Bye-Bye Pontiac

[pauldun170]

You will be missed

[CasterTroy]

The company said it would phase out its storied Pontiac brand no later than next year, and the futures of its Hummer, Saturn and Saab brands will be resolved by the end of this year by either selling them or phasing them out.

About time!


How many times can you make a cavalier and rebadge it? Saturn NEVER made a profit, And who the hell is buying $62k H2's now?

[pauldun170]

Bye bye G8 with yer big ole V8
Bye Bye G6 - the rental everyone picks
Bye Bye G5 - Was that a Cobalt with a Nose Job that I spy?
Bye Bye G3, OR Aveo or POS Deawoo that you be.
Bye Bye Soltice, said the Miata "See ya at the auction bitch"
Bye Bye Torrent... wait hey Equinox...where'd yer nose job done went?
Bye Bye Vibe even though as a Toyota you will survive.

[AquaPython]

always loved the old trans ams and GTO. i think the beginning of the company's fall from grace was the DISSERVICE they offered as a GTO comeback. looked like every other boring ass sedan on the road, what the fuck was the point? i remember seeing concepts looking like a firebird on steroids and that looked fucking sick. but when they dropped that shit on the public, i turned my back on them 4EVAR!

[z06boy]

Kinda sux but not at all surprised.

It does suck for all that are losing their jobs though.

[CasterTroy]

It does suck for all that are losing their jobs though.


Absolutely.....and had the union not demanded that starting salarys be above $20 an hour for something that SHOULD be worth $8 and hour, they may have never gotten so far outta control

[pauldun170]

always loved the old trans ams and GTO. i think the beginning of the company's fall from grace was the DISSERVICE they offered as a GTO comeback. looked like every other boring ass sedan on the road, what the fuck was the point? i remember seeing concepts looking like a firebird on steroids and that looked fucking sick. but when they dropped that shit on the public, i turned my back on them 4EVAR!


I REALLY liked the 04-06 GTO especially the 05\06.
I've spent time in classic GTO's and too be honest, I could care less.

I really wish they din't slap a GTO badge on the Monaro because then it would have been able to stand on it's own merits vs all the "It doesn't look like the old GTO" nonsense.

It didn't help that it looked like a cavelier in pictures but in person I thought the car looked great (with the exception of the Pontiac grille).

It's too bad about the G8. I would have liked to see that platform send the Impala off to pasture.

The G6...had so much promise.

Problem was that Pontiac could have put a Ferrari 612 on it's lots that got 100MPG and sold it for 20K and it still would have not sold well.

Attitudes and assumptions rule the day, and when you have media and Consumer Reports telling everyone that Toyota and Honda are the only vehicles anyone should buy I think your pretty much fucked unless you have money and commitment to stay with a long term focused plan backed by solid marketing.

Maybe if they went the VW route and marketed to gay Mac owners and college girls then they could have succeeded.

[AquaPython]

i never liked the pontiac grille that they slap on pretty much every car they have made in the last 20 years. why did they insist on using that? did they test well at some point? i cant imagine anyone liking that bullchit. always looked horrible

[z06boy]

Absolutely.....and had the union not demanded that starting salarys be above $20 an hour for something that SHOULD be worth $8 and hour, they may have never gotten so far outta control

Agreed

[Rider]

So is it a done deal? I heard 2 rumors. One being GM was going to close down Pontiac production, the other was that GM was going to divest themselves of Pontiac and they would run on their own independently of GM. :idk: The local news channels on Friday were speculating that they would close down Pontiac, but I haven't had a chance to looks at the news today.

[CasterTroy]

So is it a done deal? I heard 2 rumors. One being GM was going to close down Pontiac production, the other was that GM was going to divest themselves of Pontiac and they would run on their own independently of GM. :idk: The local news channels on Friday were speculating that they would close down Pontiac, but I haven't had a chance to looks at the news today.



See here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_plan)

[Rider]

See here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gm_plan)

Thanks. I wonder how the Pontiac/GMC dealers will will handle it. I don't think GMC sells enough volume to keep a dealership open on the GMC make alone. My guess is we will be seeing lots of GMC dealers consolidating into one dealership.

[MILK]

My dad loved the GTO - it was one of his first cars. My mom made him sell it when they got married.

One of the 2 cars I learned to drive on was a Pontiac Catalina. Later on I owned my first and last Pontiac - the Firebird. What a piece of crap. Sad really.

[Fleck750]

All of my vehicles have been GM in one form or another.

1st one I owned.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j315/shdwbtch/Untitled-13-1.jpg

[Dave]

well you cant really be surprised when the performance brand doesnt have the top performance car...

[Avatard]

Last year Pontiac was GM's THIRD LARGEST SELLING BRAND behind Chevy and GMC.

