I feel that as was seen in 1982 as well as 2004 people do not want to buy a rebadged Chev but a real Pontiac powered vehicle even a real powered Oldsmobile which I feal destroyed many loyal people's heart's and mind's towards GM and there was no longer competition in the ranks to create a better vehicle. Hence the reason everything became Cookie cutter car's. Good luck with your decision
John Baumgart - 5 months ago
I feel that as was seen in 1982 as well as 2004 people do not want to buy a rebadged Chev but a real Pontiac powered vehicle even a real powered Oldsmobile which I feal destroyed many loyal people's heart's and mind's towards GM and there was no longer competition in the ranks to create a better vehicle. Hence the reason everything became Cookie cutter card. Good luck with your decision
Chris - 3 years ago
It's pretty simple for me: I've loved the Pontiac brand since I was a kid. When I bought my first (and only) G6 last year, I was thrilled, felt like a kid again. But I was definitely buying a Pontiac, not just a GM brand. Buick is for old rich people and Chevy is what my stodgy uncles drive lol.
So GM really has left me nowhere to go: the only cars I see on the road that remind me of my G6 are sports Chevys. I'd rather buy an Accord at that point, totally untethered to any other GM brand. Maybe in the short term Buick was turning more profits in Asia, but they lost this American for dumping Pontiac.
It's not a great future for GM I suspect, not when they so casually destroy nearly a century of car history just to pay the bills. Pontiac should have been sold to a car company that would treat it well.
william shattuck - 5 years ago
i own a Nissan Altima,G.M. can shove their cars . I hear they are going to discontinue more of their cars. Not every one wants a truck or suv. Nissan is a good car,ill stick with it Go bankrupt GM
Justyn r - 7 years ago
Cheap gm cars for broke people ya bring it back
Rick - 9 years ago
Pontiac has had no leadership in place that defended the brand since late 70's. The designs that came out from the 80's and beyond have been uninspiring, unimaginative, and undesirable. With the power of GTO, Trans-Am and the lesser Firebird that was re-branded as a Sunbird (yuck) Pontiac has left the planet with originality, style, focus and brand loyalty. Buick has always been and continues to be a second place finisher to the Cadillac Brand that is still suffering from the same woes that have befallen Pontiac. Due largely to government restrictions and mandates for better fuel economy, I can point out that Dodge Charger/Challenger has enjoyed such a re-birth that ordered vehicles had to STOP being placed due to the backlog demand. For a brand that was closer to death than GM ever was, and even went through serious financial challenges and ownership changes (first Daimler/Chrysler now Fiat/Chrysler) that hasn't even dampened the EXHUBERANT enthusiasm for a muscle car that Pontiac almost dominated. Since 2008 when the dark clouds formed on the horizon of US auto manufacturer's and UAW's stranglehold on corporate affairs, FORD found a way not only to NOT accept money, but to RE-BIRTH the muscle car Mustang into a fine specimen with vast arrays of configuration that have exploded across America.
I may be old school, for I still believe in Made By, Paid By and Driven By an AMERICAN, and started to purchase Ford Products simply because they proved to be AMERICAN. independent, strong, original in design and FOCUSED on Quality. The Union of auto makers strangled manufacturing by demanding, no not earning, a reliable reputation with the old adage of " I deserve more, so lets shut down this outfit until they meet our demands" line of thinking. sure there are some advantages as depicted in the early struggle of union led reformation during the 30's,40's, 50's and 60's but by then most of the reformation of industry standards of working conditions had already taken place. While during the late 70's while most car producers suffered from stale markets, stale products and bad quality, hence the Ford sudden shift to "Quality is Job 1" slogan and heavy pressure from foreign makers with better quality and sustained lasting ability, the shift was on and the UAW still was insisting on ridiculous, almost impossible feats of benefits to the point it shifted downward on the marketability, and manageability of sustained growth. Hence the bankruptcy of the nearly entire US industry. Chrysler filed for their second Bankruptcy in 20 years. The visionary that led them out of it in the 80's Lee iacocca couldn't do it again and who would want to, thats a lot of work.
