Just two years after its well-hyped launch, the sun is setting fast over the Solstice. The New York Times is casting a gloomy eye toward the momentarily once-hot Pontiac roadster, reporting that the days of waiting lists and above-MSRP markups are over. As of July, year-to-date sales are down 19% compared to 2006; inventory levels sit at the five-month mark. Even worse, the Solstice is creating no lift for the Pontiac brand, which has seen its sales nose-dive 17%, almost twice as fast as GM’s as a whole. While we appreciate the homage to our very own Death Watch column, the NYT indulges in a bit of creative math in the same article when it touts the badge-engineered Saturn Sky as a fantastic success story– even though its sales volumes are one-third below those of both the Solstice and the car that inspired it, the Mazda Miata. Still, it’s sad to see that GM’s brands are so dead that they now qualify for obituaries in the nation’s newspaper of record.
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As a Miata owner… I’m not surprised. The useless trunk and finicky top mechanism kept me from even test driving the Solstisky.
That, and reports of dealer tacking on a “market adjustmant” value.
The worst thing about this is that GM could have made it truly great, but just couldn’t be bothered. They stopped when it was “Good enough”… Just like all their cars.
Start digging the grave. There’s an open spot next to the Fiero.
Another Lutz fantasy comes face to face with reality.
Who ever thought that Solstice was going to lift Pontiac was a fool. In fact, what roadster buyer would even consider shopping at a Pontiac-Buick-GMC lot?
Lutz & Co. have dug Pontiac’s grave. I wonder how many will bother going to the funeral.
The same kind of dumb decisions which once gave us Opels at Buick dealerships and then gave us the Opel by Isuzu led to the GTO disaster and the Solstice. Someone needs to build a GM Hall of Shame. Allante, Catera, GTO and Solstice all belong there.
I have seen about 20 Solstice on the roads and in driveways since it came out. I have yet to see a single Saturn Sky, I thought they hadn’t started selling it in the US since it was suck an enigma.
Who is surprised? A few buyers went after it because of the funky looks… but far more stayed away because of that. A terrible trunk, awful rear visibility, godawful ergonomics, flat seats, a lousy shifter, outright dangerous headlights – the majority of buyers won’t put up with these types of things.
And the type of buyer who excused those faults because of the perceived image or the performance to be had (at least on the turbo models, because the base engine is a horrible dog) is also the type of buyer who gets bored quickly and moves elsewhere.
The car needs a total redesign…. and there is nothing to indicate it’ll get it anytime soon.
-Jeff
http://www.DrivingEnthusiast.net
I love when the mass media catches up to something that could have been learned at least 6 months ago by simply checking the new car ads and looking at a few dealers’ lots. My local dealer discounted the Solstice about 6 months ago. Not a big discount, but a discount!
No surprise here, I see a few Solstices around every once and while, but I still see more new Miatas on a regular basis. Theres at least 3 sitting at the closest Pontiac dealership to me, and they’ve been there for a few months.
Saw this coming.
It is like when a hot new girl shows up in high school. At first every guy wants to date her. Then you find out she’s demanding, hardhearted and dumb.
Then the friendly, smart, personable girl who is still plenty cute (Miata?) looks a lot better.
Dances better too.
CR’s last survey had the Solstice as the third least reliable vehicle, Fiero redux?
GM even lost the guy who designed the only good part…to Mazda, irony circuits on overload.
Brilliant.
In the long run a pretty, bad car is just a bad car. Ask the british motor industry, if you can find it.
Even if it was better designed with a moderately useful trunk and the world’s easiest folding top, it would be but one (or two if we include the Sky) player in a small niche market already dominated by the Miata.
It might’ve provided a lift for the rest of the Pontiac line if it weren’t for the horrible ugliness of Pontiac’s other cars. You go to the dealer and see this gorgeous Solstice (IMO one of the best looking cars on the road) and these dog-ugly cars on the lot beside it look even worse than they would on their own.
I am far behind in this segment since I stopped driving my Alfa Spider. How does pricing compare between the 3 (Solstice, Sky, Miata)?
GM creates two new cars that compete head to head with each other, but are intended to compete against the well established and successfully MX5. Nevermind that GM is so late to this game that there are literally thousands of excellent Boxsters, Z3/4s, TTs, SLKs, MR2s, and S2000s for sale on the used car market selling in the $25,000 to $35,000 range (Soltice/ Sky price range). ALL are better cars/roadsters than the Soltice or Sky.
The Soltice/ Sky have a unrefined look and feel to them that is comparative to a “Kit Car”. Compared to every other car in this class they they are simply “unfinished” with the gas tank in the trunk and the worst convertible top I have ever seen. The Soltice’s top is so bad if it had been fitted to a Fiat, or MG of the early 1970s it would have recieved it deserved critism back then.
The Soltice serves at a glaring example of how bad GM really is. The recent history of this class of cars has been defined by excellence with the Miata, S2000, and Boxster at the top followed by some very good cars such as the TT and Z3/4. While the SLK has been rather lack-luster in both versions atleast it was built with some respect for brand and customer. The Soltice/ Sky on the other hand are the newest entries but offer up ZERO improvements in this class and remind me of GM in the 80s with its “so what, it good enough as is, our customers are stupid” attitiude!
Nevermind the fact that the Sky only serves to reenforce the idea that GM makes crappy cars at home and abroad.
I like the Solstice but don’t fit.. not enough head room…
The Solstice is half-baked. They should’ve finished designing it before selling. Right now, the main reason to buy one is to get the GXP which does make good use out of the competent (but not excellent) chassis.
The Mazdaspeed MX-5 is coming in 1-2 years and then who’s gonna buy a “Ponniac” ?
Why is this news? Any vehicle, especially trendy ones like the Solstice have a very short window of “gotta have it” noteriety. 18 months to two years is about right. Sales should then settle into a familiar pattern. If (and this is a big if) GM can manage to settle for decent sales (as opposed to extraordinary) for the car and update and improve it consistently then it will have a viable image model for Pontiac.
If not, it can settle in beside several half-baked ideas many automakers brought out then abandoned.