General Motors Is At A Loss Without Pontiac: Opinion Desk
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Before you head to the comments section to state how the government put Pontiac on the chopping block in order to bailout the automaker, we’ll save you the keyboard strokes. Yes, that is true, and General Motors was not entirely responsible for the death of the brand.
But, of the brands axed or sold off from the GM portfolio, Pontiac has been a sour spot with die-hard fans for some time, followed closely behind by Hummer.
This topic has been explored before, but we think Pontiac would have made Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac concise on what their target market is, without an overlapping of ideals. Why? It mostly involves Chevrolet, and their inability to cover certain performance niches. Chevrolet will always be the bread and butter at the table, but Pontiac could have added the special seasoning to the portfolio with a performance oriented onslaught of product.
Currently, Chevrolet offers the Camaro, Corvette and SS sedan to uphold its performance credentials. But where are the sport compacts? Or, a hot hatch? An affordable performance two-seater convertible? These niches are open gaps in the Chevrolet lineup.
Mark Reuss, GM product chief, has gone on the record stating it’s difficult to turn a profit on these niche products because, once everyone has purchased one, the market dries up. But, GM is also quite good at hitting refresh often on their performance products. Looking at the Scion FR-S in particular, sales have dropped immensely. But, where is the incentive to draw in more buyers if the car has seen nothing but an appearance package since it graced the market?
That’s where a newly-born Pontiac could have shined. Affordable, value-packed performance vehicles. The driver’s choice. Someone who cares about more than getting from A to B. Someone who understands the Google car doesn’t bridge connections at petrol pumps, or ignite the soul. Constant special editions, and added features, even the slightest update to create a “gotta have it” sensation.
Leaving Chevrolet as the breadwinner would have allowed for a renewed focus on great passenger cars, with the Camaro and Corvette sticking around respectfully because, well, there will always be Chevy guys and gals.
And it would keep Buick focused, too. Instead of erasing its “affordable luxury” mantra with a (rumored) new, hardcore Buick Grand National or GNX, the Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am would have that covered.
And this formula has already been proven with Dodge. As FCA consolidated SRT back into the Dodge brand, the company has focused on performance. That’s it, despite the Dart mixing up the strategy (even though an SRT4 variant is supposedly on the way), the recipe has been quite successful as Chargers and Challengers continue to leave dealer lots. And it leaves a hole for past Pontiac customers to flock to Dodge, with no market knowledge of the Chevrolet SS sedan.
We will admit the argument we’re laying out becomes less intense with the introduction of a turbocharged four-cylinder option in the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, however. Since Al Oppenheiser, chief Camaro engineering, is certain the turbo-four option will draw in the old Cobalt SS crowd. But, the culture always clamors for the next sport compact or hot hatch. Just look at the Focus ST’s success.
You may disagree, and that’s fine. This is coming from the opinion desk after all. But, Pontiac would have clearly defined the boundaries of each GM division, while covering market niches that much more precisely.
And there’s a lot of brand equity in the red arrowhead that sits forever stillborn.
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I do not know why GM can’t simply re badge some Holdens, re name them with either new or old Pontiac name’s and bring the entire division back. They could use a few of the existing Chevy platforms and designs for a few years while they get Pontiac back in use with thier own design, technology and marketing team. Your absoulety right that GM is missing a huge piece of the puzzle without Pontiac. If Barra and GMs Board would consider this, Barra would become a instent hit with everyone. In terms of the dealer network, let Pontiac share with Chevy dealers. There would be a huge benefit for both brands.
“I do not know why GM can’t simply re badge some Holdens…”
Because there is no more Holden, as of 2017, in terms of original designs. You would have to fork Cadillac sedans to get RWD, or import Opel OPC models.
Personally, I think the duopoly of a non-luxury Pontiac and an extreme-luxury Cadillac would help cover Cadillac’s rising platform R&D cost structure. It would also stick it to Dodge and FCA which are just begging for a punch in the gut after all the GM merger plotting.
Not to mention that if Cadillac wants to have its own roadster program, Alpha would be a great candidate – but a Solstice-like roadster built on CTS/ATS production lines would help accommodate the program… mated to a 3-cylinder, it could also give GM a 50 mpg Kei car.
