Cars
After considering the wealth of options, pricing, and power available from one platform - one midsize SUV, in fact - that General Motors can give you, GoodCarBadCar returns to GM for more badge/platform engineering talk.
Lincoln has been discussed. With sadness. Pontiac has debuted their Vibe, a vehicle which connects not with any GM product; but with a Toyota. But have you ever noticed how difficult it is to choose between severely badge-engineered cars?
By severe, I mean this: the car is friekin' identical, man. The changes can be seen on the logo, man. The difference is in the badge.... man. Pontiac introduced the G5 (Pursuit) after Chevrolet attempted to herald the presentation of the Cobalt.
At GM Canada's 'Build Your Vehicle' website, the small photo of the G5 was actually a Cobalt. Yes, I could tell, even though most of the car is identical anyway. I re-entered the site another way and managed to find different photos when I built my own G5. However, apart from the base price of the base Cobalt and G5, even the most specific options were identically priced. Would you like your paint colour to be named performance red-tint coat or sport red-tint coat? Exactly, you don't care what your paint is titled. But at Pontiac and Chevrolet, you'll pay $380 for the privilege of choosing that paint. It's the same.
Engine block heaters will cost you the same $65 at either dealership. Front-license plate mounts, ABS, air-con, XM satellite radio - all the same price. $15.00, $650, $1150, $550. I can't even say "respectively". Everything's the same. Even the value factor is the same: Lamborghini will charge you $650 for floor mats in its Gallardo Superleggera, whereas Pontiac and Chevrolet will expect $570. Less.
Oh, and by the way, General Motors wants the same $15.00 for a license plate mount when you buy a Corvette. Good deal.
- Top 40 Best-selling Vehicles In Canada - 2005 Year End
This list of Canada's 40 best-selling vehicles in calendar year 2005 includes in its top nine a group of vehicles which continue to battle it out at the top of the heap nine years later. But then there's the Toyota Echo, the successor...
- Top 40 Best-selling Vehicles In Canada - 2007 Year End
Canada's auto industry grew another 2% in 2007, a gain of nearly 39,000 units, as new vehicle sales crested the 1.65 million mark. The Ford F-Series was once again the best-selling vehicle line in Canada. Honda's Civic outsold its nearest...
- Gm Canada Leftover Sales In 2011
In case you hadn't noticed, the Pontiac sign at your local General Motors dealership is no longer hanging. Based on the vehicles Pontiac was producing over the last couple of decades, this isn't a sad fact. But based on the reputation held when...
- Pontiac Officially Unveils The G3 For America
Back in June AutoEnergy went ahead and discussed the fuel economy of the Pontiac G3; contrasting it with the more efficient Toyota Yaris. At that point, the Pontiac G3 was just a Wave north of the border. Now General Motors has decided that the United...
- Chevrolet Has High Expectations For The Traverse
Badge engineering, the forming of multiple automobiles from the same foundation while adjusting the fascias and switching the logo, is alive and well. Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute, Mercury Mariner? How 'bout the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5? ...
Cars
OPTIONING YOUR PROPERLY BADGED CAR
After considering the wealth of options, pricing, and power available from one platform - one midsize SUV, in fact - that General Motors can give you, GoodCarBadCar returns to GM for more badge/platform engineering talk. Lincoln has been discussed. With sadness. Pontiac has debuted their Vibe, a vehicle which connects not with any GM product; but with a Toyota. But have you ever noticed how difficult it is to choose between severely badge-engineered cars?
By severe, I mean this: the car is friekin' identical, man. The changes can be seen on the logo, man. The difference is in the badge.... man. Pontiac introduced the G5 (Pursuit) after Chevrolet attempted to herald the presentation of the Cobalt.
At GM Canada's 'Build Your Vehicle' website, the small photo of the G5 was actually a Cobalt. Yes, I could tell, even though most of the car is identical anyway. I re-entered the site another way and managed to find different photos when I built my own G5. However, apart from the base price of the base Cobalt and G5, even the most specific options were identically priced. Would you like your paint colour to be named performance red-tint coat or sport red-tint coat? Exactly, you don't care what your paint is titled. But at Pontiac and Chevrolet, you'll pay $380 for the privilege of choosing that paint. It's the same.
Engine block heaters will cost you the same $65 at either dealership. Front-license plate mounts, ABS, air-con, XM satellite radio - all the same price. $15.00, $650, $1150, $550. I can't even say "respectively". Everything's the same. Even the value factor is the same: Lamborghini will charge you $650 for floor mats in its Gallardo Superleggera, whereas Pontiac and Chevrolet will expect $570. Less.
Oh, and by the way, General Motors wants the same $15.00 for a license plate mount when you buy a Corvette. Good deal.
- Top 40 Best-selling Vehicles In Canada - 2005 Year End
This list of Canada's 40 best-selling vehicles in calendar year 2005 includes in its top nine a group of vehicles which continue to battle it out at the top of the heap nine years later. But then there's the Toyota Echo, the successor...
- Top 40 Best-selling Vehicles In Canada - 2007 Year End
Canada's auto industry grew another 2% in 2007, a gain of nearly 39,000 units, as new vehicle sales crested the 1.65 million mark. The Ford F-Series was once again the best-selling vehicle line in Canada. Honda's Civic outsold its nearest...
- Gm Canada Leftover Sales In 2011
In case you hadn't noticed, the Pontiac sign at your local General Motors dealership is no longer hanging. Based on the vehicles Pontiac was producing over the last couple of decades, this isn't a sad fact. But based on the reputation held when...
- Pontiac Officially Unveils The G3 For America
Back in June AutoEnergy went ahead and discussed the fuel economy of the Pontiac G3; contrasting it with the more efficient Toyota Yaris. At that point, the Pontiac G3 was just a Wave north of the border. Now General Motors has decided that the United...
- Chevrolet Has High Expectations For The Traverse
Badge engineering, the forming of multiple automobiles from the same foundation while adjusting the fascias and switching the logo, is alive and well. Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute, Mercury Mariner? How 'bout the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5? ...