05GTO

Mike Levine over at Pickuptruck.com has managed to scoop a tasty nugget of info about the Pontiac-branded ute that will soon be for sale in the U.S. The Aussie-import based on the same platform as the rear-wheel-drive G8 sedan will be called the G8 ST, as in "Sport Truck".

That pang of disappointment you feel is the missed opportunity of paying homage to GM's most well known car-based pickups and their colorful names: the Chevy El Camino and GMC Caballero. Rather than dubbing Pontiac's ute the "Tamale" or "El Camino Redux", we get a measly little two-letter suffix. Sigh.

Also of note is that the pickup will only be available with a 6.0L V8 and is likely to start around $31,000.

[Source: Pickuptruck.com]

__________________
Randy

 

BillFromTR

Can I fit a step ladder and a few Mexicans back there?

__________________

AA GTO SP

Glad it will be coming stateside, don't care what the name is. Just hope there is no bile green color available like in that picture.

JerseyGoat

Am i the only that thinks it won't sell too well over here?

Wing_Nut

Nope! Yet another ill conceived marketing move by Pointiaaack!

The G8 was an opportunity to create a real performance sedan with decent content and thereby move the brand a little bit upscale. Who knows, with a credible two seat roadster and a nice performance sedan in the showroom, people might actually begin to think of Pointiaaack as a performance brand.

But bringing back the El Camino / Ranchero clone from the dead will (IMHO) drag them right back into free-association with stereotypes as the mullet division of GM. Half car, half truck, all redneck. What's the purpose of a vehicle of this type? A rear drive car with poor traction? A (very) light truck with no cargo capacity? A styling statement? What are they saying? We got yer veeehickle mulletude!

I don't mean to be controversial.....I'm just saying. Eeeeeyuuuuch!

GTOJon

I agree, this will not sell well here. What's the market for it? Certainly MUCH lower than even the GTO was, so really what's the point? The only other car that I know of resembling this is that hideous Subaru Baja which doesn't appear to have sold astoundingly.

How many people are actually on their knees waiting for an El Camino (etc.) type of car? Take that tiny market (some of which may buy it) plus a few of the curious and what do you have? = failure

I don't get it sometimes.

__________________
Jon

fergyflyer

I disagree, I think it will sell very well. I'm going to gues they move almost as many of these as they did the SSR.

JerseyGoat

But the SSR was a convertible and the cargo area was covered. I'm a big fan of niche models but IMO this one just doesn't seem to have any major appeal. Why buy the pickup version when the sedan seats more people and has a full usable trunk?

GTOJon

Unless the price is adjusted to be under the sedan. But would that even be enough to pull people in?

This is just a stray kangeroo hopping in the wrong country. I don't see it working out well. I COULD BE WRONG!

__________________
Jon

AA GTO SP

I don't see there being a big market for it here at all. By here I mean good ol' jerzy. A low riding rwd pickup with average to low fuel economy will seldom be useful to commuters and almost never be useful for bad weather.
I don't hope it flops on the mainstream market like the goat did, but that just means I will be able to pick one up in gunmetal gray or black on black two years after it comes out for half the price it was originally tagged at.
I can throw a couple surf boards and skim boards in the back and head to the beach.