Flanked by torque-vectoring AWD Opel OPC cars, Pontiac could be very profitable as a low-volume captive import / luxury delete marque of other GM cars… and a sub-brand of Buick that would bring millennials to Buick-GMC dealerships.
But that’s making a business case for Pontiac, and the bean counters are racing to put their hands over their ears.
Caddy is now Camaro Alphas, GM performance sector is now firmly centered on Chevrolet platforms.
I have been saying for a couple of years that they should simply bring over left hand drive versions of the Vauxhall VXR series. That would of course include the Holden made VXR8. I believe most if not all of these cars already have the left hand drive engineered for the platform as they are sold as Opels on mainland Europe.
Pontiac didn’t do anything they can’t do with Chevrolet. I’d like to see them further consolidate between Chevy/Buick/Opel. Let’s them focus on less products.
Buick will never ever be consolidated into another brand, for one simple reason. Buick founded GM. Buick will always have a seat at the table.
The new Chevy ss is very nice….but would have been so much more appealing as a Pontiac. As a g8 owner I’ll stay in the car I have. Chevy can be so utterly boring and plain with some of their styles, unless it is a vette, which is understandable. Seeing what Holden does with these cars will make you sick……someone down under know D what’s going on….
yes, Chevy’s styling has always been milquetoast.
I’m also a G8 owner and it’s killing me not to see a aggressive Holden badged here in America …. Also the fact they are killing that division in a few years is a shame also.
As a former G8 owner, the only real option is to go to Chrysler where they have committed to performance autos as well as returning to American muscle. I have switched over and with exception of the vette, have no reason to ever consider GM again. Chrysler hit it right with options on the 200 and 300 and Dodge having the challenger and the charger. Don’t forget about the viper as well if you need to compare to vette. The sales figures don’t lie, GM made a huge error in line discharges as well as burning their shareholders.
We know that GM sacrificed Pontiac over Buick because Buick was (and is) hot in China. But it leaves GM without a “performance” brand, aside from select Chevy and Cadillac models.
There’s a lot of solutions for this. Chevy could have a performance sub-brand, led by the Corvette. Hyundai is launching the “N” showroom-within-a-showroom for its Genesis line, I think.
This is not the problem on the truck and SUV side. GMC has revitalized as an entry level luxury brand above Chevy and under Cadillac. GMC, post-bankruptcy, has been great.
What’s missing is a performance car brand. I’d drive the Cascadia if it wasn’t branded as a Buick, and had the 2.0L turbo.
Why do they need a performance BRAND? Let’s just worry about performance cars. The c7 and new Camaro are and are going to rock the competition. Wish they would make the Cheyenne concept and something for the Tahoe it Yukon too.
@Mister Sterling:
You said, “What’s missing is a performance car brand.” You’ve hit the nail right on the head. What’s missing is PONTIAC. Dodge has become the Pontiac of Fiat Chrysler, robbing GM of quite a few Pontiac fans. These fans have jumped from one performance-car brand to another. GM needs to revive Pontiac and win back those former Pontiac customers from Dodge. Look at what the title of this thread says.
There’s not a single Pontiac model since 1982 that couldn’t have been restyled and marketed as a Chevrolet.
That was Pontiac’s original function…a fancy Chevy. Once Chevies themselves became fancier, there was no further reason for Pontiac to exist. The low price field was moving upmarket.
Today’s Pontiac nostalgia stems from one thing: the ability of John DeLorean, Bunky Knudsen and Jim Wangers to reinvent and then successfully market Pontiac as the performance brand…the excitement brand. In the 1960’s, it worked so well Pontiac knocked Plymouth out of third place in sales. Even better – they did it without cannibalizing Chevrolet’s position in the marketplace.
But beginning in 1971 with the Nova clones, Pontiac’s aura began to decline. By the 80’s it was largely back to its original mission as a fancy Chevy, which in the long run hurt Chevy.
How can that be, with Chevrolet rising from 50% of total GM sales to over 70%?
True, but it’s 70% of a dramatically-shrunken pie. 53% of the market to just around 16%.
Consider the 2004-6 GTO…the beef was over the styling. The Holden Commodore on which it was based looked more like a Chevelle…so much so that some custom house made some conversions and marketed them as Chevelles.
GM could still market a Miata-fighter like the Solstice. Just build it as a Chevy…or a Buick.
Chevrolet is indeed GM’s bread-and-butter brand. But more and more people like fancy bread, maybe a baguette, bagel or English Muffin…and healthy spreads, or jams, jellies or real butter in place of margarine. Ford started figuring this out in 1958 with its first 4-seat Thunderbird, and from there on, Ford did what was best for Ford, even though it killed Mercury.
GM’s finally taking the shackles off Chevrolet, but it’ll take a decade or more of consistent excellence for public perception to catch and surpass Ford’s more premium reputation in the marketplace.
Any attempt to revive Pontiac will send mixed messages and only hurt this process.
nailed it..
Your on crack if you think ford has a premium perception. They’re a value brand, just like chevy.
Chevy is not the bread-and-butter brand. It is the meat and potatoes.
“GM’s finally taking the shackles off Chevrolet, but it’ll take a decade or more of consistent excellence for public perception to catch and surpass Ford’s more premium reputation in the marketplace.” Quoted from chas108
Ford is not has not and never will be premium. Ford has made it’s living as being a cheaper more economical automobile choice. Also just alittle side note Ford was the last one to pay off it full debt back to the US government after the bail-out and had to request 3 extensions before they finally got it all taken care of.
a chevy premier or ford titanium is the definition of premium. You don’t need no escalade when you have a suburban High Country 6.2 or duramax.
Bah in my opinion they did the right thing. Focus on core brands and give them the best product possible. GM is still recovering from 2008 and I think they are taking a slow and steady approach to their line up. Get the big ticket vehicles to the top of the heap…then they can start focusing on the niche sporty models…
Nothing described above could not be solved with “SS” trim models of Chevrolets. Chevrolet did this in mid ’00s with things like the HHR SS, Trailblazer SS, etc. Good cars that built on existing volumes. They pulled back because the diluted the SS “brand” with mediocre efforts like the Impala SS and Malubu SS. Learn from that and go on. I’d rather seen a compelling Cruze SS than some Pontiac Sunfire badge job.
Why the SS name was left as a trim to one car line, the Camaro and one model, the SS, is beyond me. The current SS model should have been a Chevelle SS.
It’s too big for a Chevelle. Impala SS427 LS7
While I miss the brand myself- my first car was a 1970 Firebird- the industry may need to consolidate even more. This is what’s behind Marchionne’s push to merge FCA with a partner. With new Korean brands making inroads, and proving themselves formidable competitors, there is a danger of bringing another brand back. Do we really need another hot hatch? What would a Pontiac brand bring to the space that it doesn’t already have?
Lets get a few things straight..
GM killed Pontiac even before the government stepped in. we had a performances division that had no direction and really no performance till Bob Lutz forced through the GTO, G8 and Solstice. Bob when he arrived questioned a performance division with no RWD?
Second the cars they have offered since the Fiero have been nothing but badged engineered Chevys with a couple other shared models like the Sky, Holden models and a Toyota and Suzuki.
What made a Pontiac you may ask? While styling was part of it the main part was the engines. The heart of a Pontiac was the engines. Also the innovation they offered be it plastic noses, OHC and other features the engineers and Delorean were able to force through.
The fact is what Pontiac became can easily be reproduced with Chevy or Buick if need be. There is nothing that they could not cover if the needs arises. While the Trans Am in the later years was a better styled car it still was nothing more than a Camaro under the skin. Same for many of their other cars.
GM since Delorean has never really known what to do with Pontiac. Their talented engineers over the year have brought us some interesting cars but only to have GM cut back on development money and make them less than they could have been. Or even worse forced them out as GM did not understand the product.
Just look at GM how they tried to sell a G6 with no real performance options. Look at the G5 how it was never offered with the Cobalt LNF SS engine?
The fact is you can rebadge a Opel but it will never be a Pontiac.
