Pontiac confirms G3 compact for U.S. sales

From the rear view, the Pontiac G3 in virtually indistinguishable from the Chevy Aveo5.

(Credit: GM/Pontiac)

Pontiac Manager of Communications, Jim Hopson confirmed, on the GM Fastlane Blog, that Pontiac would be selling the G3 in the U.S. General Motors must have something of a penchant for cannibalizing their own sales, because the G3 is obviously just a rebadged Chevrolet Aveo5, the cheapest least expensive new car in America.

When challenged on about the matter of the econobox G3 not fitting into Pontiac's claim of building exciting vehicles, Hopson states, "True, it's not a RWD V8, but that's why the G8 is sitting in the same showroom." What he fails to mention is that oftentimes there will also be an Aveo5 sitting in that same showroom.

Hopson does address the similarities between the two models stating that "the G3 and Aveo share a lot of components, true. But Toyota and Lexus also share components." That's right, he seriously drew the Toyota/Lexus analog. We spend an inordinate amount of time in a Chevy Aveo5, our test car for stereo installs, and we can say that there's nothing Toyota- or Lexus-esque about that vehicle.

However, component sharing and badge engineering are two different things. Toyota and Lexus buyers are two very distinctly different segments of the market, which isn't necessarily the case with Chevrolet and Pontiac buyers. Even if they were, we seriously doubt that putting a new bumper/headlamp combo on an Aveo makes it a vehicle substantially higher quality or perceived value.