Hi, new here. I'm real excited about the Solstice (as are all of us!), but have a major concern. GM has stated that they'll only make about 20,000 cars in the first year. :confused: With that few available, you just know that there'll be "NO" such thing as a "Cheap" Solstice :mad: . As when just about any new car that's hot is introduced, dealers tack on all kinds of $ premiums and sell to the highest bidder! :tongue: This will put a bad taste (IMHO) in the publics perception of GM. I sincerly hope I'm wrong, but right now, judging by the buzz this car is generating, this car is gonna' be a monster hit for Pontiac and GM! :thumbsup:

My advice? Move to Canada :) Seriously, I hear they have a law there prohibiting over-MSRP pricing. But then they'll probably thow on a $5000 spoiler (no pun intended).

If you're staying here in the U.S., your "major concern" is quite well founded, if you gotta have one right away. But based on the history of other cars, despite the low production numbers, within 6 months or so, prices will settle down: The Miata, MR2 Spyder, S2000, and new Thunderbird, all had dealer markups, but they disappeared after a while.

As for the bad taste, I have mixed feelings. In a way, I wish that Pontiac could sell all of there first 6month production to the highest bidders directly, and profit from the markup themselves (instead of the dealers). Detroit is hurting so bad...If some rich guy doesn't mind spending an extra 5 or 10 grand, by all means let 'em help keep one of the few remaining manufacturing industries in the U.S. alive and employing folks.

Kind of funny talking about markups in an industry where you can bank on getting a *rebate* on most any domestic :)

-Andrew

It might be a problem at first, but not for that long. I think after the initial spike of demand, things will settle down for a number of reasons.

- There will be some people who want to wait for the supercharged version or a coupe version. It's probable that when the S/C model does come out, there will be a lot of demand for it for a while.

- A number of new or highly revised direct competitors will be on the market or coming very soon. Examples would be the new Mustang convertible, an all-new Miata, the PT Cruiser convertible and more. Even Pontiac's own G6 is supposed to come out with an affordable hardtop convertible version in 2006 and maybe some people will want to wait for that.

- There will also be a number of new small performance coupes on the market which could siphon some buyers away from the Solstice. GM has even approved the Saturn Curve for production which is built on the same Kappa platform.

- 20,000 cars is not that small of a number. I think the Miata only sold about 11,000 units last year. Pontiac has a lot more dealerships but I still think there will be enough Solstices to go around.

In any case, I don't think Pontiac dealers will be charging way over MSRP for long. You probably won't see rebates on this car for quite a while but I wouldn't expect to be gouged unless you want to be first in line.