GM FYI Blog

Pontiac Communications Manager Jim Hopson has been travelling around the country introducing the new Pontiac G8. Here are his thoughts on his recent encounters. - Nicole Burguess, blog editor

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time at various race tracks around the country driving the Pontiac G8 with members of the automotive media.

In addition to some kind words about Pontiac’s new performance sedan, the vast majority of the journalists think that GM is on the right path. Vehicles like the Chevy Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, and G8 are getting a lot of positive ink and are being favorably compared to Toyota, Honda, Lexus, and BMW products. Here are some of those articles:

Pontiac’s Return to Oz, Wall Street Journal

2008 Pontiac G8 Preview, Mother Proof

2008 Pontiac G8 V6, Velocity Automotive Journal

But, those high-level accolades are a two-edged sword. While, at least in the minds of some of our biggest critics, we are now producing cars truly worthy of consideration, the bar has been set higher than ever before. The fit of every material and part, powertrain, and interior bit of plastic is under a bigger magnifying glass. We’ve proven we can build world-class cars and now we’re expected to excel.

At no time in the past 20 years has the North American car market been this competitive, but I personally believe that we have the people and the products necessary to meet the challenge. Just like on the track, we’ve got look at where we want to be, not where we are, and steer toward that goal.