The Zeta platform(supposedly the chassis for the new camaro) has been offically put on hold. I guess this puts the rumors of a new camaro to death.
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General Motors confirmed Friday that it has stopped development on vehicles being designed for a new rear-wheel-drive platform in the North American market.
Sources said the move is not related to financial woes and the company's projected loss of $850 million for this year. They said the decision to stop developing cars on the platform, code-named Zeta, was made last year.
Zeta was believed to be the platform GM was going to use for the next-generation Pontiac GTO as well as possibly a pair of new Buick offerings, the Velite sedan and convertible, and maybe a midsize, performance Chevrolet sedan.
GM was developing the platform in cooperation with its Holden subsidiary in Australia, which still will use it. GM reportedly had plans to build the cars for North America in the United States, though it now gets the GTO from Australia. GM would not say how much it hopes to save with the move.
Sources said that though GM is re-evaluating just about every product program since cutting its annual profit forecast in half this week, the decision was made in December to halt development.
"We're going to re-evaluate our programs for midsize, rear-wheel-drive products for North America," said GM spokesman Pat Morrissey. "The resources on Zeta are going to be reassigned to other North American products that will have a more significant impact on volume and profit."
The "other products" are full-size sport-utility vehicles due for the 2006 model year and full-size pickups for 2007--cash cows not only at GM but also in the auto industry.
Morrissey said GM will look at the best way to add rear-wheel-drive cars in North America. A rear-wheel-drive platform is important because it offers the option of all-wheel-drive, which is proving popular in passenger cars. He also didn't rule out Velite and GTO being built off another GM platform.
"We have other RWD platforms and are looking at our options," Morrissey said, which include developing more vehicles off a Cadillac platform that can provide rear-wheel- and all-wheel-drive. The so-called Sigma platform is now used to produce the CTS and STS sedans, and SRX sport-utility vehicle.
Some observers suggest GM scrapped what was to be a low-volume Zeta lineup to turn to a platform that could accommodate higher-volume cars, crossovers and SUVs in rear- and all-wheel-drive.
David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., says this is no surprise, considering GM was not gaining market share or filling its coffers last year, either. "I'm also not surprised that they'd look at an AWD platform as well," he said. "The Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle and Mercury Montego have proved AWD is much more popular than people thought it would be. AWD in cars has really caught on."
Ford expected AWD to account for about 30 percent of sales of those vehicles, but demand is exceeding 40 percent.
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