Quote:

You all can split hairs all you want but the body styles as a whole are the same. I'm not talking EXACT replicas of each other but you can't deny the similarities. Let's try it from another angle. Do any of these cars look unique compared to the others? Shift a light here, move the antenna there, the body of the car still flows the same. Take the average car buyer to a Pontiac dealer and ask them to differentiate between the three cars and I bet they couldn't.



Dude, have you never heard of "Brand Identity"?

All their cars are supposed to look the same.

Look at Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Saturn, Chrysler, bigger names like Mercedes and BMW, or even Aston Martin and Jaguar.

You're supposed to look at a car and recognize it for what it is solely based on its' general look. It's called Branding.

One big benefit, aside from Customer and Consumer brand recognition, is that people who can't afford the next car higher up on the chain can get the cheaper car and get roughly the same 'look' still. They might not be able to afford that GTO, but they can buy that Grand Prix and still feel like they're driving a cool car like that one.

And, yes, before someone brings it up -- virtually every car has some seperate car that is totally removed from their normal look. Nissan has the 350Z, Mazda has the Miata, Ford has the Mustang, etc. Exclusivity is a different kind of brand identity, but it functions on the same basic marketing premise of Consumer Identification.

That said; that is probably what Pontiac should have done with the GTO. I understand why they went the traditional route of making it look similar to their other styles, but it should have been their exclusive niche car. They should gone an entirely different route with it and used it to get their name and image out and people into the showrooms.

The GTO is selling horribly -- less than half of company expectations. It's styling is a primary reason why. When you get a car like the GTO you, generally want to be set apart from the other Pontiac owners. You want people to recognize the GTO more than the Pontiac -- like the Mustang, 350Z, or Miata -- all are purely recognizable on their names, not their manufacturers.

2003 Mazda6s 3.0L MTX Webpage 2004 Mazda3s 2.3L ATX