered in greater numbers (ie, with V6-power under a different name such as "Tempest", "Le Mans", "G7" or something) so they can be more profitable. And profit is something GM needs these days.


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## spdcop (Feb 20, 2006)

I think that it would be great if you could have more options. You know, have them build it the way you want it. Maybe even a Judge package. :cool


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## CarzyCaz (Mar 6, 2006)

It would be great to build it in the US, I agree... but if it's built here, theres that fear of ugly retro in my mind. Mind you, not all the "reborn muscle cars" are bad, like the Challenger is very nice, imo. But I'm not sure I want to wait for the redesigned GTO, after all... the current GTO operates on almost everything electronic. I don't know about you, but if it's not Japanese (or even Australian, in this case), it shouldn't fiddle with too many electronics.


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## Groucho (Sep 11, 2004)

Built in the US? By the _UAW_?

_Pass._


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## BlueBomber (Feb 11, 2005)

i'm curious, what other vehicles have you owned groucho?


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## silver/red/04 (Aug 22, 2005)

Can't wait to see what it will look like ,I will be ready to buy me a new GOAT by then.


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## Ironmancan (Feb 11, 2006)

Groucho said:


> Built in the US? By the _UAW_?
> 
> _Pass._


 Unfortunate.


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## one_focused_svt (Feb 12, 2006)

Maybe this time pontiac will actually advertise, push, and take pride in the one fast ass car they sell, instead of making you guys feel like red-headed step children. :cheers


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## Ironmancan (Feb 11, 2006)

one_focused_svt said:


> Maybe this time pontiac will actually advertise, push, and take pride in the one fast ass car they sell, instead of making you guys feel like red-headed step children. :cheers


 Yes they could learn a thing or two by checking out the Ford Mustang marketing guys.:agree


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## CarzyCaz (Mar 6, 2006)

silver/red/04 said:


> Can't wait to see what it will look like ,I will be ready to buy me a new GOAT by then.


Alright, last time I bring this question up again, promise  :
Am I the only one that doesn't want the current GTO to stop being manufactured? And should there really be a fear of an ugly retro GTO?

If not, I can be happy and patient


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## Ironmancan (Feb 11, 2006)

CarzyCaz said:


> Alright, last time I bring this question up again, promise  :
> Am I the only one that doesn't want the current GTO to stop being manufactured? And should there really be a fear of an ugly retro GTO?
> 
> If not, I can be happy and patient


 No your not the only one who doesn't want it it be. However, we must move on and I hope the next Gen GTO stays with her muscle car roots. I have some faith in the engineering team and hope they don't take the retro thing to far. I'm sure no matter what they do some will not be pleased. One thing I do like is the fact that my car was limited and only had a 3 yr run. I'm not to concerned with sales figures some of the classics weren't the best sellers in their days either. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed and taking everything we hear and read with a grain of salt until we actually see the car.:cheers


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## CarzyCaz (Mar 6, 2006)

Very well said... For the future of the GTO :cheers


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## Aussie (Feb 8, 2006)

hmmm wow thats very interesting. Bring it on i say! I think given the state of the australian automotive industry at the current time we're certainly upto the task. I'm hoping to god that a man named "mike simcoe" is head of design, the man is an automotive genius. He designed the monaro and built the monaro 427 race car which was one of the only V8's in history to beat ferarri's and lamborgini's in an endurance race. 

:cheers


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## 05 Silver/Red A4 GTO (Mar 13, 2006)

Amen I say to all GTO lovers!


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## Robertr2000 (Mar 25, 2006)

Ironmancan said:


> One thing I do like is the fact that my car was limited and only had a 3 yr run.



:agree 

I LOVE the fact that no one knows about the GTO. I LOVE that fact that everyone else doesn't have one. Like the Mustang..... don't get me wrong, The Mustang is Beautiful! It really is. I'm just SICK of seeing them everywhere :willy: The New model started to grab me, and guess what, I'm sick of looking at those now too. :confused If the GOAT was as popular as the Stang? You, me and everyone of us, wouldn't have been able to get one under $40k. IMO. 

We Goat owners are truely Blessed


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