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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
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GM to halt production of remade Pontiac GTO
Automaker blames high cost of retooling V-8 muscle car to meet new air bag rules.
Dee-Ann Durbin / Associated Press
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp . said Tuesday it will end production of the Pontiac GTO this summer.
The last high-performance GTO, which is made in Elizabeth, Australia, will roll off the line in June and hit the U.S. market in late July or August, Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson said.
The iconic muscle car traces its roots to 1964, when the first GTO hit the market. The GTO went through seven body styles before it was discontinued in 1974, Hopson said. After a 30-year hiatus, the GTO was revived as an all-new 2004 vehicle.
The current GTO has a 400-horsepower, six-liter V-8 engine and accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in six seconds. It starts at $31,990.
Hopson said GM decided to phase out the GTO for several reasons. A new U.S. air bag regulation was going to require a substantial redesign of the instrument panel, he said. Also, the GTO's Australian-designed architecture is being phased out worldwide in favor of a new platform.
GTO sales also have been tapering off. GM sold 11,590 GTOs in 2005, down 14 percent from the year before. In January, year-over-year sales were down 33 percent.
