Part III - The Return of the Goat As rumors turned into fact, the new Holden-based
Pontiac GTO was rushed into production in an attempt to fill the void
in the hearts of GM enthusiasts and generate an all-new target audience.
It offered great LS1 power and handling, and overall quality
was much higher than expected thanks to proven Holden engineering.
Despite being the answer to the enthusiast's demands with significant
improvements, the new GTO was not well received. A tremendous
amount of work and money was burned up to bring the Holden to the
U.S. market, and once it was available, the enthusiasts quickly changed
their tune. The general complaint was that it was too bland
looking and this complaint completely overshadowed the very noteworthy
performance and quality aspect. Or was the fact that it did
not say Camaro or Firebird on the side another large yet overlooked
reason that the GTO was not as well received?
GM banked on both demand and a rush of new enthusiasts as well as
classic GTO owners lining up to buy the new GTO. Dealerships
followed and added thousands of dollars to the sticker price of the
new GTO when they hit the showroom floors. However, there were
few new enthusiasts and the classic GTO owners felt as though the
new GTO was far from a reflection of the original GTO heritage. Delivering
the second half of the one-two punch was an information leak regarding
the 2005 GTO having the newer LS2 engine. Word spread fast and
those considering purchasing a 2004 GTO opted to wait until the 2005
to get the latest engine. The GTOs collected dust on the showroom
floors and the prices rapidly fell and to combat this, GM issued incentives
and rebates to move the GTO from the dealers to the driveways. This
negated any hopes of profit from the market segment.
Yet another crushing blow delivered to both the enthusiast and The
General. The long dark tunnel seemed to have gotten even longer.
Will GM mistake the lack of SSR and GTO sales for a permanent
void in the market for a mid-size performance vehicle? And if
so, would that completely kill any chance of a true Camaro and/or
Firebird return?
