Pontiac Vibe

OK, so some of us know that GM has made an agreement with Toyota to share the Matrix/Vibe chassis. The question is why? Toyota is showing exceptional growth with it's current/future SUV outline, so why should they allow GM to take advantage of this design with the Pontiac division to allow sales of the "Vibe" (built on the AWD Corolla platform) which probably hurt Toyota sales? Perhaps they owe something to the States' market, but in any case, I believe they should round up their engineers for an attempt to dominate the international automotive industry. They may not have the power, but hell, if it's TOYOTA, they will put up a hellava fight, once again allowing the rest of the world to acknowledge the fact that they are a competent corporation.

I know nothing about this but maybe they both designed it together. I'd prefer to see it as a Pontiac than a Toyota.

Actually, in the case of the Vibe, it's originated from Toyota. This design has been used before in other Toys. However, I enjoy and applaud specific Pontiacs. The thing is, I like the cars that they DESIGN and BUILD themselves (within GM, that is). Therefore in this Vibe situation, I'd rather see it as a Toyota, simply because it was originally a Toyota. Stateside domestic cars that have roots outside of the country generally lack spirit. For example, the Cadillac Catera's chassis is of Opel origin. It just doesn't seem right.

Thread "Cars in General - Concept cars - Pontiac Aztec version 2.0 (Vibe)" for more information... (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1954&perpage=10&pagenumber=1)

Good point. I don't even see cars such as the Catera as real Cadillacs.

The Vibe is being produced by GM and Toyota. NUMMI is a joint-venture established between the two companies to produce cars in California. Their first product was the Chevrolet Nova, a rebadged Toyota Sprinter. The Geo Prizm replaced that which was followed by the Chevrolet Prizm.

With the Prizm going out of production, they needed another product for the plant. GM is not good at making small cars profitably in North America so Toyota was given the control to design much of the car themselves. Interior and exterior styling was GM.

Toyota knows not to compete with itself. Few Pontiac buyers would go into a Toyota dealership, and even fewer Toyota buyers would step foot near a Pontiac dealer.

While they share quite a bit mechanically, the Vibe will be produced in Fremont, California, and the Toyota Matrix will be built in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

Hey, that's some great data! Thanks for the informative response, it clarified a heck of a lot of confusion in my cluttered psyche. I can see your logic behind Toyota's alliance with the Pontiac department; it's nearly impossible to picture a Toyota loyalist in a Pontiac showroom floor.

I was SHOCKED to see an AMERICAN car I actually thought was great looking besides the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler Sebring convertible, and I'm not talking about the standard Vibe either although it is sweet, but I'm referring to the Vibe SEMA special GTR shown on the cover of this weeks Autoweek magazine. This car is incredible, but the inside sucks as usual for the US auto industry. Sorry to knock US made cars but they still have to improve to get back many crossover customers.

Is anyone actually going to get this? I prefer the Vibe over the Matrix based on looks alone. The only problem I can see is that the AWD version comes with the auto only :confused: even worse is that it goes with the weaker of the two engines. :mad:

Maybe its time to consider the WRX wagon :p

Originally posted by 2001 AE
I was SHOCKED to see an AMERICAN car I actually thought was great looking besides the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler Sebring convertible, and I'm not talking about the standard Vibe either although it is sweet, but I'm referring to the Vibe SEMA special GTR shown on the cover of this weeks Autoweek magazine. This car is incredible, but the inside sucks as usual for the US auto industry. Sorry to knock US made cars but they still have to improve to get back many crossover customers.

You mean this thing?

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/816794vibe.jpg

Sweet!

I like better the Vibe than the Matrix, even though the Toyota has a nice front-end too and it looks roomier? Do they have the same dimensions? Appears not. It´s funny that having a greatly differenciated exterior styling the interior is the same (?) :confused: :eek: :o

Euro19

I believe that the 2 share the same platform and powertrains but thats it. None of the sheetmetal is shared, but exterior and interior dimensions are the same. The latest car rags have reviewed (no driving impressions) the twins and from the pictures with the rear bench folded down its hard to tell which car your looking at.

I'd like to get my hands on one but the predicted price is a bit high right now (GT just under 20k)

TSG

Originally posted by 2001 AE
...but I'm referring to the Vibe SEMA special GTR...

I just got my March issue of Sport Compact Car and read the following in the Technobabble column entitiled "Inside the Geek Mind" by Dave Coleman:
"-THE GEEK MIND GETS ANGRY-
Being constantly burdened with such wasteful and complex thought processes, the geek mind is easily agitated and prone to bouts of rage when properly provoked. Lets look at what happens when the geek sees a Pontiac at the SEMA show. The Pontiac is really a Toyota, but that just amuses the geek mind; what enrages it is far more complex. The Pontiac is a Vibe (twin to Toyota's Matrix) decorated in a fascinating Detroit interpretation od modern import garb. GM is trying to send a message; Gm wants us to think it has it's corporate finger on the pulse of the Modern performance market. The Geek mind gets the message all right; the message is, GM still has its head so far up its corporte ass it still doesn't know what the import performance market actually is.
The Geek Mind figures this out simply by reading the three letters on the side of the car. "GT-R".
Is Detroit an island? Do these people know there's a world outside their drab, fluorencent corporate prison? Do they have any idea what GT-R means? In the modern performance world, the Skyline GT-R is a performnace icon without parallel. It is respected, no, worshiped by the same crowd that Pontiac thinks they're going to impress. How impressed would Detroit be if Mitsubishi tried to sell them a sports car called a GTO? Pontiac lovers would flow from their trailer parks, baseball bats in hand, until the last one had been destroyed.
But Mitsubishi was too smart for that. It had a sports car called the GTO in Japan, but the company opened its eyes. Its executives traveled and read books. They observed the world beyond their cubicles walls and saw that 'Murricans revered the Pontiac GTO. They renamed the GTO the 3000GT VR4, and even disguised some as the Dodge Stealth.
Had Pontiac done its research, it would know the Skyline GT-R has been an icon almost as long as the GTO has. It would know modern performance doesn't mean body kits and wheel, it means horsepower, just like it always has. Anybody who looks past the laughably insulting GT-R badge will notice tat Pontiac did virtually nothing to increase power on its Vibe.
Lesson learned? Never isult a geek."

