Well said, @yabadabadoo. My only concern with something like that is that Chevy will suffer compared to brands like Ford, Hyundai, and Toyota.
For instance, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe is similar — if I’m understanding correctly — to the proposed sports car/coupe from Pontiac; it’s not a pony car — it’s in a totally different class. So is the Toyota FT86. Making such a vehicle a Pontiac limits the brand’s family “depth”. In other words, people walk into a Hyundai store to look at the Genesis Coupe. The husband gets the Genesis Coupe while the wife would like to test drive the Tucson; Hyundai sells two vehicles to the same family.
Now, Pontiac could be sold in Buick/GMC stores to encourage family depth/shopping, but I see several problems with that as well:
1. Buick/GMC are moving way, way, way upmarket to add a “mainstream” brand like Pontiac; especially the dealers.
2. Brand identity suffers. Whereas in the Hyundai scenario the people bought two Hyundais, here the family may get a Pontiac sports coupe and a GMC Terrain. Ultimately, they’re not buying another Pontiac, but they are buying another GM. Sure, it benefits GM at the end of the day; but it doesn’t fit GM’s strategy of each brand being able to stand on its own.
Another point: the sale of the Pontiac-unique vehicles counts as Pontiac sales, which could hurt Chevy in the marketing department. For example, Ford can claim that the F-150 is the best-selling truck in America, which it is. But in some years, the combination of Silverado and Sierra has outsold the F-150. This isn’t very important, but it’s something that will be discussed within GM if Pontiac ever does come up on their radar; currently, it’s not.