PONTIAC WHERE ARET THOUGH
Steve - 10 years ago
My first car was a new 1966 GTO I ordered from the factory I also owned A new 1970 Judge. I have owned 6 grand prix and 2other GTOs. I went out and got a 05 GTO when I heard that were not making Pontiacs any more. I will not buy any other GM product. I guess I will being Ford Autos from now on.
Moanalua - 11 years ago
Thank-you, RAHEEL, for your encouraging comment. It's appalling that, over two years since Pontiac was shut down, GM has not made any noises about REVIVING the brand. The key to the long-term survival of an automaker is market share. I think GM can gain market share by reviving Pontiac. There is still market-demand for Pontiac; Google "Bring Back Pontiac", and note all the websites/threads you find. Unless GM revives Pontiac--or at least makes noises about reviving it--I will never purchase a new GM vehicle.
Raheel - 11 years ago
Pontiac is the brand which introduced first muscle cars to the world........pontiac was a successful brand until JOHN DELOREAN was running pontiac when he left pontiac later in 80s pontiac became failure to maintain its value.........the cars like GTO, FIREBIRD, TRANS AM are great looking cars specially FIREBIRD is a great concept.......the firebird produced in 90s and 00s were failed just because of their designers....they were ugly.....really....than in 2004 the GTO came also failed because of designers.....the thing is that people aspect more from pontiac but sadly GM only wants profit by selling pontiac in 2000 a girl was selected as cheif of pontiac which did not have any type of engineering knowledge.............................in 90s firebird there was no pic or hood of firebird in car.....it just had a little sticker on front........and GM calls it a design.........
well....... in my way pontiac is a brand that made GM strong in past not the CHEVY.......
IN MY WAY IF GM WILL WORK TO MAKE PONTIAC GOOD THE PONTIAC CARS WILL BE SOLD ALL OVER THE WORLD PONTIAC DESERVES IT............ GENERAL MOTORS PLEASE BRING PONTIAC BACK....................................... thanx
Moanalua - 12 years ago
@mike: THANK YOU for your impassioned post. I'm one of those loyal Pontiac customers that GM shafted. I've owned NINE Pontiacs in my lifetime, and eight of them were musclecars. When GM murdered Pontiac, I was stunned. I remember I was numb for several weeks. It was as if GM had kicked me in the stomach. I had heard that either Buick or Pontiac would have to go, but I was certain it would be Buick. Pontiac is an iconic brand that built the first musclecar. At the time of Pontiac's murder, Pontiac was outselling Buick TWO-TO-ONE! Not only that; Pontiac had FIVE models, with a possible sixth (the G8 Sport Truck) coming down the pipe. Buick had THREE(!) models. GM went ahead and murdered PONTIAC, all because Buick sold in China. GM, an American company, in effect allowed the CHINESE to decide that Pontiac would be murdered, DESPITE the factors mentioned above that should have dictated that BUICK should have been shut down. This was an absolutely outrageous travesty. AMERICAN company GM said Buick's CHINESE customers would be heeded, rather than Pontiac's AMERICAN customers. This was a mind-blowing rip-off. I'm STILL ticked at GM.
mike - 12 years ago
It's all about loyalty! GM is only loyal to profits! They shafted countless long term dealerships who had been selling GM products for decades and generations! More importantly, they didn't think twice about the millions of loyal Pontiac lovers who religiously purchased a new Pontiac when they shopped for a car. But even worse, they dissed a big part of American nostalgia clearly without thinking it through! GM was founded on a conglomerate of American made car companies. Just because they have had a bad run on the leaders at GM with a lot of ill thought out moves, an ICON like Pontiac should have not got the Ax. Pontiac is not just a car company, It's a state of mind! Everyone has dreamed of driving/owning a 64 tri power Goat, the Bandits T/A, a Le Mans or Catalina a Bonneville or a Gran Prix, more recently G8's, the Solstice and even the mega selling G6! What has Buick done lately? The Grand National ? umm... thats all I can think of. And Chevy, well if you want a cheap generic, disposable car, well there you go. I don't care what sells in China! Who does GM think they are? It's just another piece of what made this country great being slowly whittled away by the lust for profits and the disregard for what us puny Americans desire! I say we all say screw GM like the y screwed Pontiac and all of us Pontiac lovers! It's karma!
