Say Good-bye to the Pontiac

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

GM will be dropping Pontiac ...I find this sad    If I could go get my dream car today it would be a 70 Cuda  " BUT " if I could'nt find one it would be a late 60's GTO. These new G8 are the best lookin' 4 door car's ever made ...IMO   

[Jack]

I have a Pontiac dealer a couple of miles from me.  I guess it will be just another empty lot.

[gregc]

I was waiting for the El Camino to return on the G-8 chassis by Pontiac,  Guess that won't be happening.

[R J]

Joe, where did you hear that about Pontiac?

I work for a Pontiac dealer and we haven't heard anything yet.

I called and asked our Service Manager and it was news to him.

If it is true, then it is a good thing we took on GMC and Buick last year............

I had 2 GTO's, a 65, Tri-Power, (360 hp) and a Judge..   Sold em both like a damn dumb fool.   Would love to have the 65 back....

[MAD6Gun]

I will believe it when I talk to my boss on Monday. If it is true that will suck. See I am a tech for a Pontiac GMC dealer. I say Dump Buick and make some cheaper Caddies that would appeal to the Buick crowd. But leave Pontiac alone. I see more Pontiac's on the road than Buick's that is for sure. I think this is a big mistake on GM's part. A lot of people love Pontiac and I think this will drive them away from buying GM altogether. If it happens there is not a darn thing any of us can do about but cross our fingers and hope the dealer does not close. If the dealer closes oh well. I was looking for a job when I found this one. It just might be harder for a GM tech like me to find work after this. RJ here is a link to a story I found. Also my brother told me that the reason that GM is dropping Pontiac instead of keeping it as a nitch market as planed is because Obama said NO to that. There's another reason for me to hate him.
http://chattahbox.com/business/2009/04/25/report-gm-preparing-to-drop-pontiac-brand-monday/

[RDKLL]

This is the car that made me want another Pontiac. I am real happy with my 17 year old 5.0 Mustang, but dang it would be nice to have 400hp, 4 doors, 6 spd manual and about $38K

[Gear Jammer]

Pontiac brand reportedly will be dropped by GM
by Rick Haglund | Detroit Bureau
Friday April 24, 2009, 5:44 PM

AP File Photo
An unsold 2009 Vibe sits at a Pontiac and Buick dealership in Golden, Colo.
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. is preparing to eliminate its Pontiac brand, according to several industry news sources.

The automaker said Friday it wouldn't comment about widespread reports of the division's demise, but said it is continuing to review its restructuring plan.

"Additional information will be released as any decisions are finalized," GM said in Friday's statement.

The trade publication Automotive News, Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal reported GM will announce it is killing Pontiac next week.

"I've got to believe it's true," said Russ Shelton, a Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealer in Rochester Hills.

Shelton said he has been unable to order any 2010 Pontiac G6s, the division's best-selling model. But he said he has been able to order other Pontiac models.

Sales have been falling since GM announced Pontiac would become a niche brand in its federally mandated restructuring.

Pontiac is known for introducing the era of the muscle car in 1964 with the GTO and later the Firebird, both have been discontinued.

The Pontiac brand was first sold in 1926, and U.S. sales peaked at 896,980 in 1978, according to Automotive News. Pontiac's U.S. sales fell to 267,348 last year. Sales were down 43.5 percent through March.

"Any kind of news like that is going to devastate us," Shelton said.

GM has said it was focusing on four core brands: Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac and GMC.

The automaker also announced Friday it had received an additional $2 billion in working capital loan money from the federal government. That brings GM's total loans to $15.4 billion.

Under terms of a federal bailout, GM must win concessions from the United Auto Workers union and bondholders by June 1 or face possible bankruptcy.

E-mail Rick Haglund: rhaglund@boothmichigan.com

 
 

 

[Jack]

"GM, which is under pressure from the government to reduce its brands, has said it wants to focus on four core brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. It has placed Saturn, Saab and Hummer up for sale and has said Pontiac could become a niche brand."

[bassman]

Employee: GM To Kill Pontiac

POSTED: Friday, April 24, 2009
UPDATED: 7:45 pm EDT April 24, 2009

DETROIT -- A General Motors employee told Local 4 the company will announce Monday that the "faster, deeper" reorganization plan to meet a June 1 deadline or face bankruptcy will include the death of Pontiac.

