To compete with a certain brand/automaker, Pontiac would actually have to take potential sales away from that brand. So what we’re talking about here is Pontiac taking willing, able, and ready-to-buy BMW customers. And that’s just ludicrous.
What’s more realistic – as you said – is for those who can’t afford BMW to get a Pontiac… and at that point, Pontiac isn’t competing with BMW; they’re competing in a separate space for a different customer — one who wouldn’t have bought a BMW in the first place. So again, Pontiac wouldn’t compete with BMW… it would compete with other mainstream-priced brands/makers.
As for Buick, times have changed — and are a’changing still. In 1973, Lexus was non-existent… heck, Cadillac was a completely different form of luxury back then. And Buick was totally different back then, as well. The examples of luxury I presented earlier are in the “now” — and have most likely changed significantly over the last four decades.