Putting history aside, this is just fucking retarded.

[Mikey]

That's too bad. I always preferred the Pontiac models over their Chevy counterparts. I'm definitely keeping my LT1 Formula, though. ;)

[derf]

They will prolly start to consolidate lines and keep the more popular selling cars, just rebrand them or use them as replacements for less popular models under the brands that they keep.

GMC sells the same trucks as chevy does, just different option packages, so they will all dissapear, although the heavy duty work trucks will prolly continue under the GMC brand, but only sold from chevy dealers. Saabs days are numbered, although i think that saturn might inherit a model or two between saab and pontiac.

[Lucky3623]

So when is Chevy coming out with the new Camaro? I guess GM won't make their version to rival them again. I just recently sold my old Firebird, over 11 years old. I sure do miss that car.

[Homeslice]

I liked the GTO.........Some people don't want tons of fake wings, spats, scoops, and decals. Also, it had a decent interior.

I feel that the Cobalt SS should have been a Pontiac. They would have given it better styling than Chevy did.

[Rsv1000R]

So when is Chevy coming out with the new Camaro?

Saw one on the road Sunday, Looked good.

[pauldun170]

I liked the GTO.........Some people don't want tons of fake wings, spats, scoops, and decals. Also, it had a decent interior.


A-Greed-da


I feel that the Cobalt SS should have been a Pontiac. They would have given it better styling than Chevy did.

Please see G5 for how it would have looked.

[101lifts2]

.... Saturn NEVER made a profit, And who the hell is buying $62k H2's now?

Yes they did.

[CasterTroy]

Yes they did.

Not according to CNBC this weekend....the report was saying that saturn had failed to even break even since it was introduced, never making GM a profit or becoming strong enough to be it's own division.

[101lifts2]

All of my vehicles have been GM in one form or another.

1st one I owned.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j315/shdwbtch/Untitled-13-1.jpg


1977 Prix...love that car.

I don't know why they wish to axe Pontiac...they only help support the manufacturing of the products they are badged identical to. Now what will happen is all lines that are shared with Chevy won't have enough capacity to run.

They need to ditch Saab and Hummer first.

[Adeptus_Minor]

A real shame... looks like a G8 is off my list of options. :idk:

[pauldun170]

A real shame... looks like a G8 is off my list of options. :idk:

Why?

Should be able to get a really nice deal on it and any GM dealership should support it and stock parts.

[Cutty72]

So when is Chevy coming out with the new Camaro? I guess GM won't make their version to rival them again. I just recently sold my old Firebird, over 11 years old. I sure do miss that car.

Friend has one on order. Should be here late June.

[Avatard]

Hummer should go to the US military. Soccer moms don't need that fucking shit.

We don't need fucking Saab. Sell it.

Saturn needs to go back to being what made it so great in the first place: It was a "clean sheet of paper" division that didn't have to conform to corporate "rules" as much. This fosters innovation.

Olds should have never gone. It was GM's oldest marque, and the Intrigue was said to be a nice car, and their new V8 engines had the benefit of some race engineering. They really weren't making your fathers fucking Oldsmobarge anymore.

Pontiac was the 3rd largest seller last year. The G-8 is a spectacular fucking car. It's a little BMW sized thing, that's actually HUGE on the inside, and comes with a Vette drivetrain; V8/6sp/Posi ...what's not to love? Them Mad Max mofos like their V8s, and Holdens are the shit.

I've said it before - they should have consolidated BOP (Buick Olds Pontiac). You don't need an entry in every segment for each brand. Every division doesn't need a fucking NOVA (remember the "NOVA" cars?...Nova/Omega/Ventura/Astra?) with merely a different grill. Each brand need only make a few key cars, and your BOP/GMC consolidated dealers would sell it to you. This way, time honored brands needn't die out, the market is well served, and GM can be more lean overall.

Losing these brand names is so stupid, it borders on corporate advertising suicide. Even the youngest ad exec knows the value of such well established brand name identities.

These motherfuckers make a gazillion cars even on a BAD year - more than enough to spread some badges out across.

This is so stupid it hurts.

[Adeptus_Minor]

Why?

Should be able to get a really nice deal on it and any GM dealership should support it and stock parts.

Well, I didn't say I was ready to buy right now... did I?
:sorry:

[unknownroad]

Of all the divisions, they're keeping Buick??? W.T.F.

[Avatard]

Of all the divisions, they're keeping Buick??? W.T.F.

Right?

[njchopper87]

Of all the divisions, they're keeping Buick??? W.T.F.

Word..

I liked Pontiac. I wanted a Firebird for the longest time.. It sucks to see such a big brand be let go.

[Particle Man]

Last year Pontiac was GM's THIRD LARGEST SELLING BRAND behind Chevy and GMC.

Putting history aside, this is just fucking retarded.

agreed... they should pump some life back in by putting the performance back in. If they want to get rid of a dying brand (because their customer demographic is a dying breed... literally) can Buick. It's on life support just like a lot of its clientele...

ETA: shit, I didn't see the Buick comment until after I posted. Great minds etc etc :lol:

[pauldun170]

What I have been hearing is that despite pontiacs sales their profits margins sucked?
I don't know so much bs is floating around.

[Homeslice]

Of all the divisions, they're keeping Buick??? W.T.F.

Very strong owner loyalty :idk:

(among the 60+ set)

[101lifts2]

Not according to CNBC this weekend....the report was saying that saturn had failed to even break even since it was introduced, never making GM a profit or becoming strong enough to be it's own division.

They made a profit in 1993..lol

That was it though.

[101lifts2]

Hummer should go to the US military. Soccer moms don't need that fucking shit.

We don't need fucking Saab. Sell it.

Saturn needs to go back to being what made it so great in the first place: It was a "clean sheet of paper" division that didn't have to conform to corporate "rules" as much. This fosters innovation.

Olds should have never gone. It was GM's oldest marque, and the Intrigue was said to be a nice car, and their new V8 engines had the benefit of some race engineering. They really weren't making your fathers fucking Oldsmobarge anymore.

Pontiac was the 3rd largest seller last year. The G-8 is a spectacular fucking car. It's a little BMW sized thing, that's actually HUGE on the inside, and comes with a Vette drivetrain; V8/6sp/Posi ...what's not to love? Them Mad Max mofos like their V8s, and Holdens are the shit.

I've said it before - they should have consolidated BOP (Buick Olds Pontiac). You don't need an entry in every segment for each brand. Every division doesn't need a fucking NOVA (remember the "NOVA" cars?...Nova/Omega/Ventura/Astra?) with merely a different grill. Each brand need only make a few key cars, and your BOP/GMC consolidated dealers would sell it to you. This way, time honored brands needn't die out, the market is well served, and GM can be more lean overall.

Losing these brand names is so stupid, it borders on corporate advertising suicide. Even the youngest ad exec knows the value of such well established brand name identities.

These motherfuckers make a gazillion cars even on a BAD year - more than enough to spread some badges out across.

This is so stupid it hurts.

Agree with all of it.....Olds shouldn't have been let go..neither should Saturn. Saturn needs to go back to making small cheap efficient cars..not 20k Astras.

Ditch Saab and Hummer...

There should be 5 brands..Cadillac, Saturn, Chevy, Olds and Pontiac.

Ditch GMC and Buick IMO (it crowds Caddy too much)...Chevy is the same shit.

[Particle Man]

Very strong owner loyalty :idk:

(among the 60+ set)

loyalty? They think they'll be repeat buyers? :lol:

[Homeslice]

Buick and Caddy are way different, IMO.
Caddy is for the wannabe-pimp who thinks he's all that.
Buick is for people with very conservative personalities.......Totally different.

[pauldun170]

Caddilac does very well, has a well recieved design language and lineup with high marks to the CTS, SRX and STS. The Escallade is also "popular".

Buick was known as the car old people bought when they decided they need to buy one last car. It's sales in the US are marginal, its lineup forgetable.

[101lifts2]

Buick and Caddy are way different, IMO.
Caddy is for the wannabe-pimp who thinks he's all that.
Buick is for people with very conservative personalities.......Totally different.


The old people can buy Oldsmobiles.

[Homeslice]

The old people can buy Oldsmobiles.

Oldsmobile actually had progressive styling.......

Buick is pretty much Whites only........but Olds snared quite a few Blacks with the Aurora and Intrigue

Neither brand got dick with Asians or Hispanics, though.

[Cutty72]

Oldsmobile actually had progressive styling.......

Buick is pretty much Whites only........but Olds snared quite a few Blacks with the Aurora and Intrigue

Neither brand got dick with Asians or Hispanics, though.

Bullshit! How many hispanics are rolling in old cutlass's!

[Homeslice]

yeah, for an old low-rider........But what about anything made in the last 20 yrs?

[Cutty72]

yeah, for an old low-rider........But what about anything made in the last 20 yrs?

See some Asian business men rolling in the Alero's as a "sports car" but thats about it.

[101lifts2]

Oldsmobile actually had progressive styling.......

Buick is pretty much Whites only........but Olds snared quite a few Blacks with the Aurora and Intrigue

Neither brand got dick with Asians or Hispanics, though.

Asians blindly follow Asian cars. Just like they blindly follow the Democratic party. lol

Hispancs are very loyal to GM..esp. Chevy. Probably because there are manufacturing plants in Mexico and they are easier to work on.