Moanalua - 12 years ago
Unless GM revives Pontiac, GM has lost me for good. When my current Pontiac gives-up the ghost, I will purchase a new NON-GM vehicle, unless Pontiac has been revived. I've been a life-long Pontiac customer.
CHUCK - 12 years ago
My wife and I are in the market for a new vehicle, we have been looking at all what GM has to offer and nothing exites us. we would just like to see Pontiac come back. GM has taken a real dive in color decissions for the existing vehicles
Moanalua - 12 years ago
@dave: That sounds really good. I've owned nine Pontiacs--and nothing BUT Pontiacs-- in my lifetime, including the one I have now. Only one of the nine--the first--wasn't a musclecar. Therefore, a revived Pontiac that's all high-perf sounds great to me.
dave - 12 years ago
If they do they need to go all out with only high performance turbo cars that are bmw style with gto attitude. no g5 or g3 only trans am ,g8,g6,and solstice. also no fwd. Awd or rwd only with highperformance engines. Basicly a sooped up chevy with curves that kill. No extra knicknacks. Just race ready balls to the walls specialty cars. You know what made them the #3 car company in the late 60s and 70s. Not a chevy with an arrow head
Moanalua - 13 years ago
@JJ: Absolutely! And for more good news about Pontiac (involving Holden), visit the BringPontiacBack.org website.
JJ - 13 years ago
Yes They should, Pontiac/Holden.Come Back green and Mean. Just take that gauddie orange from the Dash in the 80's it still sucked, But Please let the new Designers design, Just what they went to school for ? A Nice New Bold Goat GTO or maybe the wagon/Buick was supposed to have here in this country ? Or even a NICE 100% all Electric car , No engine.There are lots of nuts rite here in the good old USA that want 100 % Green no emissions ,A volt is not. It's and accident waiting to happen Big ass Battery's the car can't go far without gas,Quite frankly what the hell is going green when you go half way 1/2 I mean WTF ? and for forty thousand ? I can see why DEALERS ARE TURNING AWAY from taking any more inventory of volts? Really There are some more electric cars coming out that may not go for as much or some even more ,But why settle for a volt when you can Have something that actually LOOKS LIKE A CAR ? Smooth line, sleek, aerodynamic. Come on gm don't get lost like Buick did in the OLD MEN BUYERS who by buicks.
Moanalua - 13 years ago
@Brian_E: You can shake your stick all you want. Look at the results of the poll.
Brian_E - 13 years ago
Moanalua,
I "shook my stick" in the GMA forum.
No comment on the false/misleading #1 allegation.
Moanalua - 13 years ago
Brian_E: Of COURSE I understand return-on-investment. My point was that the DEMAND for Pontiac was TWICE AS GREAT--HERE IN THE US--as the demand for Buick. You CANNOT shake a stick at that. As I had mentioned, I was hoping that a compromise could have been struck: Sell Buick ONLY IN CHINA, and continue selling Pontiac in the US and Canada (where it was the #1 American brand). If GM could have arranged that, then all this grief, this thread, all the other Pontiac-related threads on other websites, and a TREMENDOUS amount of ill-will towards GM, could have been avoided. GM has ALREADY lost roughly 45% of Pontiac's customers to NON-GM automakers.
Brian_E - 13 years ago
Moanalua,
When you keep repeating the same disproven reasoning based on sales volume without taking into consideration the obvious differences in profit margin between the Pontiac and Buick, it doesn't help your credibility. Surely an Econ major such as yourself fully understands the concept of Return on Investment and can accept that the RoI for Pontiac was nearly negative at the end of its run due to the extreme sales incentives GM had to offer to move the volume. Even a great car like the G8 wasn't meeting sales targets. It's simply a reflection of the overall market. GM kept it afloat as long as they could, but market conditions and buyer habits have changed. Blame GM if you want, but they tried to keep the excitement alive for 30 years after they went to corporate engines. The 'real' Pontiac has been dead since then. Combining the buyer habits, market conditions, and the current corporate structure of GM, there is no place for Pontiac that is economically viable.