However, Tom Wilkinson of GM news relations told Edmunds.com that he couldn't comment on the rumor.

"Officially, nothing has changed with Pontiac's niche-brand status, until you hear differently," he told Edmunds.

In GM's December 2008 viability plan, the company began referring to the maker of the legendary Firebird, Grand Prix and Bonneville as a "niche" or "specialty" brand.

The automaker will keep the self-defined four core brands, GMC, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Buick. Most Pontiac franchises have already been combined with Buick and GMC.

Pontiac will join Hummer, Saab and Saturn as brands that will not survive GM's current economic troubles.

Killing Pontiac highlights the changes GM is being forced to make in to survive in its second century of car making.

Pontiac began in 1926 and continued to usher in legendary car years. Pontiac gave America the 1950s "silver streak," the 1960s "muscle car" when it put a V8 engine in a Tempest and called it a GTO, and who could forget the 1980s Fiero?

Watch: A Review Of The Pontiac Brand

Pontiac sales manager Dave Webb at the Art Moran dealership said he is hopeful the cars' legend will live on.

"I think that Pontiac has been here for a long time and they are still going to be out. They have been selling a lot of cars," said Webb.

The Pontiac news isn't deterring all potential buyers.

Lois Andrews told Local 4 she still plans on buying a Pontiac because they are good cars.

"Even if they did, I am not concerned about it. I think there is enough of a backlog if they did," said Andrews.

Taxpayers invested another $2 billion in General Motors Corp. this week as the struggling auto giant continued efforts to restructure and avoid bankruptcy court.

The Treasury Department said Friday it lent the additional money to GM on Wednesday to provide working capital. The loan pushes the total amount of GM's government aid to $15.4 billion after the company said it would need more money in the second quarter to stay afloat.

"We are trying to stimulate the economy on our own level," said Andrews.

[bassman]

General Motors to dump Pontiac
Carmaker to reveal more cuts Monday; More factory closures loom
Robert Snell and David Shepardson / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp., surviving on $15.4 billion in federal loans, is expected to announce Monday that it will kill the Pontiac brand but keep GMC as part of a tougher restructuring plan being overseen by the government, sources familiar with the automaker's plan said Friday.

GM has started reaching out to Pontiac dealers ahead of a public announcement about the brand's future, when the automaker likely will also outline permanent plant closures, more job cuts and a tougher offer to bondholders to slash the automaker's $28 billion in unsecured debt.

The Detroit News has learned GM plans to notify members of Congress on Monday morning -- and has scheduled meetings with a few members of Michigan's delegation -- about plants to be shuttered.

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 Pontiac's demise could hurt Orion Township, which is home to a GM assembly plant that produces the Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibu.

If the factory was closed permanently or downsized, the community could see scores of residents left jobless, businesses crippled by a drop in customers from the plant and a sharp decline in revenue from water sold to the factory, township Trustee John Steimel said.

"There's definitely a ripple effect," he said.

In a restructuring plan rejected by President Barack Obama's autos task force last month, GM proposed shrinking Pontiac into a niche brand with one or two models. But the task force wants GM to cut deeper and faster, prompting the decision to eliminate Pontiac, which leaves the automaker with four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

GM, which received another $2 billion injection from the government Friday, also is eliminating or trying to sell its Saturn, Saab and Hummer brands.

'Changes had to be made'
GM is racing to restructure and reach money-saving concessions from the United Auto Workers and bondholders ahead of a June 1 deadline imposed by the Obama administration. If GM cannot reach deals, the automaker could be forced into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

The move to cut Pontiac is not a surprise considering GM was going to shrink the brand.

"Once their plan was not approved by the government, you knew changes had to be made," said Joe Serra, president of Serra Automotive Inc. in Grand Blanc, who owns two Pontiac franchises. "If they have to make further cuts, it seems like a natural one."

GM declined to confirm its plans Friday.

