Talk:General Motors N platform

Regarding the engineering for the N platform
The engineering for the N platform, or "N cars" as they were called was done primarily by engineers working exclusively on the project at Lansing, MI in facilities where Oldsmobile vehicles had been engineered for decades. Of course, engineering work was done by engineers not captive to the project in the GM Technical Center, however at the time this platform was being developed, the arbitrary bureaucratic grouping (BOC Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac) done by Roger Smith had not substantially affected engineering practice. This changed with the work done on the P-90 project and the advent of the GMX130 which consolidated the A, L, and N cars. The GM L platform was developed along a completely different path primarily by engineers at Warren, MI in the GM Technical Center under the arbitrary bureaucratic grouping (CPC Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada). Mid- and upper-management GM personnel could argue that "it was all GM" - and in a sense this is true - however there were programs that fit this new development model and some that did not. An example of a program which was developed using the corporate model was the GM10 however the N cars and L cars fit better with the old model such as the Cadillac D cars compared to the Chevrolet B cars.

Additionally, during the period GM used a code known as "releasing division" to describe the source of the platform. The N cars were assigned "releasing division" 3 corresponding to Oldsmobile while the L cars were assigned "releasing division" 1 corresponding to Chevrolet. Up until the point where carlines were truly engineered corporately (like the GM10) vehicles were still "sourced" from a particular division and "shared" with other "marketing divisions". For example, Pontiac did not engineer any platforms that were sourced for other marketing divisions - ALL Pontiacs at this time were "badge engineered". The Fiero and Iron Duke engine were the final projects with Pontiac engineering involvement, although a better case could be made for the Iron Duke than could be made for the Fiero because engineering done on the Fiero was essentially a precursor to the corporate U vans.

During this transitional period, different "marketing divisions" also used engines sourced from different engineering groups. The last Oldsmobile small block was prevalent in the 1990 Chevrolet Caprice and the Oldsmobile-engineered Quad 4 was found in many Pontiac Grand Ams.

This being said, I have undone the undo done by Atarivideomusic and these should remain until the debate, if any, is concluded here in the appropriate forum. Toneron2 (talk) 17:49, 7 January 2010 (UTC)


 * First of all, interesting stuff, and apologies for reverting your edits. But ideally, you should post this information (and other valuable knowledge you may have) somewhere else and then reference it here. Wikipedia is not intended to be a primary source, especially on the talk pages.


 * As you acknowledge, "Chevrolet" did not exist as an engineering division under Rodger Smith, perhaps it could be rephrased as "Chevrolet engineers in GM's CPC division" or the like. Atarivideomusic (talk) 08:14, 13 January 2010 (UTC)


 * GMX130 is not a platform; GMX like GMT refers to GM's internal code for a vehicle or vehicles (rebadges).VX1NG (talk) 16:56, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Reference to the frequent change in model names contributing to the demise of Oldsmobile
Although I know this to be true I will research. Undo not undid. Toneron2 (talk) 19:06, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

GM N/L platform?
I have found several sources that state the 1992-1998 N-bodies consolidated to the L platform. However, this article states they were consolidated to the N platform. So, I will just leave these links in here until better sources can be found. VX1NG (talk) 17:47, 31 October 2013 (UTC)