Add to this on how performance cars are not the sellers they once were. I hate saying it and seeing it but as a performance enthusiast I am in the minority vs. what it was in the past.
I was born and borough home in a Pontiac. I have owned and or driven some of the greatest models they have built over the years with letter like SD, GTO and TA in their names. I still own and show and win a Pontiac on a national show level today and know the Pontiac fans well. To bring Pontiac back will not bring many of the die hard Pontiac fans as they will just use Chevy engines. Many already of the later owners moved to Chevy as I have.
Now I would like to see more Performance models offered in the Chevy, Buick and GMC line. No question there it should be done. Performance models on all levels from 4-8 cylinder and price ranges. No more Sonic’s with decal packages.
To bring Pontiac back and do it right would take more money than it would be worth. It would never generate the needed volumes nor global market. Yes if Pontiac came back you would have to sell it more than just in North America.
Also GM has no need for more models but they could do some more variations of the ones they have. An Opel Hatch would make a great Cruze Hatch or even Buick in a OPC form. Camaro has the coupe market covered well. A larger RWD performance sedan on the Alpha for Chevy would be nice if you could price it right. Give Buick an Omega version with TT V6.
I love Pontiac and still am a proud owner but to bring them back now GM would never be able to do it right. It would fall short of the old school owners with no engine of their own. The later fans would be just as happy with a proper performance Chevy as that is all they had in the first place with some styling changes claiming to be a Pontiac.
To understand this you really have to look back to the 60’s as to what Pontiac really was and understand the ones from the 90’s while interesting really were nothing but restyled Chevys with some Buick engines. GM just would never do it right even today as there is no volume to pull it off right and no global market to take up the slack. I hate to say it but we are better off not damaging the name now and hold out hope that some day in the future they may be able to do it but do it right.
Agree.
Pontiac was the brand that most liked me from GM always; but he died when they removed from the line the traditional Bonneville, and the Grand Prix chased by the Firebird…
Rebadged new models “G” and the disappear of leading names 40 years sold and appreciated, killed the brand
They were always the “Chevrolet” thugs and sports.
Today Pontiac no longer makes any sense, people have already assimilated it’s gone
If GM kept the traditional names of all his life in Pontiac keep selling, the brand may survived
Greetings from Spain
sorry but here in the States many ppl are buying Dodges, Mustangs and Forte Coupes not to mention other car types that Pontiac would easily get sales from.
I’m gonna play arm chair quarterback and say what GM should do…
Pontiac can be a 3 car line (after all Chrysler has just 3 vehicles 200,300, t&C van).
make the G6 ( on the alpha platform RWD- many ppl would like an affordable type CTS car that is a Pontiac)
Make the G8 (instead of it being a Chevy SS)
make a 3rd vehicle- rebadge the Camaro as the Firebird or have some other car as a 3rd ride.
GM can bring back Pontiac – the loans are paid.
Basically Pontiac can be similar to GMC- a little bit more of a premium ride than Chevy supplies.
I like this idea. Would Pontiacs be sold through the Chevrolet dealership networks or do you propose bringing back standalone Pontiac stores? It seems like such a monumental task to restart the Pontiac dealer network.
The cost of doing this would be high and the return would be low. You could not afford stand alone dealers. You would have to sell them in dealers like Chevy. Do you think you would sell many G6 sitting next to a Camaro? How would you price it or option it to make it sell but not compete with a Camaro?
Now a future SS model on the Alpha as a sedan would be a good idea. Even an Omega bases SS would be a good idea too.
Rebadge a Camaro as a Firebird will only cut the sales of the Camaro by a third and cost you more profits because you have to tool up for two cars, stock parts for two cars and market for two cars then find a dealer to sell it. You essentially have killed the profits from the Camaro at this point. All this while you also want another coupe on the same platform that would be competing for the same space in the G6 you stated?
GMC can get away with this as they are basically the truck brand for Buick dealers and 90% of the parts are the same. Trucks also have a profit margin that also helps too.
Basically from an Arm Chair you would damage the profit structure we have now. Money is too hard to make to give it away like this.
