Pontiac is DEAD
04-23-09, 01:16 PM
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Pontiac is DEAD
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=146706
Date posted: 04-23-2009
DETROIT — According to a source at General Motors, the company will announce next Monday its new "faster, deeper" reorganization plan, which will likely include a death sentence for the Pontiac brand.
Inside Line called Tom Wilkinson, news relations PR man for General Motors, who said: "There's nothing I can share with you at this time. Keep your eyes on our media site. Officially, nothing has changed with Pontiac's niche-brand status, until you hear differently."
The one-time "Excitement" division and creator of legends such as the GTO and Firebird was relegated to "niche" or "specialty" brand status by General Motors in its first viability plan in December of last year.
The company toyed with competing proposals to either turn the brand into GM's version of Scion or to make Pontiac a very focused purveyor of performance cars based around the critically well-received G8. But ultimately, Pontiac was chosen as the easiest to kill since it was cut from GM's self-defined herd of four "core brands," Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick. Most Pontiac franchises have already been combined with Buick and GMC.
If true, Pontiac will join Saab, Saturn and Hummer as brands that will not survive GM's current troubles — at least not as a component of General Motors.
Inside Line says: Just as the G8 reawakened our interest in 83-year-old Pontiac, the brand falls victim to bad times and old mistakes. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
DETROIT — According to a source at General Motors, the company will announce next Monday its new "faster, deeper" reorganization plan, which will likely include a death sentence for the Pontiac brand.
Inside Line called Tom Wilkinson, news relations PR man for General Motors, who said: "There's nothing I can share with you at this time. Keep your eyes on our media site. Officially, nothing has changed with Pontiac's niche-brand status, until you hear differently."
The one-time "Excitement" division and creator of legends such as the GTO and Firebird was relegated to "niche" or "specialty" brand status by General Motors in its first viability plan in December of last year.
The company toyed with competing proposals to either turn the brand into GM's version of Scion or to make Pontiac a very focused purveyor of performance cars based around the critically well-received G8. But ultimately, Pontiac was chosen as the easiest to kill since it was cut from GM's self-defined herd of four "core brands," Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick. Most Pontiac franchises have already been combined with Buick and GMC.
If true, Pontiac will join Saab, Saturn and Hummer as brands that will not survive GM's current troubles — at least not as a component of General Motors.
Inside Line says: Just as the G8 reawakened our interest in 83-year-old Pontiac, the brand falls victim to bad times and old mistakes. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
04-23-09, 02:13 PM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
TBD. A "specialty/niche" brand with about 2 models that are worthy.
In the mean time they are wrapping numerous hundred dollar bills around each crappy Pontiac that they sell, something an essentially bankrupt company cannot afford to do.
In the mean time they are wrapping numerous hundred dollar bills around each crappy Pontiac that they sell, something an essentially bankrupt company cannot afford to do.
04-23-09, 03:10 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
If Pontiac dies, IMO it will be a needless death (I won't go into Saturn again here, because we've already discussed that in other threads). GMC and Hummer, I can understand.....GMCs are nothing but rebadged Chevys, and Hummer sales are simply too low to keep the badge going. They probably deserve to go. But Pontiac does some interesting stuff that has little competition.....dropping it would give some other manufacturers a monopoly or near-monoploy. Note the the G6 hard-top convertible, which offers mid-sized fun-in-the-sun for a low price, and, until this years's new Chrysler Sebring hard-top convertible, was the only reasonably-priced mid-sized hard-top convertible offered. There's the G8 GT RWD performance sedan, which, until the Ford Taurus SHO comes out, is the only domestic competition for the Dodge Charger R/T, and the Solstice Roadster, which, along with th Saturn Sky, provides competition for the Miata.
Honda already has plans to drop the S2000. If the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky both get canned with their divisions, watch for Miata prices to climb. Dodge may also jack up the Charger's price with the demise of the G8 , though we'll have to see what kind of competition the Taurus SHO gives it.
Honda already has plans to drop the S2000. If the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky both get canned with their divisions, watch for Miata prices to climb. Dodge may also jack up the Charger's price with the demise of the G8 , though we'll have to see what kind of competition the Taurus SHO gives it.
Last edited by mmarshall; 04-23-09 at 03:16 PM.
04-23-09, 03:14 PM
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If Pontiac dies, IMO it will be a needless death (I won't go into Saturn again here, because we've already discussed that in other threads). GMC and Hummer, I can understand.....GMCs are nothing but rebadged Chevys, and Hummer sales are simply too low to keep the badge going. They probably deserve to go. But Pontiac does some interesting stuff that you can't get anywhere else, like the G6 hard-top convertible, which offers mid-sized fun-in-the-sun for a low price, G8 GT RWD performance sedan, which, until the Ford Taurus SHO comes out, is the only domestic competition for the Dodge Charger R/T, and the Solstice Roadster, which, along with th Saturn Sky, provides competition for the Miata.
Honda already has plans to drop the S2000. If the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky both get canned with their divisions, watch for Miata prices to climb. Dodge may also jack up the Charger's price with the demise of the G8 , though we'll have to see what kind of competition the Taurus SHO gives it.
Honda already has plans to drop the S2000. If the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky both get canned with their divisions, watch for Miata prices to climb. Dodge may also jack up the Charger's price with the demise of the G8 , though we'll have to see what kind of competition the Taurus SHO gives it.
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04-23-09, 05:44 PM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Sounds like my parents, they were so impressed with a Toyota Corolla rental car versus the usual crap GM cars that were typically rented.
04-23-09, 06:06 PM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
04-23-09, 06:09 PM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
I COULD, though, see Chevy maybe (?) accepting the sport-truck G8 platform that Pontiac was working on.....that would bring back the old Chevy El Camino that was sold for some 20 years.
Last edited by mmarshall; 04-23-09 at 06:13 PM.
04-23-09, 06:10 PM
#14
Lexus Test Driver
04-23-09, 06:15 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic