It’s not news per se. After all, we knew that Wilmington was on GM’s “endangered plant” list. But the idea that GM will somehow attract a buyer for a factory that builds a dead-in-the-water sportscar is laughable. After all, Chrysler still hasn’t found a home for its Viper nameplate, a brand that carries far more heritage and prestige than the Skystice. So what to do with Wilmington?
GM’s halo-of-the-moment, the Camaro, is still in the halo portion of its lifespan. No incentives necessary . . . for now. But long term, GM faces serious challenges as the Japanese automakers prepare to roll out a new generation of compact sports cars. And while the Camaro squares off against the Challenger and Mustang in the neo-pony car wars, the new Japanese offerings aim to offer more economy, efficiency and handling than the three retro-ponies.
Honda’s CR-Z is set to drop late next year, probably with a sportier version of the Insight’s IMA Hybrid system. The original CRX is cited as a major inspiration for the CRZ, which should weigh 2800 lbs and should go on sale in late 2010. Toyota is working on a sub-$30K sports coupe with Subaru, with rear wheel drive and a boxer engine. A hybrid version has been hinted at, as has a return to the MR2 name. And now Nissan is rumored to be working on a Miata-fighting “baby Z,” which should offer a drop-top, RWD and about 200hp according to Autoexpress.
All of this means that by late 2010 or 2011, the compact sports market in the US should be flush with options. Hybrid systems, RWD, boxer-power and drop-tops will give these “end-of-recession-specials” a unique enthusiast appeal that GM will be hard-pressed to compete with. The Camaro’s day in the sun will likely not be a long one, especially in the face of a resurrection of the cheap-and-tossable segment. A Kappa-based coupe with more practicality than the Sky or Solstice (perhaps along the lines of the 2004 Chevy Nomad concept) could keep GM in the fight, but at what cost? Moreover, with so much solid competition coming down the pipeline, who would buy up Wilmington with the intention of building more compromised Kappa sportscars?
Boy was that Nomad was pretty.
The Nomad could have been a hit and given them an early advantage against the onslaught of small sports cars. Instead they made the Solstice, which was never meant to be anything more than a toy. Cripes, GM, even the Miata has a functional trunk.
Worse is GM didn’t fix things on the solstice/sky.
The first exec who tried to put the top down should have screamed bloody murder.
That the top & trunk was NEVER fixed, when it was clearly a disaster from day 1, shows how GM jsut doesn’t care.
I thought GM said the Kappa was never originally engineered to work for the Nomad. It kind of dumb that they wouldn’t plan for any flexibility and a future spin off when they were designing it, but Gm does a ot of dumb things.
Who would buy this, especially now, when they could just get it cheap at auction.
MrDot :
May 12th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
The Nomad could have been a hit and given them an early advantage against the onslaught of small sports cars. Instead they made the Solstice, which was never meant to be anything more than a toy. Cripes, GM, even the Miata has a functional trunk.
The Miata is often no more than a weekend toy too, but the added practicality of the car makes it more appealing.
I wouldn’t kid myself with the possiblity of a Nomad being a hit, beyond people fawning over it at an auto show, or buff books and blogs talking about how great it is.
A good car won’t sell if it a strong marketing campaign, which is not GM’s (or their ad agencies’) strong suits, doesn’t follow up with the release of the car. That strategy let Nissan breathe life into an entire brand on the shoulders of an impractical RWD sports car in 2002.
GM’s missed a chance to do the same with the GTO, G8, Sky and Soulstice. They’re missing the boat on doing the same with the Camaro, too.
The roadster test: You need to be able to throw two overnight bags, a case of wine, and a picknick basket in the trunk with the top down.
The Z, the Miata, the S2000, all pass.
The solstice and sky crash and burn.
Maybe Obama will buy it for FIAT and give Dodge their new ENVI sports car that isn’t a Lotus/Tesla.
Roadster trunk packing is like real-life Tetris! But if the boot is nothing but top and FedEx envelope sized spaces, a la the latest GM roadsters then you’re doomed to sell very few.
