I didn't see anybody post this yet. But anybody with a scanner and a motor trend should definitely help me out on this one, cause they've got a big artist's concept that looks cool.

So Feb's Motor Trend says GM is seriously considering a V6 kappa car (the solstice and sky) with a chevy badge and an iconic name. The Sting Ray would be priced somewhere between the Solstice/Sky and the Corvette, which, as MT notices, goes against the division hierarchy at GM. (Saturn is supposed to be sorta higher end now...). But this thing'll be kinda like the corvette in that its special cause its a sports car.

The thing doesn't have official approval yet, but there are apparently v6 mules running around with solstice skins. MT says it'll either be the pushrod 3.9L v6 from the malibu or the 3.6 litre from the CTS. The 3.9 gets 240hp which is about the same as the turbo four planned for the solstice in 2007 but with better low end grunt. The 3.6 gets 255hp.

So ya, if you wanna see the drawing, check out page 16 of the latest Motor Trend while you're waiting at the grocery store check out.

 

I really think its silly that GM wants to flood the market all of a sudden with 2-seat ragtops. That is a really really small market IMO.

Unless that sting ray is a stretched wheelbase with 4 seats and a usable trunk, they are wasting their time IMO.

 

They said the Solstice was going to be exclusive to Pontiac, since Pontiac was supposed to be the "performance" GM brand. Then Saturn gets the Sky,
now Chevy wants a version too? It's a mistake. I don't think they be able to sell three versions of the same roadster. How many people buy 2 seat roadsters?

Other GM divisions always seem to get jealous of Pontiac's success. When the '69 Pontiac Grand Prix was a success, no other GM division had a car like it. But then Chevy got its Monte Carlo.

 

I can't imagine a third version of the car would increse profits or sales. Won't they basically be stealing sales from their own company?

 

Typical GM, though. D-C did it in the 70s & 80s, and so did Ford. Didn't make sense to me then and it still doesn't. Same car different make & model. Huh?

 

I don't get it either, and I don't understand Ford's strategy on the same front.

Take the Lincoln Mark LT for example. The Blackwood was a terrible disaster, but they seemed all too eager to repeat history with a $50K+ luxury truck. And the worst part of it is that, around here at least, Ford and Lincoln dealers don't share lots. So you lose the ability to upsale a customer from a Lariat to a Mark LT if they want a little more class from their F-150. It's the same thing with all of the Ford/Lincoln/Mercury/Mazda cars and trucks. If a customer wants to upgrade from a Ford to a classier cousin, salesmen have to send them to another dealer or worse, another manufacturer.

 

Around here, most of the Ford dealers are also L-M dealers. As a matter of fact, the only Mazda dealer within 75 miles is also owned by the largest Ford dealer in the area.

 

Yes true mostly.

It's mostly the small towns that have FLM dealers all-in-one (the one closest to our house for example is an all for one shop).

For instance, the new Milian and the Zephyer look almost identicle to me, even more so then the Fusion/Milian resemblance.

The LT is quiet a bit cheaper then the Blackwood was, but it also isn't much different then an f-150 really, either.

 

The Mark LT is not much of a step up from a high-end Ford in either price or feature. It likely costs Ford practically nothing to have the LT model (Especially compared to the Blackwood). Therefore, the question is whether Ford would stand to lose a customer if they did not have the LT. Would an LT customer settle for a regular F-150, or shop elsewhere? The LT is not as much of a flop as people would like to assume it is.

Mark LT
November Sales: 1,255
YTD: 8,495

Escalade EXT
November Sales: 340
YTD: 7,209

I have not seen the Stingray, but I'd take a Sky over a Solstice anyday. If the Stingray is aesthetically different, and mechanically different (V6) it makes more sense than having both the Solstice and Sky IMHO.

If they were to produce a lengthened V6 Kappa, I would bet that a V8 Caddy Kappa would not be far off.

 

I guess that depends on what you mean by small. The metropolitan area I live in (Southeast Texas) has a population of around 550K. All the combined FLM dealers I'm talking about are in this area.

 

In the Road and Track article, it said something like "GM decided this car would gather more sales as a Chevy than a special Solstice with a V6 and extra letters on the name" or something to that end. I can see that. While some people buying one of these Chevys woulda bought a V6 solstice or any other kappa car any way, i think over all, it'll catch more attention and probably increase overall sales a bit. Not that much though i don't think. Although I don't think it would cost much to develop a car like this, just taking on new sheet metal basically.