sweet jesus... can we gata full translation of that article??

Looks like a Ford 500

well we may just have something here....I found these photos of the Lausanne, which would be a sibling of the Bonne

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/*...ght=bonneville
pics here
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=8183

and they look pretty close to the same

Here is the full translation.
"(Kind of )

"New Pontiac Bonneville at large in China"
A reader of the Swedish magazine Teknikens Värld (World of Technology) caught a whole new Pontiac with his camera, during his travels through Konming, China.
The car is VW Passat-sized, and according to the talkable testdrivers, they were testing a newly constructed V6-engine, especially developed for the chinese market. The car that the engine is adapted to is a coming Pontiac Bonneville, that is supposed to debut at the Detroit Saloon in January 2006.

The reason this thread refuses to die is because people are very, very deeply unhappy about this decision to discontinue the Bonneville. This may be the first thread to last an entire calendar year.

A few additional thoughts...

l. A lot of people don't realize Ford had already decided to drop the Mustang. They brought out the Probe and gave it a few years to develop a following, then planned to replace the Mustang with the Probe. The outcry was so great it forced the executives to reconsider. So they dropped the Probe and kept the Mustang. Mustang lovers are thus responsible for the very existence of their beloved car.

2. Dropping the Bonneville is just one more in a long series of bad decisions made by GM. The Tornonado was a great car, universally recognized for its design and engineering. The car was in huge demand. GM could not make Toronados fast enough to satisfy demand. You literally had to sign up for one, then wait six months. So they dropped it. Then Buick came out with the Reatta, the two seat luxury sports car. It was also widely recognized for its engineering and design. Demand was huge. You had to sign up and wait six months for one. They couldn't make them fast enough. So they dropped it. People today are still happily driving their Toronados and Reattas, which seem to be extremely durable. And there are other examples.

3. I had my Bonneville SSEI in today for routine servicing (nothing has ever been wrong with it after 80,000 miles). At closing, the mechanic and I had a few minutes to talk. he told me the Bonneville has the best record of any GM car for maintenance. He said he had one, and he planned to run it 'til the wheels fall off. He said the 05 GPX should be a car to buy and just keep forever. He said, based on his experience working on them, that a properly cared for Bonneville, especially an SSEI, should last at least 250,000 to 300,000 miles before it begins developing problems. He said no other car made by Pontiac or GM has anywhere near that sort of durability.

4. I think GM and Pontiac are making a serious miscalculation with this name change strategy. They are throwing away brand loyalty and identity it has taken millions of dollars and four or five decades to develop. That sort of loyalty and recognition does not come easily, quickly or cheaply. There is no way high school kids or racing fans or car lovers are going to talk enthusiastically about something called a "G6" or "GPX." My Dad spent his whole life buying nothing but Pontiacs, one every three years, trading each one in on a new one, and most of them were Bonnevilles. I know of a dozen people who are devoted Bonneville owners who are now saying well, since Pontiac has abandoned them, they're looking at a Toyota Solaris or some other foreign car, even though they would really rather just buy another Bonneville. So how does losing all these customers gain an advantage for GM'* bottom line?

5. Some say, yes, but they only sold 30,000 last year. Not much loyalty there. But they misread the statistics. First of all, many Bonneville owners are still driving their current cars. There was a latent curve of potential buyers about ready to re-enter the market as their cars reached the 100,000 mile mark. But what about new owners? If this is such a great car, why can't it attract nonBonneville owners? Well, I suggest a couple of reasons. First, Pontiac never bothers to advertise the car. The last tv ad for the car I saw was that dozen black Bonnies driving through the town circle at the Superbowl and run for a month after. That'* it. No other tv ads. I see other cars advertised all the time. Not the Bonneville. How are people supposed to start thinking about a car? In various magazines car ads for other vehicles appear on every other page. Not Bonneville. Not on billboards, newspaper pages, football or basketball programs. No ads. Nowhere. So Pontiac never promoted its flagship car. But it gets worse. I like cars, and I drop by car lots all the time to see what'* new. I can almost never check out a Bonneville. Our local dealership rarely has one, and when they do, it is absolutely never in the showroom. it gets parked in some distant dark corner of the lot. What'* this? The greatest car Pontiac has to offer it hides in the dark? if I'm running a Ford or Chevy dealership, I put a fully loaded Mustang or Corvette up front in my showroom with a spotlight on it, where it will bring people in off the street. The hope is they'll then also look at my other cars. if I run a Pontiac dealership, I put a Bonneville SSEI front and center under those spotlights. But I've visited five Pontiac dealerships in the last three weeks and not one has a Bonneville in its showroom. Then they say the car doesn't sell. So what Pontiac has committed is a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is exactly why GM is in trouble.

6. We need about 30,000 people to write GM and let them know they need a whole new staff of designers. This current crop is not suited to auto conceptualization. Look at the Aztec, Cadillac, etc. I'm sorry. Those are Ugly Cars. And these are the people who are designing Pontiacs? We could hire an aesthetic psychologist to set up some sort of research project where he explored exactly what the differences were, but whatever they were, Bonneville sales just plummeted when the 2000 model came out. It was a good car, but it was not as aesthetically appealing as the '99. Inside or out. Everybody I know preferred that great compass on the left side of the dashboard to the new readout indicator. Everybody I know preferred the buttons between the seats to the under the seat buttons. So how did the designers make such mistakes? I teach at a university and a high school. I talk cars with my students between classes all the time. Pontiac said the Aztec was specifically designed to appeal to males ages 16-25. It was going to be THEIR vehicle. But when it came out, every high school and college male I talked to said it was the ugliest vehicle they ever saw. So what kind of market research is Pontiac doing? Everybody I talk to still thinks the 90s Bonneville is somehow a graceful, sleek, muscular, beautiful car, and the 2000 line looks like a Batmobile. I know a lot of owners who were hoping to hold on to their older Bonnevilles and just skip this model cycle in hopes the next Bonneville would return to the 90s direction.

7. I test drove a brand new GPX today while my car was being serviced. It'* a great driving experience. I saw the log. The car had been on the lot (back in the corner) for two months and I was the second person to test drive it. I had to go to the office and ask for the keys. If Pontiac wants to set me up, I'll run a separate Bonneville Dealership and I'll guarantee I can sell a few of those cars a week all year. And they can't even move one to the front of their lot or put it in the showroom or put its brochure out on their rack? I am forced to agree with my mechanic. If you're a car lover, grab one of the GPXs while they're available. Lease one to keep the monthly payments down, then convert the lease to a buyout, then keep the car and drive it until the wheels fall off.

I will be the 1st to write to them. Now we need 29,000 more.


Your not the only one who noticed that thesse cars be way in the cut somewhere. Also, its GXP,

u gonna write 1,000 letters??

29,999 more...

excuse me, im typing in the dark.

Back on topic please. The BS posts are getting tiring.

I agree with you on every point TF, hopefully GM will see the light and go back to the bonneville.

My parents wont even touch a 2000+ model for their next car, they want to look at toyotas and hondas. Good job GM!