Pontiac Aztek - Critics

Critics

GM forecast sales of up to 75,000 Azteks per year, and needed to produce 30,000 annually to break even. Just 27,322 were sold in 2001 with more than 50% being sold to captive rental company fleets or used by General Motors executives.

Pricing of the Aztek was also an issue at launch. In addition to being widely criticized for styling, the vehicle was simply 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.

The Aztek was cited derisively numerous times in Steve McConnell's software design book, Code Complete 2.

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 who noted: "The Aztek scores highest or second highest in every APEAL component measure except exterior styling."

Just as the 1959 Cadillac represented the zenith and final overextension of the tailfin as a desired styling device, the Aztek's "overuse" of cladding marked a breaking point for the automotive press' and public's acceptance of the ribbed cladding that Pontiac used as its primary styling differentiator for almost 15 years, a styling element introduced with the 1985 Grand Am which quickly spread to all of its models. The restyled 2002 Aztek's body colored cladding eliminated most of the horizontal strakes, and Pontiac began a program at the direction of Bob Lutz to substantially subdue or remove cladding from all of its models.

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.

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.