Pontiac Aztek | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Manufacturer | General Motors |
Production | July 2000 – August 2005 |
Model years | 2001–2005 |
Assembly | Mexico: Ramos Arizpe (Ramos Arizpe Assembly) |
Designer | Tom Peters (chief designer: 1997) [1] [2] [3] |
Body and chassis | |
Class | Mid-size crossover SUV |
Body style | 5-door SUV |
Layout | Front-engine, front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive |
Platform | U-body/GMT250 |
Related | Buick Rendezvous |
Powertrain | |
Engine | Gasoline: 3.4 L LA1 V6 |
Transmission | 4-speed 4T65-E automatic |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 108.3 in (2,751 mm) |
Length | 182.1 in (4,625 mm) |
Width | 73.7 in (1,872 mm) |
Height | 66.7 in (1,694 mm) |
Curb weight | 3,779–4,043 lb (1,714–1,834 kg) |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Pontiac Sunrunner (Canada) |
Successor | Pontiac Torrent |
The Pontiac Aztek is a mid-size crossover SUV marketed by General Motors from model years 2001 until 2005, along with a rebadged variant, the Buick Rendezvous.
As a 5-door crossover with a front engine with front-wheel drive and optional all-wheel drive, the Aztek featured a four-speed automatic transmission with a V-6 engine. Marketed by Pontiac as a "sport recreational vehicle," the Aztek used a shortened platform shared with GM's minivans (e.g., the Pontiac Montana) featuring 94 cubic feet of cargo room with its rear seats removed. The design employed conventional rear outswing doors rather than sliding doors, and a split rear tailgate, the lower section formed with seat indentations and cupholders. Other features included a front center console that doubled as a removable cooler, optional rear stereo controls in the cargo area, optional sliding cargo floor with grocery compartments and optional camping package with an attachable tent and air mattress.
The Aztek was noted for its controversial styling. Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist Dan Neil, in naming it one of the 50 worst cars of all time, said the Aztek "violate(d) one of the principal rules of car design: we like cars that look like us. With its multiple eyes and supernumerary nostrils, the Aztek looks deformed and scary, something that dogs bark at and cathedrals employ to ring bells. The shame is, under all that ugliness, there was a useful, competent crossover." [4]
First shown to the public in 1999, the Pontiac Aztek concept car was well received. [5] 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 Aztek went on sale in summer 2000 as a 2001 model. [6]
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 reality show Survivor in 2000. [7]
The Aztek was styled under the direction of Tom Peters, who would later design the Chevrolet Corvette (C7). [1] [2] [3] According to an analysis in 2000, BusinessWeek said the Aztek was to signal a design renaissance for GM, [3] and to "make a statement about breaking from GM's instinct for caution." [3] One designer said that during the design process, the Aztek was made "aggressive for the sake of being aggressive." [3] Peters, the Chief Designer said "we wanted to do a bold, in-your-face vehicle that wasn't for everybody." [3] The 2000 Business Week study said the Aztek was "the first awkward step toward innovation by a company that has avoided that path," likening "the debacle to Ford's remodeling of its 1996 Taurus sedan." [3]
Ultimately, the Aztek was criticized for its styling. Mickey Kaus described the Aztek as having "awkwardly empty and square front wheel wells" and a "gratuitous, fierce animalistic snout, which may have been what prompted incoming GM executive Bob Lutz to famously say that many of the company's products looked like 'angry kitchen appliances.'" [8] James Hall, vice-president at AutoPacific Inc [3] ranked the Aztek as one of the ten ugliest cars of all time, Karl Brauer, CEO and editor-in-chief of TotalCarScore.com said the Aztek featured "atrocious proportions wrapped in plastic body cladding," and "looked like a station wagon stretched out by a car bomb." [9]
A poll in The Daily Telegraph in August 2008 placed the Aztek at number one of the "100 ugliest cars" of all time. [10] An article by Edmunds.com placed the car first of the "100 Worst Cars of All Time" not only because of its styling but also because it "destroyed an 84-year-old automaker." [11] Time magazine in 2007 named the Aztek one of the 50 worst cars of all time (adding that underneath "was a useful, competent crossover"), [12] and again in 2010 as one of the 50 worst inventions of all time. [13]
The Aztek was produced at General Motors' Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, assembly plant, where it shared an assembly line with the Buick Rendezvous. In Canada, it filled the gap left since the Sunrunner's discontinuation in 1997, while in the US and Mexico it was the first Pontiac-badged SUV ever sold. At launch, the Aztek was available with either front-wheel drive or Versatrak, a full-time, fully automatic all-wheel drive system which provided traction in the snow or rain and could handle moderately rough off-road surfaces.
