Let me make this clear I am a Pontiac Fan. The first car I ever was in was a 1960 Ventura and even my son first ride home from the hospital was in a SSEI. I still own a Pontiac, Show it and have wins on a national level. I also am a Pontiac historian and have had stories published on Fiero history and worked to verify some of the prototype parts I own. In my life I have driven just about every kind of Pontiac there is and can set up a Tri Power as well as anyone. I even carry a copy of Smokey and the Bandit on my Phone. Now that my back ground is out the way her is my opinion.
The fact is Pontiac may come back in a model or two but no where in the near future. The fact is GM has a full plate just fixing 3 division and the cost and man power involved it tremendous.
Now since I am in the heart of the Pontiac collectors circles here is what I observed for year since I love the older traditional Pontiacs and even some of the later models.
One thing that happened is in 1979 the last 400 Pontiac V8 was built. From this time on it split many of the Pontiac owners as to many Pontiac died that day. I never really wanted to think that way but looking back it was the beginning of the end. Yet to day man Pontiac fans reject anything post 1979 and now I can see there point. Accept for some rare acceptions the later Pontiacs were pretty much a Chevy wit cladding and red lighted dashes with a Buick engine if you were lucky.
Out side of the Fiero the line up really was not much Pontiac other than styling and some suspension specs. My GTP Comp G was a Impala under the shell. My SSEI was pretty much a Olds/Buick under the shell. Trans Ams were just Camaros with some restyling.
The fact is GM really did not have much direction or understanding that Pontiac had set itself apart in the 60’s and slowly melted it away over the years. Even in the end out side of the G8 and Solstice the Performance division had no real performance.
I had expected great out cry at the Pontiac nationals where over 1.000 Pontiac show cars and race cars gather every year. To my surprise no one was thrilled but few complained as Pontiac has been expected to fail and at the end other than two car we really had little to lose.
Now I also know how the Automotive business world works and Pontiac was too damaged to save at the bail out time. If they had been popular in China then things may have been different but Pontiac had no global salvation to fall back on. Buick would also be gone if not for China.
Right now GM needs to get back to the core market and get the high volume high MPG cars they need to sell in greater volumes. The market is very tough now and we have not yet seen the last MFG failure as more will come. Few companies today can go it alone as many are working with others to share development cost.
Pontiac was far from a profit center in the later years. To make the division right would require billions of dollars on a line that would be low volume. To make the money back Pontiac would no longer be affordable. The other paradox is to make it affordable it would just end up being a SS clone already offered at Chevy with some styling changes.
The one thing will never lose is our cars and history as they will always be with us.
I am sorry to say there are just too few of us that care to bring it back. You can keep trying and I encourage it but don’t expect miracles just as the business case is just not there.
There are many in GM that would love to be the one to bring it back. I speak to many who are well placed and still own their Pontiacs. Even Lutz tried to save them but it was too late by the time he arrived. If he had had 8-10 years before he arrived they may have had a chance.
This is one topic I wish GM would prove me wrong but as much as I wish and hope the reality keeps springing up that it is not to be.
The fact is GM still has a hell of a lot of work yet to do with Cadillac, Buick and Chevy. They are still 10 years from where they need to be in fixing these divisions.
While we all love to think as an enthusiast we still have to face the reality that automakers are there to make a profit. It is the ugly truth that sits in the corner. If bringing Pontiac was a easy profit we would have it but the fact is the return on investment would be small when money is much more needed in other areas.
Keep in mind we are not alone as Mercury, Plymouth and other fans are in the same boat. Companies do not need the many models they once had and if they can not make them different enough then you damage both models.
To me it was a crime at the end with the G4 an G5. Where was the 2.0 Turbo in the G5 and G6? Killing the TA with no other RWD planned in a performance division? Aztek? GM just had no clue of what Pontiac was or should have been.
Some may not like what I say but I say it from a Pontiac fans heart and know tossing BS on the realty is not going to change what really happened. Time for us to look at things as they were and how they failed and understand todays market at the cost involved to bring them back vs. profits.
Also we need to define what a real Pontiac is. Is it a styling change on a Chevy or is it a vehicle built as a Pontiac with its own powertrain/ This is Cadillac dilemma now as they have no true Cadillac engine. I have the same V6 in my Malibu as the CTS.
Like I said they still have work to do.