To avoid multiple overlapping discussions, I'll repost this in the GMA forum, if you want to continue the conversation.
Moanalua - 13 years ago
Pontiac outsold Buick two-to-one in the US, yet GM murdered Pontiac instead of Buick simply because Buick sold in China. I'm a little unsatisfied with that. If Buick sold well in China, but sold poorly in the US compared to Pontiac, I would have preferred that GM sell Buicks ONLY IN CHINA, and keep selling Pontiacs in the US and Canada. I'm not entirely thrilled that--in effect--CHINA dictated to GM that Pontiac should be murdered. It wouldn't have been so bad if Buick were close to Pontiac in sales here in the US, but it wasn't. Here we had an AMERICAN automaker (GM), shutting-down iconic AMERICAN brand Pontiac rather than sister brand Buick, even though Pontiac was outselling Buick two-to-one in the AMERICAN market. And why? Because Buick sold in CHINA. Does anyone else feel that something is wrong with this picture? Does this stick in anyone else's craw, as it sticks in mine?
Jon - 13 years ago
Following suit with the new GM, a revamped Pontiac could reap substantial benefits. Continued platform-sharing for sportier Delta II/Alpha/Epsilon vehicles.
(I'd love to see a Pontiac "Cruze". I can only imagine how it would look and feel).
Plus, I'd like to see the G8/Commodore/VXR8 return. That looked like a sensational car.
Scott - 13 years ago
Yes without a doubt they outsold buick by a landslide. Look at the grand am and grand prix out there. They never should have done away with it!
I think Pontiac is synonymous of GM built quality cars. But now the company needs to have zero ownership by the federal government to resurrect it . All the GM-gov't held stock must be sold, and any public debt paid, and dealt with first. If so, I'll consider to buy a new Pontiac.
Bill - 13 years ago
I feel it should be considered, but only AFTER all government stock has been sold, sustained profitability is attained and the Dealer Organization has been fully sorted!
Jeremy - 13 years ago
AS LONG AS ITS A GM..HOLDEN PRODUCT FROM AUSTRALIA..!
I feel that as was seen in 1982 as well as 2004 people do not want to buy a rebadged Chev but a real Pontiac powered vehicle even a real powered Oldsmobile which I feal destroyed many loyal people's heart's and mind's towards GM and there was no longer competition in the ranks to create a better vehicle. Hence the reason everything became Cookie cutter car's. Good luck with your decision
I feel that as was seen in 1982 as well as 2004 people do not want to buy a rebadged Chev but a real Pontiac powered vehicle even a real powered Oldsmobile which I feal destroyed many loyal people's heart's and mind's towards GM and there was no longer competition in the ranks to create a better vehicle. Hence the reason everything became Cookie cutter card. Good luck with your decision
It's pretty simple for me: I've loved the Pontiac brand since I was a kid. When I bought my first (and only) G6 last year, I was thrilled, felt like a kid again. But I was definitely buying a Pontiac, not just a GM brand. Buick is for old rich people and Chevy is what my stodgy uncles drive lol.
So GM really has left me nowhere to go: the only cars I see on the road that remind me of my G6 are sports Chevys. I'd rather buy an Accord at that point, totally untethered to any other GM brand. Maybe in the short term Buick was turning more profits in Asia, but they lost this American for dumping Pontiac.
