General Motors Looking To Toyota For A Shared Platform To Replace Vibe
With news today that the Pontiac brand will in fact be eliminated, General Motors is eager to get working with Toyota to build a new shared platform to replace the Vibe.
The Vibe is to GM what the Matrix is to Toyota, and both models come from an evenly shared joint venture known as New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. or NUMMI.
Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson told Automotive News that the company is currently in talks with Toyota to develop a new platform and says General Motors will stand behind its commitments to the NUMMI project.
“We’re clearly not backing away from our partnership at NUMMI,” Hopson told Automotive News. “There’s no issue of us backing away from NUMMI.”
The plan is to develop another shared platform with Toyota that would be sold under one of the four remaining GM brands: Chevy, GMC, Buick or Cadillac. There is no word on what sort of a vehicle this new model might be, especially as the Vibe/Matrix fit a perfect nice segment for both companies, situated somewhere between a compact sedan, a mid-sized sedan and a crossover/SUV.
The obcvious solution, in the mean time, would seem to be a rebadging of the Vibe as a Chevy model, but for some reason General Motors isn’t interested. Instead GM is set on washing its hands of the vehicle despite how successful it has been for the company.
There’s really nothing wrong with the Vibe,” Hopson said. “Its only problem right now is that it is a Pontiac.”
[Source: Automotive News]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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Based on owner's surveys, the Vibe is a great car for the money offering quality, people/cargo room and economy. Drop the Pontiac badges and rebadge as a Chevy. As stated before, this is the highest quality small value-priced car that GM sells. Continue to build the Vibe at NUMMI as a Chevy. This is a great car that will keep selling!
I have just purchased my Vibe and I hope I get 200,000 miles out of 'er like I did that '84 bonneville I had which was handed down to me from my parents. It would be crazy to drop pontiac! The only problem I see is a marketing solution. I have to admit, I am disabled and this pontiac is the ONLY car in my price range that has the room I need.I beg GM to reconsider, save this brand and keep this name going for many years!