[JettaBoy04]

Hey guys-
Whats up with Geo? I remember them from the 1990s and while they were a Gm company, they always seemed independent. Can someone give me the history of them and why they died out (I think I got this one). They seemed like they had to take the cars that were results of joint ventures with GM (Prism/Corolla, Tracker/Vitara)

 

[matoo]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (JettaBoy04)

you forgot storm/impulse

my sis had one. the salesman(my dad) talked her into that instead of the camaro she wanted

 

[MEIN_VW]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (matoo3)

To go back to the beginning, you need to go back to the early 1980's when Toyota and GM entered into a new venture to build cars together. GM and Toyota each contributed $100 Millon and GM contributed its plant in Fremont, California. The new venture called NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.) Toyota and GM each appointed half of the board of directors with Toyota selecting the chairman and CEO. The first car to roll out of this plant was the Corolla-based Chevy Nova.
Through GM's partnership with Toyota, Suzuki and Isuzu, the Geo brand was launched in the US. Geo models were basically Suzuki, Isuzu and Toyota models with Geo badges on them.

 

[l5gcw0b]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (MEIN_VW)

Geo sold Toyotas, Suzukis, and Isuzus made in US, Canada, and Japan at Chevrolet dealers.

 

[Fusion]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (l5gcw0b)

Does it really take that much money to stick on a new badge?

 

[A4Jetta]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (JettaBoy04)

There's another division of Geo, Azura, which is basically a rebadged Geo Storm and Tracker for Canadian market. Azura was a market disaster that GM dropped this stupid brand 4 years after launched it.

 

[AlexiGTIVR6]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (A4Jetta)

quote:[HR][/HR]There's another division of Geo, Azura, which is basically a rebadged Geo Storm and Tracker for Canadian market. Azura was a market disaster that GM dropped this stupid brand 4 years after launched it.[HR][/HR]​

Azura? Don't you mean Asuna. Asuna was rebadged Tracker's called the Sunrunner and rebadged Isuzu Impules called the Sunfire. Asuna was a div of Pontiac as Geo was a div of Chevrolet

 

[Eolair]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (A4Jetta)

quote:[HR][/HR]There's another division of Geo, Azura, which is basically a rebadged Geo Storm and Tracker for Canadian market. Azura was a market disaster that GM dropped this stupid brand 4 years after launched it.[HR][/HR]​

It was called Asüna, with three products:
Asüna: Daewoo/Pontiac LeMans derived (but different looks)
Sunrunner: Geo Tracker/Suzuki Vitara derived, it was sold through Pontiac later, so Canada also got the Pontiac Sunrunner
Sunfire: Geo Storm derived

Pontiac had also another Canada-only division: Passport which sold the Pontiac LeMans as Optima


[Modified by Eolair, 12:02 PM 2-10-2002]

 

[ClownCar]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (Eolair)

Passport was stand alone franchise that sold the Daewoo built Optima, the Isuzu Impulse, Isuzu I-Mark, Isuzu Stylus, as well as Isuzu trucks. ... It had nothing to do with Pontiac.
Many Passport dealerships were later combined with Saturn and/or Saab and named Saturn/Isuzu or Saturn/Saab/Isuzu (SSI) dealerships.

 

[Taimar2]

I must be getting old, I can remember the "Getting to know you" ad campaign that Geo used when it was first introduced. Even then it was clear that Geo was a goner after the first couple of years of Saturn production.

 

[Belfi]

Re: Tell me The History of GEO (Taimar2)

"Gee!"
"Oh!"
"Yeah, it is a GEO. How did you know?"
Getting old here too...