Brian_E: The point I’ve been trying to make for some time on this thread is that GM ITSELF is in the best position to determine the financial details. Who better to determine those details than GM’s own marketing experts and bean-counters? For US to suggest a business plan to GM would be condescension. If you look back at my posts, my position is that OUR role is to show GM that there is ADEQUATE DEMAND for the brand’s return. alex posted that that shouldn’t be the basis for such a decision. That bucks Econ 100. We’re talking classic SUPPLY AND DEMAND. As an Econ major, I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about here. If there is ADEQUATE DEMAND for a good or service, then in a free-market economy (such as we have here), a merchant or business will SUPPLY that good or service. What PontiacRulz in particular–and I–have been suggesting is that there is ADEQUATE DEMAND for Pontiac, to make the return of the brand feasible. AND–in the case of Pontiac–there are some NON-PECUNIARY considerations as well:
1. Pontiac was no also-ran brand. It was a strong LEGACY brand. The Pontiac brand has NON-PECUNIARY VALUE to GM.
2. The Pontiac brand wasn’t murdered due to low sales, per se. It was #3, right behind GM. It was murdered because of the Great Recession. I.e., chances are that the brand might still be around but for the Recession. The Recession has been OVER for almost three years.
3. Pontiac’s following was LARGE.
4. Pontiac’s following consists, for the most part, of “YOUNGER” persons with a musclecar/performance-car bent. These tend to be more passionate, on the whole, than Olds’ following, for example. When GM murdered Pontiac, the nature of Pontiac’s following is such that there was a VERY IMPETUOUS reaction. What I’m suggesting is that–due to the NATURE of the Pontiac brand, and the demographic of its customers–Pontiac is a PASSION, not just a typical car brand.
5. My understanding is that GM has ALREADY lost approximately 45% of Pontiac’s customers to non-GM brands. I believe that a large portion of those defectors can be WON BACK if GM resurrects Pontiac. BUT: The longer GM takes, the MORE TIME those defectors have, to become enamored of the non-GM brands they’ve defected to.
Pontiac has NON-PECUNIARY VALUE to GM. PontiacRulz and I are but TWO Pontiac loyalists who want the brand back in the worst way. Try googling “BRING BACK PONTIAC”, and see what you get. I would estimate that there must be THOUSANDS of Pontiac loyalists just like he and I, and God knows how many more in Canada, where Pontiac sold well. For GM, reviving Pontiac is more than just a cold, calculating business decision. It’s DAMAGE CONTROL/PUBLIC RELATIONS: Bringing back to the fold, Pontiac’s large following that was ANGERED by Pontiac’s murder. As alex mentioned in one of his posts, it’s a uber-competitive market out there. I would suggest that that cuts both ways: In such a business climate, GM cannot afford to alienate Pontiac’s legions of customers much longer. GM is NOT the only automaker in the world OR the U.S.