It's not a great future for GM I suspect, not when they so casually destroy nearly a century of car history just to pay the bills. Pontiac should have been sold to a car company that would treat it well.
i own a Nissan Altima,G.M. can shove their cars . I hear they are going to discontinue more of their cars. Not every one wants a truck or suv. Nissan is a good car,ill stick with it Go bankrupt GM
Cheap gm cars for broke people ya bring it back
Pontiac has had no leadership in place that defended the brand since late 70's. The designs that came out from the 80's and beyond have been uninspiring, unimaginative, and undesirable. With the power of GTO, Trans-Am and the lesser Firebird that was re-branded as a Sunbird (yuck) Pontiac has left the planet with originality, style, focus and brand loyalty. Buick has always been and continues to be a second place finisher to the Cadillac Brand that is still suffering from the same woes that have befallen Pontiac. Due largely to government restrictions and mandates for better fuel economy, I can point out that Dodge Charger/Challenger has enjoyed such a re-birth that ordered vehicles had to STOP being placed due to the backlog demand. For a brand that was closer to death than GM ever was, and even went through serious financial challenges and ownership changes (first Daimler/Chrysler now Fiat/Chrysler) that hasn't even dampened the EXHUBERANT enthusiasm for a muscle car that Pontiac almost dominated. Since 2008 when the dark clouds formed on the horizon of US auto manufacturer's and UAW's stranglehold on corporate affairs, FORD found a way not only to NOT accept money, but to RE-BIRTH the muscle car Mustang into a fine specimen with vast arrays of configuration that have exploded across America.
I may be old school, for I still believe in Made By, Paid By and Driven By an AMERICAN, and started to purchase Ford Products simply because they proved to be AMERICAN. independent, strong, original in design and FOCUSED on Quality. The Union of auto makers strangled manufacturing by demanding, no not earning, a reliable reputation with the old adage of " I deserve more, so lets shut down this outfit until they meet our demands" line of thinking. sure there are some advantages as depicted in the early struggle of union led reformation during the 30's,40's, 50's and 60's but by then most of the reformation of industry standards of working conditions had already taken place. While during the late 70's while most car producers suffered from stale markets, stale products and bad quality, hence the Ford sudden shift to "Quality is Job 1" slogan and heavy pressure from foreign makers with better quality and sustained lasting ability, the shift was on and the UAW still was insisting on ridiculous, almost impossible feats of benefits to the point it shifted downward on the marketability, and manageability of sustained growth. Hence the bankruptcy of the nearly entire US industry. Chrysler filed for their second Bankruptcy in 20 years. The visionary that led them out of it in the 80's Lee iacocca couldn't do it again and who would want to, thats a lot of work.
PONTIAC WHERE ARET THOUGH
My first car was a new 1966 GTO I ordered from the factory I also owned A new 1970 Judge. I have owned 6 grand prix and 2other GTOs. I went out and got a 05 GTO when I heard that were not making Pontiacs any more. I will not buy any other GM product. I guess I will being Ford Autos from now on.
Thank-you, RAHEEL, for your encouraging comment. It's appalling that, over two years since Pontiac was shut down, GM has not made any noises about REVIVING the brand. The key to the long-term survival of an automaker is market share. I think GM can gain market share by reviving Pontiac. There is still market-demand for Pontiac; Google "Bring Back Pontiac", and note all the websites/threads you find. Unless GM revives Pontiac--or at least makes noises about reviving it--I will never purchase a new GM vehicle.
Pontiac is the brand which introduced first muscle cars to the world........pontiac was a successful brand until JOHN DELOREAN was running pontiac when he left pontiac later in 80s pontiac became failure to maintain its value.........the cars like GTO, FIREBIRD, TRANS AM are great looking cars specially FIREBIRD is a great concept.......the firebird produced in 90s and 00s were failed just because of their designers....they were ugly.....really....than in 2004 the GTO came also failed because of designers.....the thing is that people aspect more from pontiac but sadly GM only wants profit by selling pontiac in 2000 a girl was selected as cheif of pontiac which did not have any type of engineering knowledge.............................in 90s firebird there was no pic or hood of firebird in car.....it just had a little sticker on front........and GM calls it a design.........
well....... in my way pontiac is a brand that made GM strong in past not the CHEVY.......
