Despite trashing all it’s competitors in sales numbers, the bosses at GM decided to trash the Kappa II  (aka Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Opel GT, and Daewoo SX2). After suspending the development of the platform they decided to outright cancel it, citing financial reasons.

The two seat roadster platform has been in production since late 2006 and seemed to be a tremendous bang for the car enthusiast’s buck - handsome styling, rear wheel drive, and a folding softtop with an MSRP that started in the low 20’s. Cars that filled the same segment, such as the Honda S2000 and the Mazda Miata, seemed to have been completely outdone - especially with the introduction of the high performance trim level, the Solstice GXP and the Saturn Sky Redline.

Why would a seemingly perfect chassis become a financial burden to GM? They claim that each Kappa car was being sold at a $10,000 loss due to the massive labor costs (each Kappa car is still largely handbuilt) as well as expensive materials (hydroforming process… also used by the Corvette). Why not just use a less exotic process for manufacturing panels? Its doubtful that many shoppers will be swayed to buying one roadster over the other due to the technique used to form the fenders.

The Kappa II was GM’s attempt at addressing some of these faults. Production was set to take place in Mexico, which would significantly lower costs; parts of the Kappa II were based off the Zeta platform, to save dollars spent on development; and more vehicles were to be based off the Kappa II, to more evenly spread the hurt from research costs.

No word yet on the fate of the production of current Kappa models. While GM is likely to continue using the platform for other cars, no one knows yet if the Solstice and Sky will continue production into next year. The much anticipated Solstice coupe still has not hit streets yet…