Now on the other hand you may do an AWD TTV6 coupe for Buick that is more Luxury than Chevy but not optioned up to the level of a Cadillac and Call it a Regal or Grand Sport you may have something. Make it more of a touring coupe vs. performance car or luxury performance coupe. Do not copy the ATS or the Camaro and make it a more Euro touring car. This way it could also be sold in China and as a Holden and Opel. Note the Global market connection a Pontiac/Chevy would not have.
Keep with the Alpha or Omega sedan as a Caprice and offer it as a SS model too. This way you have a performance muscle sedan and a police car. It would step on no toes and fleet police sales would make money.
GM really does not need more Chevys and it does not need more Pontiacs but it could use a few more Buicks done in the new image they are going to work to. This way you can also use it to help Opel and Holden while China pays off the tooling.
Making cars and making money are the keys here not just making arm chair decisions from the heart.
As my old grand daddy said son always bet with your brain and no your heart.
G6 and G8 names can stay dead for all I care. The Grand Am was once a huge seller. A new Grand Am, Firebird, and Grand Prix should start them off. I’d line up to buy a new Grand Prix. I miss Pontiac terribly.
@KodiakF1504x4: Thank-you for your post, and welcome to this thread! Yes, I agree that model names are no big deal; what’s important is that the Pontiac BRAND return. I do admire your choice of models; the Grand Am, Firebird, and Grand Prix models names had been around for decades. I myself currently own a Firebird Trans Am. And, I believe the Grand Am was Pontiac’s bestseller from the mid-’80s all the way until it was replaced by the G6. The Grand Prix, of course, was Pontiac’s midsize model since ’78, when it was downsized. (Well, of course the Le Mans was also downsized to a midsize model that same year. I think the midsize Le Mans ran until ’80 or so, and then reappeared in the early-’90s as a subcompact.) I, too, miss Pontiac terribly. I sure hope the brand returns.
I’ve honestly seen more focuses ST and fiestas ST more than their normal counterpart
Wow, every idea posted here re: “being Pontiac back” is terrible. Thank God none of you run multinational, multi-billion dollar companies.
Do you run a multinational, multibillion dollar company? I think we know the answer to that.
The fact is those who do run multinational companies have use common sense and not brought back Pontiac because the numbers and markets are just not there.
The truth is that they can and have made more money without Pontiac than they did with.
The added cost of dealers, marketing development stocking the other parts needed etc all add up to added expenses that just never realized the needed profits. Also the issue that Pontiac really had no global presents and not likely to gain one soon hurt too.
Like I said I would love to have Pontiac back as a life long Pontiac fan but unless they could do it right there is no sense in it. Pontiac failed because Pontiac died in two years. 1979 when they made their last V8 and in 1988 when they built their last Pontiac only model with a Pontiac engine the Iron duke Fiero. All the car since were someone else’s cars with red dash lights and someone else’s engines.
Just compare the first Firebirds to the first Camaros and then compare the last ones built together. The early Birds had their own engines, suspension, options and other items. The last cars built were just two different styling exercises. Granted the TA was a better looking car but it was not a better or really different car than the Chevy.
The early years even the Birds were an inch lower. Most bought the cars back then for the Pontiac engine and torque the last ones built just got the same Camaro engine.
A simple marketing compromise is to offer three Chevy Pontiacs. Where ‘Pontiac’ is the actual name of the car but not a division. The Chevy Pontiac SC (Sports Compact), The Chevy Pontiac HH (hot hatch), and The Chevy Pontiac 2C (2 seater convertible). Do the Scion trick of one model, one way.
One could be introduced as a test. If it just sat there, back out.
Sure it would be nice if GM did bring back Pontiac . I owned two TransAms and two Grand Prix’s back in the 90’s . And at the time they were cool cars . Even the Bonneville SSEi at that time was a hot car for the person that wanted the 4 doors with a high output engine . But in the times we live in , boy racer looks and lots of plastic body cladding would never work . It would take alot of cash to bring back the division , to do it right and GM is still struggling with the divisions they currently have . Some analyists still think that GM is still to big . And they may be right . But it would be nice to bring back the GTO from the 60’s . Pontiac sold excitement , and you just don’t see that type of enthusiasm coming from GM anymore . JMO
“Pontiac sold excitement , and you just don’t see that type of enthusiasm coming from GM anymore.”
