2007 Pontiac G5
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These are pictures of the US version of the Canadian Pontiac Pursuit G5.
It is just a Cobalt coupe with the sedan tail lights in the back.
You can see this both ways:
Something really pathetic that does not help the Pontiac image at all.
Or a cheap, but good move to quickly get a cheaper, low end but still good looking Pontiac model.
I think it’s a mix of both.
An affordable Pontiac coupe isn’t a bad idea. Many younger people showing up at a Pontiac dealership to see the Solstice might not be able to afford one.
And this might actually be a pretty nice alternative for a 1st new car.
But I still wish they’d give it its own design. I know they’re short on cash right now, but as far as I know, GM is still the largest car maker in the world
There must be money somewhere…
Why do they do this?!?!
Gm takes one car and makes multiple copies of it to put onto other car companies
stick with 2 or less please
Ok one week GM states no more badge engineering, next week we get the g5, now currently im waiting for yet another major announcement that GM will do no more badge slapping and the following week we will get THIS in the states cause the Pontiac dealers are crying for sale’s.. also i highly doubt people are going into pontiac dealers and finding a single solsitce that aint already sold and decide to go for a g5 instead, cause the production is sold out, and if a pontiac dealer can get there hands on a solstice there slapping a huge dealer markup on the dang thing, so the 2 cars are far from the same demographic if you ask me.
Doesn’t look bad…but still…
maybe their designers are just lazy? 😛
i think its sad, as soon as gm seems like they are doing better, they doing something that shows the total opposite. at least the sorry sunfire and cavalier had different styling, and you could easily tell the 2 apart. Gm is just making cars that compete with gms other cars the only company pontiac is fighting is chevrolet and the same with the gmc whats the point., and it makes no sense, maybe they will learn one day.
I agree with Sdcarnut and Anonymous, but add that in Canada GM has always been liberal with the use of the Pontiac name, sadly. I remember there was a Pontiac version of the Chevette before the T-1000 made it to the States; and it appears little has changed.
I had one of these pursuits as a rental car a few months ago while in ontario. It is still a peice of shit like the old sunfire. the only good thing i have to say about it is that the interior is much better
It’s really disturbing that in over thirty years of misdirection at GM, they still haven’t learned that these poorly thought-out vehicles that have been slapped together with zero budget don’t help enhance their brands. There is simply no need for this car. While the dealers are asking for it, consumers wanting a performance car are not interested in an iteration of the design-challenged Cobalt.
GM’s “performance” division needs a small sporty car to compete with the Focus, the Mazda 3, the WRX, GTI and a laundry list of others. However a rebadged Cobalt certainly doesn’t cut the mustard when you look at the competition. If the ROI analysis doesn’t justify putting real R&D into a small sporty car, then Pontiac should just hold off. It was two steps forward with the Solstice. It’ll be one step back with the G5. With this car, the question of Pontiac’s relevance is answered.
Anonymous (immediately above), very well said! Sadly, GM does not seem to think in brand equity terms, and this will lead to its downfall in the early 21st century.
you kids quit whining
there is nothing wrong with gm offering this great car (the best small car in the us by the way)
under 2 brands
they’ve always done it beofre.
the cobalt and g5 are 2 great cars, period
If they limit the G5 to the 2.4 engine and SS (non-supercharged) suspension, it makes sense. A lot of the coupes being sold in the Cobalt line right now are stripped commuter models (quite fast with a stick shift, I just got one!). On the other hand it seems like overkill to pay for a Cobalt SS (guilding the lilly/silk purse out of a sow’s ear). But having a hot rebadged Cobalt in the Pontiac line makes sense. Where they kill themselves on badge engineering is when they offer stripped G5’s….
(For good badge engineering, think the Audi A3, essentially a Golf).
Regarding this comment in the last post…”For good badge engineering, think the Audi A3, essentially a Golf.”
I agree that the A3 is a successful use of engineering sharing between the Golf as well as the TT. But these are examples of platform sharing… the sharing of internal components and R&D. “Badge Engineering” is what we’ll have with the G5… A Cobalt with Pontiac stickers and a different logo molded into the steering wheel. You simply can’t compare the success of what VW/Audi has done (or Nissan/Infiniti, Toyota/Lexus, and Ford/Mazda/Volvo for that matter) and the failure of what GM has been doing for decades. Does GM management get out much to see how their company is perceived? This is why. And it’s frustrating for those of us who want them to succeed to witness this continuing cycle.
This G5 POS is the kind of dreck that drove legions of people to Hondas and Toyotas.
GM’s senior morons will never learn!
That grill insert looks like something you would buy at Autozone. I wish they would have at least put a little more effort into redesigning the front fascia…