“The first exec who tried to put the top down should have screamed bloody murder.”
In theory that should have been Bob Lutz, or somebody who reported to him. Where’s Maximum Bob now? he took the money and ran.
–chuck
GM could have been ahead of the curve with a small 2+2 built on Kappa architecture. Instead they went retro and brought back the Camaro, a car that never outsold the Mustang, much less anything else, and was axed because of it. Now, in a crowded market that has been shrinking rapidly for months, and with gas prices headed back up, we have a Camaro that will fall with a resounding thud as soon as the initial excitement wears off. I’d much rather have a Cobalt-sized coupe with RWD and a turbo 4 under the hood that handles like a Miata. The Subayota sounds like it’s going to be the hot ticket.
Nicolas Weaver- Being able to put the top up and down without an assitant and instruction manual is nice too.
I think GM heard there was an “x-prise” for the “Worst designed no-British convertible top since WWII”.
The tragi-comic insanity has been continued with the targa you can’t carry in the car on the coupe.
Sad.
Bunter
I feel much the same. I am a product of the 60’s, i was not smitten with driving until i bought a small light Fiat. Tho that car had its challanges, it was a revelation to drive. Big cars are fun, to be sure, and big cars with big engines are fun, but if I can have as much or more fun in a smallish, fuel efficient car, why spend all teh money on gas. This why I always appreciate seeing a new Mustang on the road, but drive a VW Golf.
Concerning the Solstice and Sky, gee whiz they are pretty. But NO luggage space? None? C’mon. Who suposed to buy them? Even the Miata has a trunk! was no one watching the store the day that was thought up? its a tragedy. If there was even a Miata sized trunk, id have coupe NOW.
I have a feeling that none of those new Japanese sports cars are ever going to be actually existing .
they shouldda done the Nomad.
The blogosphere abhors the Skystice’s roof/trunk limitations but the buying public apparently doesn’t, since sales consistently eclipse the Miata’s. Sexy trumps practical yet again.
That said, the real problem with these cars is that they’re supposedly big time money losers. I’m not seeing that improving as a stand alone business. So, no sale.
As to the coming onslaught of Japanese sport coupes threatening future Camaro sales…um, no. Like all style machines, sales of the Camaro will decline as the month it was the flavor of fades away. But no-one’s cross-shopping a Z28 and a CR-Z.
NoSubstitute: I would have boughten a Sky, but the trunk and top are truely abhorent, and the driver ergonomics are a nightmare. Have you ever actually used the top on one?
Instead, I got a used S2000.
So yes, the top does count.
You’re a level headed guy Weaver. But a plurality of Americans prefer whatever looks hottest topless:
“The Solstice and Sky have been America’s top-selling budget sports cars — outselling the Mazda Miata on a combined basis — every year they’ve been on the market since 2007.
In 2008, Pontiac sold 10,739 Solstices while Saturn sold 9,162 Sky roadsters. Mazda sold 10,977 Miatas. Those figures were down from 2007 when GM sold 16,779 Solstices and 11,263 Saturn Skys while Mazda sold 15,075 Miatas.”
I’m with ajla. Toyota has been coupe-averse since before they canned the Celica. Suburu moreso. Will they really release coupes into this auto market?
I’ll beleive it when I see it.
superbadd75:
The Subayota sounds like it’s going to be the hot ticket.
Are you sure it’s getting built? Is there a market for it? And most important: Can BuickToyota market it?
Seth L:
I’ll beleive it when I see it.
+1.
Should have done a Cobalt convertible instead. They could have had the cheapest convertible in America.
Ow. We just lost the Chrysler plant down the road in Newark. That’s a huge number of blue collar workers to absorb back into the local economy here in Delaware if the GM plant goes too.
This could be a paperwork reshuffle for this factory. Daewoo sells a reskinned version of the Sky/Solstice in South Korea.
If they bought the factory (which they’d have to, if they wanted to keep selling the model), then that factory would be a Daewoo factory… and Daewoo is, of course, owned by GM.