Memo to car manufacturers: naming contests don't work, except to grind my gears. It didn't work for Alfa Romeo, who had to ignore contest results for the car we now know as the MiTo (fan chosen name was Furiosa). And now General Motors has revealed that the production name of the Pontiac G8 ST concept – a "sport pickup" version of the Australian Pontiac G8 – will be the Pontiac G8 ST. Jalopnik's Jalops went so far as to hand out buttons calling for an El Camino revival. While that moniker might not have been GM's best call– it's a Chevy name– neither is G8 ST. Then again, with the G8 ST being a niche within a niche, big diff (no LSD implied). The name choice really does show, however, GM's incredible ability to minimize the impact of a car when it comes to market– especially one they've been talking up for the last twenty-some years. This really smacks of the Astra: an overseas product that car lovers craved that GM eventually pushed it into the corner. Same with the Commodore-cum-G8 (at least that one got a few TV commercials). And when it goes on sale in late 2009 (another year wait? are they kidding?), the G8 ST sport truck is likely to be yet another victim of GM's monumental ADD.
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It’s not a bad idea, but the name and branding does suck. El Camino at least has some traction, and it makes sense as a Chevy. It’s not quite the colossal stupidity incarnate that is the Escalade Hybrid, but it’s up there
Of course, this is GM Product Planning in action: good car, wrong brand, wrong niche, wrong time.
How do you take the best example this year of GM’s money wasting total cluelessness and top it? Easy, offer the same dead end product as a truck.
I have no doubt the G8 is a really good car, but the 747 is a really good airplane and most people don’t need one of those either.
Since Pontiac dosen’t sell anywhere but NA it probably needs to disapear before Buick. Rebadge the G6 as a Skylark and turn out the lights.
How about “G8 Keeper” (it holds your stuff, plus it can tie into “Are you the Keymaster?” promotions with a Ghostbusters reference for the win)
I’m all aboard on the Camino thing. GMC/Chevy have ported names between them before, just as Chrysler/Plymouth have, too. Why is it such a stretch?
Why Pontiac?… Yet another proof that GM still thinks that the “image” pickup truck buyer is not dead.
Speaking of car-based sport pickups, Subaru is in an awesome position to make one – the new Impreza chassis is a lot more pikcup-accomodating than the previous generations. If they make a genuine compact pickup (and not the Baja abomination) with swoopy lines, the market is theirs. Standard AWD, a grunty 4-cylinder, and an optional turbo – it just doesn’t get any better.
I think G8 ST (Sport Truck) is perfect. I mean really….Pontiac El Camino?
Gotta be kiddin’ me.
Everyone respsonsible for approving the design, development, and marketing of this vehicle should be immediately fired. Seriously, at a time of crisis, to invest any effort into this product is simply gross incompetence.
Again GM must water down its brand identification by having Pontiac offer a truck. Shouldn’t a truck be either a Chevy or GMC. I think Chevy would be the obvious choice and El Camino a perfect name
A car based pickup could be the perfect product for right now. But by making it a sport truck instead of making it a basic vehicle with a bed they may have missed the mark.
Wait a second that was a contest to also WIN one of those in V6 trim did they not choose a winner because they decided to go with their own stupid marketing name, or lack there of, the industry doesn’t need more letter naming.
Does ST = Sport Truck, Stupid Truck, Silly Truck, Sales Tanking, Super Turd, or Salad Tongs
This points to the original problem with the G8: its not called a Grand Prix.
Why Pontiac didn’t call the G8 ute a Caballero (a la GMC rebadge of the Elky) is another colossal slip up.
@RedBarchetta:
I don’t know about the contest, but this truck won’t even come in V6 trim. It is V8/Automatic only.
Talk about SSR redux.
NickR… While you can say what you will about the US Market, my understanding is that these quasi truck cars sell awesome down in Ausi Land, where they are made.
I take it they didn’t accept my entry for the Pontiac Combat Wombat.
alex_rashev I emailed Subaru product plannign with a suggestion like that about 2 years ago except on the Outback platform. Their response was that it wasn’t strong enough of a platform to develop a truck from(not sure if they were stuck in the super truck syndrome at the time) and would require significant engineering to make work. I still think a light truck on the platform would work, it doesn’t need to tow 10,000 lbs. just 4,000 and have a low liftgate 6′ bed. I got from the response they also had no interest in getting into that market, I guess they wee gun shy after the Baja. I don’t even think the Baja was a bad idea it just need a slightly more useful bed and a pass through like the Avalanch. If they had developed a second generation in 2 seat and 4 seat trim with a real sized bed it would probably be a hit in the market we have now. Sad cause I love Subaru’s and all this weird stuff they have been doing lately worries me.
RFortier1796 interesting. BUT GM is a global enterprise and I can’t imagine in the grand scheme of things they will sell enough of these to make it worthwhile. The energies of the people who work on this could have been better spent elsewhere.
Justin Berkowitz Seriously they changed the product plan to only offer a V8 even after the website listed specs for the V6, at the time you could even get it with the 6 speed stick for under $25,000.
These guys are so f*cked they are still running their business the way they did 2 decades ago. Always going after the giant profits. Their lesson wont be learned since they never do when they are giving these away with huge discounts 8 weeks after launch.
@Redbarchetta:
In GM’s defense, they told me in January that the G8 ST was going to be V8/Auto only. Because they knew it had no prayer with actual utility buyers – only glamor truck buyers.
