| Pontiac Aztek |
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The Pontiac Aztek was a Mid-size Crossover SUV produced by the General Motors marque Pontiac from the 2001 model year to the 2005 model year. The Aztek was mostly noteworthy for its polarizing exterior styling. The Aztek was the first crossover SUV offered from General Motors . Winner of the cartalk.com ugliest car of the year in 2005. BACKGROUND Given the fact that the vast majority of Sport Utility Vehicle s (SUVs) were rarely taken off-pavement by their owners, much less driven under serious off-road conditions, a new type of car-based " Crossover SUV " was marketed that was hoped would provide all the elements that customers ''actually'' wanted from their SUVs such as cargo carrying capacity, elevated seating height and the suggestion of an active outdoor lifestyle with fewer of the drawbacks typically associated with traditional SUVs such as poor gas mileage, uncomfortable ride, high step-in height, propensity to roll over, etc. The formula of a car-based "soft-road" SUV had proved marketable by the highly successful Lexus RX300 and Toyota Highlander and was thought to be a promising new market niche within the highly profitable and increasingly popular SUV category. ORIGINAL CONCEPT First shown to the public in 1999, the Pontiac Aztek Concept Car was fairly well received. It featured "Xtreme" futuristic styling and promised maximum versatility in support of a young and active lifestyle for its intended Generation 'X' buyer demographic. The production edition of the Aztek was launched with the tagline: ''"Quite possibly the most versatile vehicle on the planet."'' in conjunction with CBS 's hit game show, '' Survivor '' in 2001. Richard Hatch of ''Survivor'' won this car as a prize during the season finale of the show in 2000. TECHNOLOGY AND NOTABLE FEATURES
CRITICS GM forecast sales of up to 75,000 Azteks per year, and needed to produce 30,000 annually to break even. Just 27,322 were sold in 2001 with more than 50% being sold to captive rental company fleets or used by General Motors executives. Pricing of the Aztek was also an issue at launch. Styling issues aside, the vehicle was simply too expensive for its intended " Generation X " audience and was priced significantly higher than competing vehicles. After the 2001 model year, the GT model was dropped and pricing was slashed, in addition to extremely generous rebates and cut-rate financing instituted by GM in the wake of the Terrorist Attacks On September 11, 2001 . In February 2001, a blue Aztek served as the Pace Car for the Daytona 500 . Somewhat ironically, the Aztek had among the highest CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) scores in its class, and won the appellation of "Most Appealing Entry Sport Utility Vehicle" in 2001 from J.D. Power And Associates , an independent consumer survey organization who noted: "The Aztek scores highest or second highest in every APEAL component measure except exterior styling." Just as the 1959 Cadillac represented the zenith and final overextension of the Tailfin as a desired styling device, the Aztek's "overuse" of cladding marked a breaking point for the automotive press' and public's acceptance of the ribbed cladding that Pontiac used as its primary styling differentiator for almost 15 years, a styling element introduced with the 1985 Grand Am which quickly spread to all of its models. The restyled 2002 Aztek's body colored cladding eliminated most of the horizontal strakes, and Pontiac began a program at the direction of Bob Lutz to substantially subdue or remove cladding from all of its models. The Aztek was discontinued after the 2005 model year, and was replaced by the ''Theta'' Platform Pontiac Torrent . The Aztek's production line in Ramos Arizpe , Mexico was retooled to build the Chevrolet HHR . YEAR TO YEAR CHANGES 2001
2002
2003
2004 2005
PRODUCTION While the total production numbers would not seem to indicate that the re-styling of the Aztek helped sales, in actuality, sales to private individuals increased after the first model year and thereafter, which allowed GM to cut down on the low-profit, value-eroding rental fleet sales it relied on to keep the Aztek production line in operation initially. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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