To be fair to GM, it’s not that they won’t provide cars that excite. It’s that the consumers have smartened up and don’t want gas guzzlers. Because as fun as the words ‘performance’ and ‘excitement’ and ‘sporty’ sound, more Americans (finally) hear ‘pricy’ and ‘gas guzzler’.
A BROADER ANSWER
GM’s problem isn’t that it needs more Pontiacs. It’s problem is that it’s not considered a great alternative to Asian cars.
As I pointed out in prior post, GM is surprisingly WAY ahead of Ford and FCA in RECOMMENDS from Consumer Reports. It’s like 1 in 3 GM cars are a recommend. This is an amazing achievement for an American car company. Ford and FCA aren’t even close to those numbers.
For perspective 7 out of 14 Honda/Acuras are a CR recommend. Toyota/Lexus are nearly 1 in 2 as well with 12 out of 26. These numbers are why these companies do well.
And I think GM can get there with trimming lines down instead of up. Or really making okay GM cars (Sonic, Cruze) awesome.
And you know whats sad is that SO many people take Consumer Report’s review on cars as the absolute truth and base their entire purchase decision on that alone. Stupid. I don’t understand it either. How can the same publishing company that just tested and reviewed a washing machine possibly know anything about properly reviewing/testing a car?
They don’t review or test anything. They take nationwide surveys.
Toyota squashed GM with 2 divisions. Need I say more?
This is proof also that you can do it with very little in the way of performance today. People unfortunately buy cars like toasters.
I would like just a few more fun models well placed inside Chevy and Buick.
You are correct sir. It is a different era today. People treat cars as if they are appliances. They are merely just a transportation device. And what sways people today…is it economical? Is it green? Is it cheap? Can i fit all my shit in it? Cars are no longer an extension of peoples personalities. Most don’t care if its exciting or charismatic. American car manufactures still need to continue to make a comeback on how they are perceived to the american public.
Toyota has three divisions.
Including one focused on “excitement” that ships a small, RWD coupe that isn’t a pony car. GM doesn’t do that today.
I have owned several Pontiacs over the years, and would jump on another G8 type car. Excitement? GM products just don’t seem to have it anymore. The one exception, their Corvette does have “excitement”, but that’s pretty much it. The Volt (and maybe the Bolt) have some kind of interest, maybe even a promise of things to come, but certainly not any kind of “excitement”.
Hate to say it, but GM, for the most part, has turned pretty much into an “also-ran” shadow of it’s prior glories of the 50s and 60s; struggling to keep up, hard of hearing, with eyes clouded with cataracts (just like the rest of us), seemingly more and more a resident of a retirement community.
Pontiac? With it’s own engine? Yeah, those were the days! Now, where did I leave my slippers?
Pontiac was known as “The Excitement Division”. I’d be carrying the flag for Pontiac to return, but to return as the excitement division not as a division of Pontiac Sunfires. Maybe a sporty Cruze in Pontiac, a G8, Firebird and Trans Am. But if it doesn’t come back as “The Excitement Division” I don’t want it.
@Hoffa: Beg to differ. Yes, Pontiac was indeed known as the Excitement Division of GM. But for me, EVERY Pontiac was exciting simply because it WAS a Pontiac. Every vehicle I’ve ever owned–including the one I own now–has been a Pontiac. I’m loyal to the Pontiac brand, not just performance Pontiacs. As long as the vehicle carries Pontiac nameplates/emblems, I’m happy to drive it, be it a Trans Am (I own one now), a Grand Am, or whichever Pontiac model. To me, a Pontiac is a Pontiac, and to me, they’re “all good.” “Better half a loaf of bread, than no bread at all.” Better ANY Pontiac, than no Pontiac at all.
Lets make this simple.
GM does not need Pontiac but GM does need to put some more excitement into some of the Chevys and Buicks. they offer.
My HHR SS is a hell of a blast to drive and was cheap. I never liked FWD, Turbo 4 or even HHRs but after driving the SS version I bought one. As I was waiting for it to come in I though what in the hell have I done. But since 08 I have never second guess my purchase and just love hammering the little turbo around as a daily driver.