Sajeev Mehta: “Why Pontiac didn’t call the G8 ute a Caballero (a la GMC rebadge of the Elky) is another colossal slip up.”It looks a lot more like an old Dodge Rampage.
Big fat waste of everyone’s time.
Why did anyone even bother entering into the contest if they were just going to change it from G8 st to G8 ST?
Was this done so they wouldn’t have to give one of them away for free to the winner?
@Sajeev Mehta: I suggested “Caba”, which is a nod towards Caballero but short enough to be tacked on to “G8” as a model descriptor.
I think they took the name suggestion bucket, threw it in the trash, and went with “ST”. Lazy.
Because they knew it had no prayer with actual utility buyers – only glamor truck buyers.
Hahahaha, I am going to laugh all day at that one. These guys are clueless as to what people want and where the market is going. I actually considered one of these sport trucks because of it’s utility, it doesn’t really have a whole lot when you look at the specs, smaller size and non-truck dynamics. How many glamour truck buyers are their now, or will there be in a year when gas gets even more expensive.
Proof that if GM plans to go right the world will surely go left, because they are 100% wrong in their thinking and planning.
Justin you don’t really need to defend GM, they have a huge PR department for that.
Well, I don’t think it was quite as much of an epic farce as the Beat whatever whatever voting. GM is getting good that this *expletive*.
Justin any idea why they didn’t inform the web designers and marketing that they wouldn’t be offering a V6 here in the states. The contest was in April and they told you in January, but the winner of the contest would have gotten a base trim V6 of the truck as the prize. Guess there was no winner so they dont have to give out any prize, a$$holes.
How you could run a business that size with the right hand doing one thing and the left hand doing another, cluelessness I guess.
“I take it they didn’t accept my entry for the Pontiac Combat Wombat.”
That’s coffee-through-nostrils gold right there.
HPE, I try my best.
The concept of car/utility truck is not a bad one on it’s own – see https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/el-camino-redux/
In this case it’s the execution that’s messed up. It shouldn’t be a Pontiac and only available as a V8. There are more shouldn’ts but my lunch break is over. Please discuss without me.
So it’s the Pontiac Gr8 Sanitary Towel?
Attractive.
A car based pickup is PERFECT!!
Didn’t Honda make one with the Ridgeline (Poor Avalanche copy)?
Why is this any different? Oh that’s right!
It CAN’t be good, it’s not JAPANESE!!!
Bull____.
Talk about SSR redux.
This one should be $20,000 cheaper (not factoring in discounts then or now), have the equivalent horsepower and probably better performance. I don’t know if any of you followed SSR development, but it was supposed to start around $25,000. Then it ended up being $50,000 for a truck that could go really fast in a straight line with a droptop. And have a total load capacity of 700lbs. And not tow anything.
This should have been El Camino or SSR.
Y’know, Furiosa would be a better name for the new Alfa than MiTo (seriously, WTF?).
I’ve always thought these car/pickup deals (El Camino, Ranchero, BRAT) were fascinatingly tacky. They’re utterly unappealing to me, and yet I can’t look away, particularly in SS-type trim.
monkeyboy The idea of the car based truck is not a bad one. Giving you the utility and efficiency of a light truck which no one makes now with the driving dynamics of a car. The problem is GM is great at screwing up a good idea when they finally produce it. What good is a car based truck that gets the gas mileage of a fullsize truck, has a smaller bed and lower towing capacity for the same price or MORE than that fullsize truck, especially during a time when trucks are suffering big time becuase they suck so much gas. This would have been great as a limited SS package while the majority of buyers had a chance at a V6 or even better the turbo ecotech at a lower price. But no GM had to ignore those buyers and go after the fashion truck crowd that is basicly gone right now.
Does this mean that Pontiac dealers will be known as the “G-spot” for all of those great G-whiz models??
Look at all the money they saved in not having to tool up a nifty new nameplate!!!
NickR :
Right on. I still don’t know why this vehicle even exists.
I don’t get it: why waste money to make a niche product that in all likelihood won’t sell enough to cover the R&D costs to bring it into fruition in the first place? Wouldn’t it be a far better idea to make a Civic / Corolla competitor and take that segment head-to-head?
Since I’d just call the G8 the Bonneville, than Bonneville Sport Truck makes sense. If I owned a G8 I’d put Bonneville badges on it. I can’t really think of it as the Grand Prix because I think the GP should be a 2 door.
J.on- the ST already exists as the Holden Commodore Ute in Australia. All the R&D costs went to designing the grille. GM has 2 Civic/Corolla competitors already (Cobalt/Astra) and 1 coming (Cruze)
I like the G8 ST a lot better than the Camaro.
@Redbarchetta: The idea of the car based truck is not a bad one. Giving you the utility and efficiency of a light truck which no one makes now with the driving dynamics of a car.
Or alternatively, all the passenger capacity of a pickup truck with all the payload and towing capacity of a car.
davey49: I meant you know, an ACTUAL competitor, not what GM puts for sale in the same segment.
This is a shame. I really like the G8 GT, but an El Camino look a like. No way. They will sell as many as the ugly Chevy truck. Catchy name anyway…LOL Looks like more unemployed GM employees in the next couple of years!!!
J.on- true the Cobalt is nothing special but the Astra’s pretty nice and the pics of the Cruze look pretty good.