IN MY WAY IF GM WILL WORK TO MAKE PONTIAC GOOD THE PONTIAC CARS WILL BE SOLD ALL OVER THE WORLD PONTIAC DESERVES IT............ GENERAL MOTORS PLEASE BRING PONTIAC BACK....................................... thanx
@mike: THANK YOU for your impassioned post. I'm one of those loyal Pontiac customers that GM shafted. I've owned NINE Pontiacs in my lifetime, and eight of them were musclecars. When GM murdered Pontiac, I was stunned. I remember I was numb for several weeks. It was as if GM had kicked me in the stomach. I had heard that either Buick or Pontiac would have to go, but I was certain it would be Buick. Pontiac is an iconic brand that built the first musclecar. At the time of Pontiac's murder, Pontiac was outselling Buick TWO-TO-ONE! Not only that; Pontiac had FIVE models, with a possible sixth (the G8 Sport Truck) coming down the pipe. Buick had THREE(!) models. GM went ahead and murdered PONTIAC, all because Buick sold in China. GM, an American company, in effect allowed the CHINESE to decide that Pontiac would be murdered, DESPITE the factors mentioned above that should have dictated that BUICK should have been shut down. This was an absolutely outrageous travesty. AMERICAN company GM said Buick's CHINESE customers would be heeded, rather than Pontiac's AMERICAN customers. This was a mind-blowing rip-off. I'm STILL ticked at GM.
It's all about loyalty! GM is only loyal to profits! They shafted countless long term dealerships who had been selling GM products for decades and generations! More importantly, they didn't think twice about the millions of loyal Pontiac lovers who religiously purchased a new Pontiac when they shopped for a car. But even worse, they dissed a big part of American nostalgia clearly without thinking it through! GM was founded on a conglomerate of American made car companies. Just because they have had a bad run on the leaders at GM with a lot of ill thought out moves, an ICON like Pontiac should have not got the Ax. Pontiac is not just a car company, It's a state of mind! Everyone has dreamed of driving/owning a 64 tri power Goat, the Bandits T/A, a Le Mans or Catalina a Bonneville or a Gran Prix, more recently G8's, the Solstice and even the mega selling G6! What has Buick done lately? The Grand National ? umm... thats all I can think of. And Chevy, well if you want a cheap generic, disposable car, well there you go. I don't care what sells in China! Who does GM think they are? It's just another piece of what made this country great being slowly whittled away by the lust for profits and the disregard for what us puny Americans desire! I say we all say screw GM like the y screwed Pontiac and all of us Pontiac lovers! It's karma!
Unless GM revives Pontiac, GM has lost me for good. When my current Pontiac gives-up the ghost, I will purchase a new NON-GM vehicle, unless Pontiac has been revived. I've been a life-long Pontiac customer.
My wife and I are in the market for a new vehicle, we have been looking at all what GM has to offer and nothing exites us. we would just like to see Pontiac come back. GM has taken a real dive in color decissions for the existing vehicles
@dave: That sounds really good. I've owned nine Pontiacs--and nothing BUT Pontiacs-- in my lifetime, including the one I have now. Only one of the nine--the first--wasn't a musclecar. Therefore, a revived Pontiac that's all high-perf sounds great to me.
If they do they need to go all out with only high performance turbo cars that are bmw style with gto attitude. no g5 or g3 only trans am ,g8,g6,and solstice. also no fwd. Awd or rwd only with highperformance engines. Basicly a sooped up chevy with curves that kill. No extra knicknacks. Just race ready balls to the walls specialty cars. You know what made them the #3 car company in the late 60s and 70s. Not a chevy with an arrow head
@JJ: Absolutely! And for more good news about Pontiac (involving Holden), visit the BringPontiacBack.org website.