This man speaks nothing but the truth!!

One of the main reasons why gm has parternered with a smaller company to produce the vibe/matrix is due to something called economies of scale, rather gm is suffering from diseconomies of scale meaning that gm has grown in size to the point that the company is not very efficient which results in high production costs for vehicles (think of it as too paperwork, or bureacracy). Consequently, partnering with a smaller company, such as toyota in this case, allows gm to lower production costs for creating a new marketable vehicle.

Originally posted by NB8CT
This man speaks nothing but the truth!!

I second the statement.

The Matrix looks too weird, like if it was intented as a family wagon.
Anywise this is not the first time that Toyota and GM make some things together. In the ´90 Toyota used to sell the Chevrolet Cavalier in Japan as the Toyota Cavalier and the only changes were the logos. I don´t understand why this happened, perhaps Toyota sold this chevrolet in japan and all the benefits went go to GM?

All I really have to add is that .....THIS CAR IS UGLY!!!!! :apuke:
I am A pontiac nut and it makes my heart bleeds to see the PONTIAC name on a import looking peice of shit. :zx11pisse They have done gone and lost their minds...they are going to stop making the awsome Trans AM and start producing this thing???? Where is the logic? Some one send a medic to detroit the execs are brain dead.

Don't blame the corporate heads, they are just trying to keep their company alive. Instead, blame the consumers. When it was announced that production for the Camaro and Firebird would cease in September 2002, it was also mentioned that the decision was a result of sales, in the sense that less expensive sport compacts (some of which could produce nice performance figures) were eating away at the muscle market.

Ford got the jump using their European based studios to create the Focus variants, but GM really couldn't cost-effectively start a sport compact from scratch, so they turned to their New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (or NUMMI) department to find something to 'borrow'. There, they found the Vibe.

True, it's sad that such highly respected nameplates such as the Firebird have to be let go, but that is the way of modern capitalism. People are recognizing that sport compacts are cheaper, more efficient & economic, handle better, and generate plenty of power for the majority of the consumers. Maybe it's not as much muscle as the cars being retired, but they seem to be willing to sacrifice raw power for driveability.

Just thought this thread could use a home in the proper forum (now that one exists). ;)

Some more information:
NUMMI is sending the Pontiac Vibe to Japan as a Toyota! They did this before with the Cavalier (basically converted to right-hand-drive, slapped on some Toyota placards and shipped them out), and now they are doing it with the Vibe. Supposedly, it's done to keep good relations between within the alliance. The name of the Toyota will be the "Voltz".

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/126020voltzfront.jpg

On a sidenote, how did this new Vibe forum get subdirectories so quickly? Most of the others needed around 10,000 posts before getting the separate "General Discussion", "Modifications", etc. areas.

I am the mod and plain and simple I got hooked up. Hopefully this community on AF will grow into that.

Hmm... I'd better ask Igor if I can get subdirectories for the 240SX forum. It's getting pretty cluttered in there with many repeated questions etc.

id rather have the Matrix neday

Am I the only one who thinks the Vibe looks like Ass-tek Jr.?????

It looks much like an aztek
and whenever i see a vibe gt
i laugh so hard cause it strikes me as an aztek GT or something like that


i would take the matrix anyday over the vibe
and im not really fond of the matrix

the Vibe looks NOTHING like the Aztec.Vibe is much nicer look.Id take a Vibe over a Matrix n e day

For those that think Pontiac buyers would never enter a Toyota dalership of vice-versa, they will get a shock in Burlington, Washington where there is a Pontiac Buick Toyota dealership. The Vibes and Matrixes (or is it Matrices) sit side by side so you can really compare them. I like the looks of the Vibe better, but the Matrix has some desirable options. Everyone knows about the broader application of the 180HP engine. However a real poser is that the Matrix can be ordered with a combo CD/cassette/radio for $140 extra. It is a great GM radio that for unknown reasons is not a Vibe option.

this is a nice ride.

OF COURSE there are some people who hate on imports so of course they don't like this car....then there are the ones who think an import should be made by a Japanese co. and so they hate too.

I have no preset predjudices like that - although I would NEVER buy a Honda ;)

This is a sweet looking ride, needs to be rollen on 17" or larger rims IMHO and also needs a little more tire to fill out the wheel well. I would like to see the base at 180hp and the GT at 200+ but what can I do....
I don't think these will be long lasting cars though, probably will fall apart after 2 years or so.

The gas mileage for this car makes the deal for me....as I do loads of driving. Thinking about getting one, but need to sell my other car first.

I like the NAV system and for only 1600, not bad at all, I paid 3000 for a aftermarket DVD/NAV system in my other ride. Don't know if the Vibe's NAV plays DVDs too, but it says DVD base.....so I don't know, if it does it is totally worth 1600.

I like it, and I hate loads of other rides that many people love (like civics and mustangs) I must say, I am one of those guys who like the looks of many imports....so I guess you can see why I like this one

Originally posted by |Banchi1O5|
It looks much like an aztek
and whenever i see a vibe gt
i laugh so hard cause it strikes me as an aztek GT or something like that


i would take the matrix anyday over the vibe
and im not really fond of the matrix


Trash talking from a Plymoth Acclaim owner :bloated: