From Automotive News (autonews.com)

Pontiac says new GTO shows division's future

DETROIT - General Motors is counting on a modern version of the Pontiac GTO sports car to help reverse a decline in sales of its Pontiac nameplate, whose luster has faded since the GTO's "muscle car" heyday in 1960s.

GM on Thursday released a sketch and more details about the Australian-built GTO, which is to go on sale in the fall of 2003. The GTO, powered by a version of the Chevrolet Corvette's V-8 engine churning out more than 300 horsepower, will carry a price tag between $30,000 and $35,000, said GTO marketing manager Bob Kraut.

GM aims to sell about 18,000 GTOs a year, a negligible number compared with the two million cars the company sells in the United States every year. But Kraut said Pontiac would use the GTO to get customers interested in the brand again, and that the GTO offers a preview of how future Pontiac models would look and drive.

"A lot of manufacturers put out 'halo' vehicles that are supposed to spread goodness and light to other vehicles in the showroom," Kraut said. "But there's nothing like them to buy.

"The GTO will represent what every Pontiac can be and will be in the future."

The new GTO will be the latest in series of cars that draw on famous names from the past to stand out in a crowded market. Ford Motor Co. brought back the Thunderbird last year. BMW AG began selling a redesigned Mini this year in the United States and Japan, and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. will start selling a new 350Z sports car later this year.

Pontiac car sales fell 16 percent last year, as the division's aging lineup competed for buyers' attention against several new models from import automakers. Through May, Pontiac's sales are down 4 percent, with only the mid-size Grand Prix outselling its prior-year results.

In addition to the GTO, Pontiac will get a reworked Grand Prix in the first quarter of 2004, followed by a revamped version of the smaller Grand Am a year later. Kraut said performance would be a strong selling point for the new cars, and that the GTO's sleek styling would be reflected in the new models.

GM will build the engines for the GTO in North America and then ship them to Australia, where the cars will be assembled. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz chose the unusual arrangement because he wanted to revive the GTO as a rear-wheel-drive sports car, and GM's Australian division was already offering such a vehicle, the Holden Monaro.

Dave Himmelberg, the GTO's program engineering manager, said the changes required to make the Monaro into the GTO -- including bringing the car into compliance with U.S. safety standards -- were challenging, mostly for the 18-month deadline set by the company. That is about half the time such a project would usually take.

Himmelberg and Kraut said the exact output of the GTO's V-8 had not been determined, and that it was not clear whether the car would face a federal "gas guzzler" tax for cars that fall below fuel economy targets.