Yes They should, Pontiac/Holden.Come Back green and Mean. Just take that gauddie orange from the Dash in the 80's it still sucked, But Please let the new Designers design, Just what they went to school for ? A Nice New Bold Goat GTO or maybe the wagon/Buick was supposed to have here in this country ? Or even a NICE 100% all Electric car , No engine.There are lots of nuts rite here in the good old USA that want 100 % Green no emissions ,A volt is not. It's and accident waiting to happen Big ass Battery's the car can't go far without gas,Quite frankly what the hell is going green when you go half way 1/2 I mean WTF ? and for forty thousand ? I can see why DEALERS ARE TURNING AWAY from taking any more inventory of volts? Really There are some more electric cars coming out that may not go for as much or some even more ,But why settle for a volt when you can Have something that actually LOOKS LIKE A CAR ? Smooth line, sleek, aerodynamic. Come on gm don't get lost like Buick did in the OLD MEN BUYERS who by buicks.
@Brian_E: You can shake your stick all you want. Look at the results of the poll.
Moanalua,
I "shook my stick" in the GMA forum.
No comment on the false/misleading #1 allegation.
Brian_E: Of COURSE I understand return-on-investment. My point was that the DEMAND for Pontiac was TWICE AS GREAT--HERE IN THE US--as the demand for Buick. You CANNOT shake a stick at that. As I had mentioned, I was hoping that a compromise could have been struck: Sell Buick ONLY IN CHINA, and continue selling Pontiac in the US and Canada (where it was the #1 American brand). If GM could have arranged that, then all this grief, this thread, all the other Pontiac-related threads on other websites, and a TREMENDOUS amount of ill-will towards GM, could have been avoided. GM has ALREADY lost roughly 45% of Pontiac's customers to NON-GM automakers.
Moanalua,
When you keep repeating the same disproven reasoning based on sales volume without taking into consideration the obvious differences in profit margin between the Pontiac and Buick, it doesn't help your credibility. Surely an Econ major such as yourself fully understands the concept of Return on Investment and can accept that the RoI for Pontiac was nearly negative at the end of its run due to the extreme sales incentives GM had to offer to move the volume. Even a great car like the G8 wasn't meeting sales targets. It's simply a reflection of the overall market. GM kept it afloat as long as they could, but market conditions and buyer habits have changed. Blame GM if you want, but they tried to keep the excitement alive for 30 years after they went to corporate engines. The 'real' Pontiac has been dead since then. Combining the buyer habits, market conditions, and the current corporate structure of GM, there is no place for Pontiac that is economically viable.
To avoid multiple overlapping discussions, I'll repost this in the GMA forum, if you want to continue the conversation.
Pontiac outsold Buick two-to-one in the US, yet GM murdered Pontiac instead of Buick simply because Buick sold in China. I'm a little unsatisfied with that. If Buick sold well in China, but sold poorly in the US compared to Pontiac, I would have preferred that GM sell Buicks ONLY IN CHINA, and keep selling Pontiacs in the US and Canada. I'm not entirely thrilled that--in effect--CHINA dictated to GM that Pontiac should be murdered. It wouldn't have been so bad if Buick were close to Pontiac in sales here in the US, but it wasn't. Here we had an AMERICAN automaker (GM), shutting-down iconic AMERICAN brand Pontiac rather than sister brand Buick, even though Pontiac was outselling Buick two-to-one in the AMERICAN market. And why? Because Buick sold in CHINA. Does anyone else feel that something is wrong with this picture? Does this stick in anyone else's craw, as it sticks in mine?
Following suit with the new GM, a revamped Pontiac could reap substantial benefits. Continued platform-sharing for sportier Delta II/Alpha/Epsilon vehicles.
(I'd love to see a Pontiac "Cruze". I can only imagine how it would look and feel).
Plus, I'd like to see the G8/Commodore/VXR8 return. That looked like a sensational car.
Yes without a doubt they outsold buick by a landslide. Look at the grand am and grand prix out there. They never should have done away with it!
I think Pontiac is synonymous of GM built quality cars. But now the company needs to have zero ownership by the federal government to resurrect it . All the GM-gov't held stock must be sold, and any public debt paid, and dealt with first. If so, I'll consider to buy a new Pontiac.
I feel it should be considered, but only AFTER all government stock has been sold, sustained profitability is attained and the Dealer Organization has been fully sorted!
AS LONG AS ITS A GM..HOLDEN PRODUCT FROM AUSTRALIA..!