The Aztek was one of the first automobiles to be designed entirely using computerized rapid-prototyping/rapid-visualization tools.[ citation needed ] The dashboard was designed by Johnson Controls, and featured Pontiac's trademark red lighting scheme along with an optional heads-up display. [14]
The Aztek was able to carry within its interior a standard 4 feet (1.2 m) by 8 feet (2.4 m) sheet of plywood and was available with two rear cargo area options: a pull-out cargo tray that held up to 400 pounds (180 kg) that rolled on built-in wheels when removed from the vehicle, or a versatile cargo net system that held up to 200 pounds (91 kg) and could be configured (a claimed) 22 different ways. Options included a center console that doubled as a removable cooler and a tent/inflatable mattress package that, along with a built-in air compressor, allowed the Aztek to double as a camper. Extending this image was a seat-back mounted backpack, and a number of specialty racks for bicycles, canoes, snowboards, and other such items. An optional 10 speaker Pioneer stereo system provided a set of controls located at the rear of the vehicle for tail-gate parties as well as an unusual 2-piece tailgate with built-in cup-holders and contoured seating area for added comfort.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave the Aztek a Marginal overall score in the frontal offset test. However, they did not conduct a side-impact test. [15]
2004 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Crash Test Ratings: [16]
Calendar year | U.S. | Mexico |
---|---|---|
2000 | 11,201 [17] | |
2001 [18] | 27,322 | |
2002 | 27,793 | |
2003 [19] | 27,354 | |
2004 [20] | 20,588 | |
2005 | 5,020 | 90 [21] |
2006 [22] | 347 | |
2007 [23] | 69 | |
GM forecast sales of up to 75,000 Azteks per year and needed to produce 30,000 annually to break even. Just 27,793 were sold in 2002, which was the model's best-selling year. [24]
Pricing of the Aztek was also an issue at launch: the vehicle was 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.[ citation needed ]
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 which noted: "The Aztek scores highest or second highest in every APEAL component measure except exterior styling."
Matthew DeBord of The Big Money argued that despite its poor reviews and sales, the Aztek was the car that, in the long run, could save GM. He praised GM for being daring and trying to create an entirely new market in vehicles, rather than simply copying successful formulas. He argued that the Aztek's failure is similar to the failure of the Apple's Newton and Mac Portable – two failed products that revolutionized the computer industry and became the basis for later successful products made by Apple. [25]
The car was featured through a tie-in in the sci-fi show Dark Angel in 2000–02. [26] Walter White, the lead character of the 2008 crime TV show Breaking Bad , drove an Aztek. [27] Jalopnik called it "one of the perfect examples of car casting in TV" and noted that the show had White's Aztek repainted in a unique "gray-beige-green tone" to match White's character's original job as a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher. [28] In 2015, Edmunds ranked the Aztek sixth among U.S. used car buyers aged 18 to 34, crediting the "Breaking Bad Effect" for making the car cool. [29]
The Aztek's "Design by Committee" was criticized in Steve McConnell's software design book, Code Complete 2 . [30]
In its final model year, the Aztek gained hands-free operation of its On-Star system. Exterior color offerings also changed.
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, although Buick Rendezvous production continued for another two years. The last Pontiac Aztek finally rolled off the assembly line on August 31, 2005.[ citation needed ]
Pontiac, or formally the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors, was an American automobile brand owned, manufactured, and commercialized by General Motors. It was originally introduced as a companion make for GM's more expensive line of Oakland automobiles. Pontiac quickly overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent entirely by 1933, in turn establishing its position as one of GM's dominant divisions.
The Pontiac Vibe is a compact car that was sold by Pontiac from 2002 to 2010. It was jointly developed by General Motors along with Toyota, which manufactured the mechanically similar Toyota Matrix. Manufactured by the Toyota-GM joint venture NUMMI in Fremont, California, the Vibe succeeded the Chevrolet Prizm in production at NUMMI and like the Prizm, it was derived from the Toyota Corolla, making it the last of the GM and Toyota developed S-body cars.
The Chevrolet Impala is a full-size car that was built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in the United States.
The Chevrolet Astro is a van that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of American auto manufacturer General Motors from 1985 to 2005. Sold alongside the GMC Safari, the Astro was marketed in multiple configurations, including passenger minivan and cargo van.
The Cadillac Cimarron is an entry-level luxury car manufactured and marketed by the Cadillac division of General Motors for model years 1982–1988 over a single generation, with a mild facelift in 1985.
The Chevrolet Celebrity is a front-drive, mid-size passenger car line, manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet for model years 1982-1990, over a single generation.
