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May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Few cars at introduction looked more promising than Pontiac's new GTO. Only a few months later sales of the car seem stuck -- in neutral, or maybe even in reverse.

Aimed at aging baby boomers itching to recapture their youth, the model recalls the 1960s muscle cars and targets a well- defined, albeit narrow niche of those who owned or aspired to own them. No wonder GM and Pontiac are eager to recall the 1960s: It was a halcyon time when they ruled U.S. auto making.

The project's mastermind, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz, is purported to be an auto executive with a special intuition for what makes buyers tick. His mission is to stop the erosion of GM's U.S. market share, which is hovering between 27 percent and 28 percent, down from nearly 29 percent two years ago. Since the beginning of 2004, GM's stock price is down about 20 percent.

Lutz's calculation was that the GTO's storied tradition, fast-acceleration, rear-wheel-drive performance and handling would be enough to sell it. Its bland exterior, a consequence of time and money constraints, wouldn't be a deal-killer, or so Lutz thought.

`Attitude' and `Stuff'

Six months after the GTO's debut, the car -- priced at about $34,000 -- is selling at less than half the projected rate of 16,000 units for the first year. Jim Wangers, a senior analyst at Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. and a former advertising executive who worked on the original GTO, believes he knows why:

``GM didn't cater to the true hobbyist, who wants more attitude and more stuff under the hood like the old GTO. And there was no serious follow-up advertising once the car hit the market.''

Pontiac dealers sold 650 GTOs in April, down from 719 in March.

Most reviewers give GTO high marks for technical prowess, based on its 350-horsepower engine. Brock Yates, however, ridiculed its looks in Car and Driver magazine, calling it a ``cunningly disguised phone company fleet car.''

The No. 1 automaker in terms of sales is trying to jumpstart sales by assisting in the production of a made-for-TV movie, ``The Last Ride,'' starring Dennis Hopper. GTOs, old and new, figure in the movie's story line.

Should GTO sales fail to perk up soon, watch for GM to pile on cash incentives or low-interest finance and lease rates.

GM Optimistic

GM, for the moment, isn't conceding that the new GTO is floundering. ``We knew in December that places where there is snow would be off to a slow start,'' said Jim Hopson, a spokesman. ``Sales will pick up toward spring and summer.''

The automaker initially promised to send at least one GTO to all 2,700 Pontiac dealers in the U.S. Now it will be shipping more of them to dealers in Southern California, he said, where sales have been strong.

Adapted from decade-old Opel Omega architecture, the GTO is manufactured by GM's Holden subsidiary in Adelaide, Australia. Down Under, its cousin is known as the Holden Monaro and sells well as an unremarkable, everyday coupe.

Rather than take the time to develop a retro-car that might be more appealing to traditionalists, with hood scoops and other flashy styling, Lutz determined to bring the made-over Monaro to market quickly, in 17 months or so.

Success Not A Given

The strategy is to replace GTO in two or three years once General Motors approves its new rear-wheel-drive architecture, code-named Zeta.

No doubt Lutz was hoping to upstage Ford Motor Co.'s redesigned Mustang, another nostalgic throwback to the 1960s that goes on sale toward the end of this summer. Indeed, General Motors recruited Lutz, 72, almost three years ago for the purpose of leading, and speeding up, such initiatives and to inject pizzazz in its vehicle lineup.

Given the scores of new models fighting for the public's attention, the success of any new model can't be a foregone conclusion. Fortunately, GTO represents a drop in the bucket in terms of the 8.5 million vehicles GM builds worldwide.

The project did show that GM is becoming more adept at deploying its worldwide assets and engineering expertise quickly and efficiently. Lutz deserves credit for that, if not for a particularly astute read of the nostalgia market.

The ability to use vast, far-flung assets is increasingly vital as growing markets like China, where GM is investing heavily, evolve into automotive societies and, eventually, significant vehicle exporters.

I hope that helps.