GM Zeta: It’s On. No, it’s off. No, it’s on again. Whatever…
Newswheel staff :: 19 September 2005 :: Filed under Chevrolet, Chevrolet Camaro, US
[Click on an image to view]
Your guess is as good as ours
For those who haven’t been following the Zeta soap opera, this vital new rear-drive platform was originally destined to form the basis of several next-gen mainstream models for the US market such as the Chevy Impala and Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix, not to mention racier models including the Pontiac GTO and Chevy Camaro. Earlier this year, however, it emerged that GM had had a change of heart. Thanks to a reorganisation of engineering resources in favour of its SUV and pickup truck business, Zeta would no longer make it to the US. Instead, it would be restricted to a number of rear-drive models built by small-fry GM subsidiary Holden in Australia.
Rebirth?
For fans hoping for a reborn Camaro capable of giving Ford’s winning new Mustang a short, sharp boot to the ghoulies, or anyone simply wondering whether GM had a future as a passenger car manufacturer, it was seriously bad news.
More recently, however, a number of GM execs have suggested that Zeta is still a goer. As recently as last week, US mag Autoweek ran an interview with Jim Queen, VP of Global Engineering for GM, which suggested a revised version of Zeta is back on the books and will form the basis of new rear-drive models in the US. There was only one hitch: Zeta-based models wouldn’t appear in 2009 at the earliest.
But don’t get too comfortable with that idea. Just a few days after the Autoweek article was published, Lutz spoke to assembled hacks at the Frankfurt motorshow, telling them (yup, you guessed it) that Zeta was not likely to be on the menu for the US. Yes, he admitted, Zeta is still go for the land of Aus. But the strength of the Australian dollar meant that "exports to the U.S. don’t look real promising.”
Unlucky for Lutz
When Lutz came back onboard GM, many expected the big man to turn around GM’s painfully patchy passenger car line-up. But it’s increasingly looking like the General’s ailments are too terminal for even a star player like Lutz to cure. So, now the best that can be hoped for is new-age Camaros, GTOs and Monte Carlos appearing after 2009. The worst case scenario is that GM soldiers on with feeble rebodied versions of its current mainstream passenger cars. Either way, it’s hard to believe that the world’s largest car manufacturer lacks either the will or the wonga to find a way out of this mess. But it’s true.
Posted 02 April 2007, by Jeffrey