The Buick LaCrosse is a four-door, front-wheel-drive sedan manufactured by Buick since model year 2005, and marketed variously across four generations for the North American and Chinese markets.
The GMC Envoy is a mid-size SUV manufactured by General Motors for the 1998 to 2009 model years over two generations. Adopting a nameplate used by GM Canada, the Envoy was a rebadged variant of the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Oldsmobile Bravada, Buick Rainier, Isuzu Ascender, and Saab 9-7X.
The Buick Skyhawk is an automobile produced by Buick in two generations for the 1975 through 1989 model years.
The Buick Rendezvous is a mid-size crossover SUV that was sold by Buick for the 2002–2007 model years. Introduced in the spring of 2001, the Buick Rendezvous and its corporate cousin, the Pontiac Aztek, were GM's first entries into the crossover SUV segment. The Rendezvous featured a four-speed automatic transmission with a V6 engine and optional all-wheel-drive (Versatrak). The SUV used the same platform as GM's short-wheelbase minivans, the Chevrolet Venture and Pontiac Montana. The Rendezvous provided a passenger- and load-carrying capacity not seen in the Buick lineup since the discontinuation of the Buick Roadmaster Estate station wagon in 1996.
The Chevrolet Equinox is a crossover SUV introduced by Chevrolet in 2004 for the 2005 model year. It was intended to be a replacement for the North American Chevrolet Tracker and Chevrolet S-10 Blazer. The third-generation Equinox also replaced the first-generation Chevrolet Captiva.
The Oldsmobile Omega is a compact car manufactured and marketed from 1973 to 1984 by Oldsmobile, as the brand's most affordable, entry level vehicle — across three distinct generations.
Buick Estate is a nameplate that was used by the Buick division of General Motors, denoting its luxury full-size station wagon from 1940 to 1964 and from 1970 to 1996. The Estate nameplate was derived from the term country estate in wealthy suburban areas and estate car, the British term for a station wagon.
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser is an automobile that was manufactured and marketed by Oldsmobile from 1971 until 1992. Marking the return of Oldsmobile to the full-size station wagon segment, the Custom Cruiser was initially slotted above the intermediate Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, ultimately above the later mid-size Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser.
The U-platform is a front wheel drive minivan and crossover SUV platform from General Motors produced since 1990. North American sales ended in 2009, but Chinese production continues. The minivans were divided into three generations, 1990–1996, 1997–2005 and 2005-current. The U-body was also used for General Motors' first generation crossovers from 2001-2005.
The GMC Acadia is a crossover SUV manufactured by General Motors for its GMC division. The first-generation GMC Acadia shared the GM Lambda platform with the Saturn Outlook, the Chevrolet Traverse, and the Buick Enclave. The Acadia went on sale in 2006 as a 2007 model in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Acadia replaces three of the 7- or 8-seater vehicles on the Buick-Pontiac–GMC dealership network, the midsize GMC Safari van, the GMC Envoy, and the Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan for the domestic market. As of 2009, the Lambda vehicles have replaced the Buick Rainier, Buick Rendezvous, Buick Terraza, and the GMC Envoy XL and then subsequently the GMC Envoy, Chevrolet TrailBlazer and the Isuzu Ascender. A Denali version of the Acadia debuted for 2011. In 2017, the second generation Acadia was repositioned as a mid-size crossover utility vehicle in order to compete within the growing midsize SUV market against the likes of the Ford Explorer, Edge, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Chevrolet Nomad is a nameplate used by Chevrolet in North America from the 1950s to the 1970s, applied largely to station wagons. Three different Nomads were produced as a distinct model line, with Chevrolet subsequently using the name as a trim package.
The General Motors H platform is an automobile platform used by subcompact cars from the 1971 to 1980 model years. The first subcompact car design developed by GM, the rear-wheel drive H platform initially underpinned the Chevrolet Vega and its Pontiac Astre counterpart. For 1975, the H platform was expanded from entry-level vehicles to sport compacts, adding the Chevrolet Monza, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Starfire, and Pontiac Sunbird.
The Chevrolet TrailBlazer is a mid-size SUV produced by Chevrolet, a division of General Motors. The nameplate was first used in North America from 2001 to 2008; in 2009, it was replaced by the Traverse, as a crossover SUV. In 2011, production of a newly-redesigned version of the Trailblazer for the Asian and Brazilian markets began.
The GM BEV3 platform is a dedicated electric vehicle architecture or platform developed by General Motors. It is the third-generation electric vehicle platform by GM, succeeding the BEV2 platform. It is categorized as a skateboard platform.