Grand Am production to go up?

[M_TYPE_X]

http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/olds29_20030329.htm

House in my hometown is a few minutes' drive from the Orion Township plant. I'm sure we'll all miss the Aurora... but...
"If the market demands more Grand Ams, we will look at ways to meet demand," GM spokesman Dan Flores said.




UGH! Dan! Don't blame us if we shoot the messenger! The new Grand Am Spawn Center Plant... eeeep. http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

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The Grand Am competes well in it's class against the Stratus, Optima, and Sonata. There aren't really many small-midsize cars out there to compete with.

[M_TYPE_X]

I'd actually rather have a Stratus.

Contour and G20 are gone, but the Jetta is still around. What am I talking about, all these cars exude class that the Grand Am can only have wet dreams about.

What irks me is that GM wants to make more Grand Ams... everyone and their Grandmother has one... including my Grandmother. My friend, who has a Tempo, lusts after a Grand Am. If GM makes more, I won't be able to step onto the street without getting three or four up my a$$ ...!

http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Objective, Fair & Balanced: You Know It's Gotta Be MTXvision! http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

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If given to me, I would also rather have a Jetta, but with my own money, the Jetta is just WAY too overpriced putting it in a different class. I would probably take the Stratus myself.

[limits_at_infiniti]

actually it might even compete with camry's altimas and accords.

[2001_S15]

This is sad. The Aurora, based purely on visual inspection, seemed to be one of GM's nicer cars. Now to be replaced by one of GM's run of the mill rental crapbuckets.

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What makes them crap buckets?

[M_TYPE_X]

By virtue of being a Grand Am... http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Look, the 2005 Grand Am is coming, and like the 2004 Grand Prix and 2004 Bonneville, I think they're gonna clean the car up inside and out with new parts and materials... and I hope so, because if they're gonna produce enough to sell them in volume at every Toys R Us, you're gonna be seeing a ton of them.

Yeah, GM is losing Oldsmobile, but they're at least semi-serious about making Pontiac a contender again... it will be Ford's and Chrysler's loss. Chrysler has good plans for large sedans, but I think the Shitshubishi-Rebadging Revolution is going to take over in the rest of the car lineup outside of the LX-cars and the Viper.

[2001_S15]

Heavy, slow, cheap looking. I've driven several Grand Am rentals. They seem like a sporty, decent car if you view them from about 100ft away, but on closer inspection they're just utilitarian junk. My '93 Altima is nicer, and faster.

Strangely, the Oldsmobile Alero I rented once seemed perkier. Probably because it was a 2-door, and thus lighter weight. The transmission seemed smarter though. I wonder if it had a learning system and the previous driver had driven it enthusiastically.

[2001_S15]

Pontiac's new cars are contemporary looking, sure, but not all that elegant. I'm interested to see what the materials and fit and finish quality is like in the new GP. Most of the magazines I've read for April rated the car pretty well.

I had allowed myself to forget about the interior fit and finish of GM cars so I went to ebay to look at some late model Buick interiors, and I shocked myself back into my senses http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[M_TYPE_X]

Seeing the postindustrial hellhole that is the region with my own empirical observations, I'd like to see Detroit 'fight back' but it's not going to do it with either bland or overstyled cars that don't perform and hold up as well as Japanese imports. But this is the same old story of the past, oh, thirty years or so.

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It is heavy and slow, but then, the sedan is lighter and has more horsepower than anything in it's class save for the Stratus which is heavier but makes up for it with 25 more horsepower. I guess it just isn't your class of vehicle. Looks are objective, but I take them over the bland looks of the Sonata, Optima, and even the Jetta. Now the interior leaves a little to be desired, but who the hell looks at the interior when driving? Must be those people swerving all over the road. http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[M_TYPE_X]

Sticker prices for the Grand Ams are insane, especially the coupes. Meanwhile, Aleros are available for big discounts.

[2001_S15]

I said myself it's not a bad looking car if you're 100ft away http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/tongue.gif like most GM cars (see my comments about Buicks elsewhere on these forums). I suppose the Altima comparison is a little unfair. The series I Altima was a car of *exceptional* quality.

[M_TYPE_X]

Ben, do you like sheep and beer but dislike war and nuclear energy? If so, I'm sure the Econ department here @ U-M would love to have another New Zealander teaching Economic Development... http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

GM's plan has been to have two or three versions of the "Middle America" (generic sedan)... and they don't look like they will stop, as the Bonneville continues with a refreshening for 2004. Grand Am, Grand Prix, and Bonneville... big, bigger, bigass!

[2001_S15]

Baaaaaa http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I was discussing this issue with a friend earlier. I find it interesting that US manufacturers generally only get infrequent and token representation in magazine tests (when was the last time you saw a Grand Am in a comparison test?) I understand that these cars sell on value for money more than anything else (I noted the other day that if I bought a Malibu in March I would have had a big V6 sedan for $14,000).

[M_TYPE_X]

They compete on price and availability. Comparison test? Drive to the Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer and you'll be mugged by sales stuff "on OverDrive", pick any color you want to take out for a spin.

... actually, that's not completely true. My uncle/aunt bought a red 2002 Grand Am SE Coupe w/upgraded engine & options (basically GT equipment w/SE badge) and they had to go to 3 dealers to get a deal. GM dealers seem to think they sell gold or something. Ford dealers, any Ford dealer I've ever been to, will not let you step onto their property and leave without buying anything... well they won't let you leave peacefully.

Why did they buy a Grand Am? Because they got sick of Tauruses and Explorers. My uncle's brother works at Shitrolet (please don't ask about this branch of the family, they don't care for imports) and thus they have GM discount from his brother, and my aunt has the Ford discount from her younger sister (my other aunt, the one who works at Ford HQ forever and never seems to get canned because she's apolitical but crunches numbers like a pro).

To make a really long story short, you'll see nothing in some people's garages other than GM and Ford cars because 1) they don't really care what they drive and 2) Cousin Lardass works at Detroit Automaker or Supplier "X", where "X" can be any local firm producing sheeeet and that biotches when people with money AND discretion choose Toyota/Honda/Nissan instead. http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[M_TYPE_X]

Speaking of Lardass, misbegotten family member and Shitrolet Enthusiast... I gotta go to his turf tomorrow. For some godforsaken reason, the regional bank headquarters of a firm potentially offering me summer employment (money = good) is located there (near Detroit airport, e.g. postindustrial hell of oil-soaked roads, delivery trucks... the Ugly Side of the Tracks.

The good news is, I got my "Police Officers Association of America" sticker in the mail today, hence I have recourse when I get caught for DWI (Driving While Imported).

Interesting observation... I was down in that area on Thursday night (past five PM) scoping the place out. As I pulled into the firm's parking lot, I noticed a black Integra. I said, boy, that's strange, that car looks... foreign! http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Anyway to make a long story short, there's a brand new Burger King nearby. Schweeeeeeet... White Trash "Ghetto King", and what's better, they tell me they are always out of ketchup. Perfect! http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The only way to proper go cruising tomorrow will be to take my 1980s Depeche Mode CDs with me. I knew they'd come in handy when I go cruising through the industrial sections of town. http://forums.freshalloy.com/images/graemlins/grin.gif

This area is too sexy for Grand Ams... it's more of a LeMans or Sunbird type of place. That's okay, because I think I can take them on! So Fast n Furious, that's M Type X.