GM W platform
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| Manufacturer | General Motors |
|---|---|
| Also called | GM10 |
| Production | 1988–present |
| Predecessor | GM G platform (RWD) |
| Class | Mid-size car Full-size car |
| Layout | FF layout |
| Body style(s) | 4-door sedan 2-door coupe |
| Engine(s) | Iron Duke I4 Quad-4 I4 60° V6 Shortstar V6 High Value V6 High Feature V6 Buick V6 LS4 V8 |
| Transmission(s) | 4-speed 4T60 automatic 4-speed 4T65 automatic |
| Wheelbase | 107.5 in (2730 mm) 109.0 in (2769 mm) 110.5 in (2807 mm) |
| Vehicles | Buick Century Buick LaCrosse Buick Regal Chevrolet Impala Chevrolet Lumina Chevrolet Monte Carlo Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Oldsmobile Intrigue Pontiac Grand Prix |
The W-body is an automobile platform from General Motors which underpins mid-size cars with front-wheel drive. The platform, originally code named GM10, began in 1982 under Chairman Roger B. Smith and debuted in 1988 with the Pontiac Grand Prix, the Buick Regal, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupés. Sedans followed for 1990.
The platform cost $7 billion to develop and was to replace all midsize cars produced by Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick. The plan was huge in scope, calling for seven plants that would each assemble 250,000 of the cars, or 21% of the total U.S. car market.[1] It was badly executed from the start, but GM’s 1984 reorganization, combined with changing market dynamics wrought havoc on the program and it never recovered. By 1989, the year before the last of the original GM10's were launched, GM was losing $2000 on every one of the cars it produced.[2]
The later revision of this platform was known as the MS2000 or simply the W2-Car. Early versions used a fiberglass monoleaf spring combined with struts in the rear. The "generation 1.5" W-body models had updated rear suspensions that used coil springs instead of the leaf spring design. For the 1997 model year the second generation W-body was released with a MacPherson strut coil spring design.
Vehicles using the W-body include:
- 1st Gen 107.5 in wheelbase
- 1988–1996 Buick Regal
- 1988–1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
- 1988–1996 Pontiac Grand Prix
- 1990–1994 Chevrolet Lumina
- 1.5 Gen 107.5 in wheelbase
- 1995–2001 Chevrolet Lumina
- 1995–1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
- 2nd Gen 109 in wheelbase
- 1997–2005 Buick Century
- 1997–2004 Buick Regal
- 1998–2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue
- 2nd Gen 110.5 in wheelbase
- 1997–2003 Pontiac Grand Prix
- 2000–2005 Chevrolet Impala
- 2000–2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
- 3rd gen 110.5 in wheelbase
- 2004–2008 Pontiac Grand Prix
- 2005–2009 Buick LaCrosse
- 2005–2009 Buick Allure (Canada)
- 2006–present Chevrolet Impala
- 2006–2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
[edit] 2004
The W platform was updated in 2004 rather than being replaced by a stretched Epsilon platform, as had been planned. Metal fabrication of the floor pan for W-body cars is performed at the Parma Metal Center in Parma, Ohio. The cars are built at GM's two Oshawa, Ontario plants. The transverse use of GM's small-block engine in the W-bodies was a major addition for 2005.
The GM W-body platform is in the process of being phased out. The only car remaining on the platform is the Chevrolet Impala.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Alex Taylor III, Andrew Erdman, Justin Martin, and Tricia Welsh, "U.S. Cars Come Back", Fortune, November 16, 1992
- ^ Robert A.G. Monks, "GM Corporate Governance Case Study"
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