"Contrary to media speculation, General Motors has not announced any changes to its long-term viability plan or to the future status of any of its brands," the company said in a statement. "GM is continuing to review its restructuring plan to go further and faster and best ensure its future success. Additional information will be released as any decisions are finalized."

Pontiac sales fell 25.3 percent in 2008 to 267,348, down from its peak in the late 1970s, when about 900,000 Pontiacs were sold.

Pontiac, established as the Pontiac Buggy Co. in 1893 in the Oakland County city that shares its name to build horse-drawn carriages, became synonymous with fast-driving V-8s and muscle cars in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. GM has sold more than 35 million vehicles in the 83-year-old brand's life.

In 1907, company founder Edward Murphy moved to cars, creating the Oakland Motor Car Company. GM bought half of Pontiac in 1909 and later bought the rest. In 1926, GM created the Pontiac brand -- priced between Chevrolet and Oldsmobile, debuting the Series 6-27 at the 1926 New York Auto Show. Just $825, Pontiac sold 76,742 cars in the first year.

Legacy of muscle cars
The company built a $15 million assembly plant in Pontiac -- the largest construction program in the United States in 1926 -- which built the Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon for the U.S. Navy during World War II. By 1953, Pontiacs, with the new V-8 engine, sold 385,000 vehicles -- more than Dodge and Mercury.

Pontiac hired legendary designer John DeLorean in 1957 and ushered in the muscle car era with the GTO in 1964, followed by the Firebird in 1967 and redesigned Grand Prix in 1969 and the Firebird Trans Am.

Pontiacs have had a role in popular culture. A Pontiac convertible was used by Lucy and Ricky in episodes of "I Love Lucy" in a drive across the country. Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams were featured in the 1977 film "Smokey and the Bandit."

Those muscle car models are a key part of Pontiac's legacy.

"That was the high-water mark," said Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics in Birmingham. "They were overstated for the market but found some resonance from buyers who wanted cars like that."

He discounted any notion that Pontiac would permanently disappear and said it could emerge once the market rebounds as a niche brand of one or two models.

"Killing Pontiac is probably the wrong word," Hall said. "Putting it to sleep is probably far more accurate. Don't count Pontiac out forever, but it's definitely going fallow for a while. You'll see something from Pontiac in the future providing you see something from General Motors in the future."

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Joe, where did you hear that about Pontiac?

I work for a Pontiac dealer and we haven't heard anything yet.

I called and asked our Service Manager and it was news to him.

If it is true, then it is a good thing we took on GMC and Buick last year............

I had 2 GTO's, a 65, Tri-Power, (360 hp) and a Judge..   Sold em both like a damn dumb fool.   Would love to have the 65 back....

It was on the NEWS this morning RJ ...I hate to see that happen it was the same for me when they dropped Olds 

[shortleg]

  Over the years I have owned a few GTOs and two 442s
 I am thinking maybe it,s my fault.
  But now I own nothing but Hondas. Do you
think they are safe.
            Shortleg[Dave]

[Tropic traveler]

As a dealership employee, a Lincoln-Mercury parts dept. manager, I watch these kind of things closely. So far, so good with my personal employment situation. Ford Motor Company has taken no gov't. money  & most likely will not. Therefore hopefully no brand killing at Ford like there is at GM. My dealership owner has VERY deep pockets & we have low overhead {read that old paid for facility } so unless something drastic happens my job is fairly safe.
One of the main "restructuring" things that all 3 of the American auto makers have wanted to do for a long time now is shrink the dealer network. It costs the automakers lots of $$$ to service so many dealerships. It is very hard to close down dealers due to differing state laws & long ago signed contracts that are still in force. However bankruptcy is one thing that can break those contracts. With dealers, unions & parts suppliers as well.
What I think you will see from GM is two different dealerships in any given market where there used to be 3 or 4. Of course a Chevrolet dealer as Chevy has a complete top to bottom product line up & can stand alone in the marketplace. Buick & Cadillac will develop a complementing more "upscale" product line up with GMC there with them to cover the truck market. I can also see a merging of Ford & Lincoln/Mercury dealerships in small & medium size markets although as of now it is unclear how that will go down without the hammer of bankruptcy forcing it. Attrition is already making that happen but very slowly.
Time will tell. