Why dont they produce fieros anymore?

[82KnightRider]

I like the way fieros look and was wondering why they stopped making them?

[fierangero]

production was too expensive, i was reading through the manual talking about how they produced them, and wow. there was no way they could build them like that, and sell them for any less than 50k and still make money. its a niche market

[82KnightRider]

will they ever return to the market?

[fierangero]

heh...i doubt it. hopefully at least the camaros and firebirds will return. we need an affordable RWD sports car...NOW

[Old Lar]

Fiero sales were down in 1988 so GM pulled the plug. Most of the tooling equipment went to the Saturn plant which is built with "space frame" technology.

[fierogtrouge]

I hope so if yes i will buy one

[focusyn]

On top of being expensive to build, the early Fiero had many problems and a bunch of recalls, the most notable being for overheating and catching fire in the early 4 cylinder models. Cars never really recover from bad press, no matter what the manufacturer does to fix the car. As is usual with a car like this, the last year is usually the best year for it.

In 1988, we were still a few years from the SUV revolution. But that's what ended up eventually killing other 2 door cars such as the Cadillac Eldorado, Buick Riviera, Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Mark VIII. The imports weren't immune either. The MR2 was the Toyota equivalent of the Fiero, it lived until 1993 or 1995. But the Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7 and Mitsubishi 3000GT were all "fun-car" casualties of the SUV increased popularity.


Sales of SUVs just took off and no one wanted large or small two-door coupes anymore. And since the SUVs were so popular and cheap to build, many two door car plants were re-tooled into SUV plants for the new found money-maker.

The closest you can get to the Fiero now is the Pontiac Solstice or Saturn Sky roadsters. Think of it as the spiritual sucessor to the Fiero.

[RandomTask]

Originally Posted by fierangero

production was too expensive, i was reading through the manual talking about how they produced them, and wow. there was no way they could build them like that, and sell them for any less than 50k and still make money. its a niche market

Umm, thats false. The fiero was successful (turning a profit) EVERY year it sold. Yes, it was tainted when it first came out with fire problems, but it was still sucessful.

The rumor has it that they pulled the plug when pontiac kept pushing for more motor, the '90 concept was built with a Turbo 3.4 DOHC motor rated at about 205hp. The vette (GM's flagship) was rated a 240hp in a car that was close to 400lbs heavier. The fiero was designed as a commuter car and pontiac kept pushing it as a sports car. GM didn't like this and was afraid it would dig into the vettes sales, ultimately pulling the plug.

[FieroGuy9890]

Yes the fiero did turn a profit every year it was made. But the sales did start to fall in 88'. But as stated above the ultimate demise of the fiero came when GM decided that it would offer too much competition for the vette and might hurt corvette sales. I mean after all if you have a better performing, lighter, more agile, cheaper, more fuel efficient, and in my opinion better looking alternative. Then why buy a corvette.

I think GM made a mistake but who knows maybe the fiero would have turned into a flop later on, or maybe they would have turned it into something that didn't even come close to what the original was. Yes Pontiac kept pushing it as a sports car, and thats what they designed it as, GM just wouldn't let them make it as a sports car so they had to stick it with tiny engines and market it to commuters for it's fuel effiency and affordable price.

But to be honest the 90 concept fiero looks alot like a firebird or trans am from the front. Not that thats a bad thing since i like firebirds, but it just didn't look as individual as it did in earlier years.

[shawnk1]

everyones right here in their own way sales did drop in 87-88 and the vette competition is true as well. the fiero was designed to look like a ferrari 308 but an american economy ferrari. the car was designed both to be an economy and sports car. the 4 cyl "iron duke" engine was the comuter and the v6 was the sport. gm didnt sink much money in this car as it is designed with old parts from other gm cars. but they did make the 84 indy now the real indy used on the track had around 200 hp the production indy never saw that but pontiac also made a drag fiero, and carried the fiero namesake into le mans racing. the 88 was the best designed fiero but not many people have seen the 87-88 fiero convertible concept. fiero was on the way to being a great car but at that point in pontiacs history they moved away from power to more "family cars" as most of the late 80s early 90s car makers did. and about the car ever returning...its possible the fiero name was just re trademarked my GM so it may return in the near future.

[MrPbody]

The entire "low-end, 2-seat, middle-engine car" market collapsed in the late '80s. The POS Fiat Bertone, MR2 AND Fiero were all victims. MR2 disappeared for a couple years, then returned, looking remarkably like the proto-type '89 Fiero... Just don't expect it to help save your life in a wreck, like you could Fiero. (at the time, Fiero was the only American car ever built to Swedish safety standards)

According to Motor Age, it took 2,000 people the same amount of time, using "space frame" technology, to build the same number of cars it would have taken 20,000 to build in the same amount of time, using "conventional" manufacturing methods. Fiero was a manufacturing experiment to see if Saturn was feasable. They really didn't intend to sell as many as they did! Considering the impact Saturn has had on the whole world, regarding manufacturing of cars, I'd say the "experiment" was a success.

Jim