Fact is we hits do not equal sales.
As it is now GM still has too many models and are still working to get just three divisions in line. It takes time and a lot of money to fix what they have now. We are looking at 10 years to get GM from Chapter 11 to where they need to be if all goes as planned.
Adding Pontiac back to the mix while a emotional idea is not a good buisness move.
GM is already rolling Holden into a Chevy division and the greatest difference will be a lion head in place of the Bow Tie and the wheel on the right.
Opel right now is up in the air and with Chevy already making inroads to Europe it is not impossible to see Opel go away if the money loss is not stemmed and agreement made with the German Unions.
First thing we all need to do is step back and see what GM has ready for Buick as none of their present cars are new clean sheet of paper cars yet. All activity has been given to Chevy to get volume and cash flow up and Cadillac to move up to give Buick some room.
I love Pontiac and can say I was not proud of what they had done to Pontiac for many years. While the die hards may have accepted the fancy Chevys they did not fool many others.
It was good for me as I got my 04 GTP for almost $10K off sticker with my GM money and incentives they were offering. I had wished I had pulled the trigger on the G8 when I could have gotten $7K off sticker. Note the GTP not a great car as some would like you to think. It did some good things but lack much detail for what a car in this class should have had.
The bottom line of all of this is Pontiac is gone and it is not coming back anytime soon if ever. May be in the long distant future if there is a need for a HSV like division they could do something like that but with the increasing CAFE that would be difficult.
I drive a HHR SS now with 290 HP because Pontiac did not offer the Turbo in anything but the Solstice. I wanted MPG, Power and the ability to haul a Soap Box Derby car that is 6 feet long. This vehicle does it with 13 sec quartermiles, 25 MPG around town and will easily top 150 MPH. Note I never was a HHR fan and was not really a Turbo fan but one test drive showed me what I wanted and Pontiac had no real performance outside a Solstice or the G8.
To repair Pontiac would have been very difficult and expensive. Even today it would still be the same. To be honest GM is just now getting a handel on performance models again and learning how to market them with the divisions they have. Lets face it I still get people who see my HHR SS and think I built it or just added the emblems till I show them the Turbo engine. GM had no clue or money to market performance till after the Chapter 11. We are now seeing them advetise the Camaro and Vette. They are now just starting to push the SS sedan and we will see much more to come.
Untill you see what more is to come it is crazy to judge GM based on what is just anounced. THings are not like they used to be where they would release much of the info 5 years out like they did on the Camaro. Much of what you will learn will be 16 months out unless you have a inside connection or a leak. GM is dark today on what you will see till late in the game. I think you will be shocked as some of the things to come.
Trust me the cry for Pontiac will always be there with the die hards but GM will not live or die based on them.
Pontiac is like my grand parents and my dad, They are gone now and not coming back to this world. But they will always remain in my heart.
If GM can make Chevy #1 in the world, Make Cadillac able to out sell BMW and Benz in the US market and make Buick a viable choice to many in the US market then we can sit down and talk Pontiac.
