RX8Club.com - ZETA platform back on track for GM

Edmunds.com said today......

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=107210

DETROIT — General Motors has revived the Zeta rear-wheel-drive platform for North America, six months after it chopped the program.

Jim Queen, GM's vice president of global engineering, told Automotive News a revised version of Zeta is back on track. Developed by Holden, GM's Australian division, the new Zeta platform — or "architecture" in GM-speak — will form the basis of the next-generation Pontiac Grand Prix and GTO; the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo; and a new version of the Camaro.

The cars could appear as early as next year — an indication of how advanced Zeta was before GM pulled the plug — though they are more likely to be 2009 or 2010 model-year cars. The revised Zeta program is being developed in GM's Australian engineering center.

What this means to you: The success of the Dodge Charger and the Ford Mustang has put pressure on GM to include some traditional American muscle in its U.S. range — so Zeta's back on track.