Chevy and Buick do not and should not try to make a performance model of each model they make but a well conceived models between them would be good.
@hyperv6: Well, if GM doesn’t need Pontiac, you could probably say that it doesn’t need Buick or GMC, either. I think GM could use Pontiac again. You said, “Chevy and Buick do not and should not try to make a performance model of each model they make…” I agree. GM should revive Pontiac, and have Pontiac offer the performance models that you say Chevy and Buick should not try to make. It would be a natural fit; Pontiac for decades was GM’s performance/excitement brand. A LOT of folks would gratefully applaud such a move. Google, “Bring Back Pontiac” to get an idea of how many folks have been clamoring for Pontiac’s return, since the brand was shut-down five years ago. Count me among them. The only brand of vehicle I’ve ever owned has been Pontiac, and that remains true to this very day. I currently own a Trans Am.
Moanalua, I totally agree that GM needs to bring back Pontiac and I can name a reason that perhaps some haven’t thought of.
When you look at the Dodge line, and compare it to a lot of the Chevy line — no variety. Pontiac might give GM something they need bad right now — INDIVIDUALITY! A car that didn’t look like some mod of the other sport car lines; people from what I have seen are getting bored with all the “cookie-cutter” cars to choose from. Pontiac had style, even if it was like it’s competitor, Camaro, but it also started going in new directions that we loved, that were it’s own and great. I had a Trans Am, it was my second car when I was first driving and I love it. I have a Firebird now. And like so many people would love to see it come back with some new ideas, new models and a new Firebird line.
@Rain: Absolutely. And, how apropos that you should mention Dodge. For the past several years, Dodge has been stealing Pontiac’s former customers from GM. That’s because Dodge is Fiat Chrysler’s performance brand, just as Pontiac was GM’s performance brand. Regarding Chevy: While Pontiac was similar to Chevy, it was always just upscale of Chevy. That’s why I think Chevy and Pontiac could co-exist, and both brands would be viable. As it stands now, GM is losing many Pontiac fans to Dodge. GM really SHOULD revive Pontiac, and stop the bleeding-off to Dodge (and therefore, to Fiat Chrysler).
Chrysler should not have been allowed to survive. If not for friggin Fiat, Chrysler would have been dead. GM scraps Pontiac and Hummer, and Chrysler benefits from it. Have Jeep or Dodge sales ever been as good as they are now? I think that FCA is taking advantage of GM’s loss. But, I guess that’s business.
Chrysler should not have been allowed to survive. If not for friggin Fiat, Chrysler would have been dead. GM scraps Pontiac and Hummer, and Chrysler benefits from it. Have Jeep or Dodge sales ever been as good as they are now? I think that FCA is taking advantage of GM’s loss. But, I guess that’s business.
@Dan H: Well, I’m not sure that I can say that Chrysler SHOULDN’T have been allowed to survive, but I certainly agree with you that it WOULDN’T have survived if not for Fiat. What does kind of gall me as a Pontiac fan is that Dodge, in particular, is benefiting from Pontiac’s murder. For the past what, five years or so, Dodge has been advertising itself as FCA’s performance brand. That’s EXACTLY what Pontiac was for GM. I refuse to just take it lying-down. As a Pontiac fan and as a consumer, I want GM to REVIVE Pontiac, and have it challenge Dodge. I want Pontiac to return and tell Dodge, “I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”
@Rain: Absolutely. And, how apropos that you should mention Dodge. For several years now. Dodge has been stealing former Pontiac owners from GM. That’s because Dodge is Fiat Chrysler’s performance brand, just as Pontiac was GM’s performance brand. Regarding Chevy: Pontiac and Chevy were similar, but Pontiac was upscale of Chevy, That’s why I think Chevy and Pontiac could still co-exist, and both brands would be viable. Before GM loses any more former Pontiac customers to Dodge–and therefore, Fiat Chrysler–GM really SHOULD revive Pontiac.
They need buick because buick is loved by the chinese. GMC makes lots of sales, and the Hummer EV could never be a Blazer, or any sort of chevy.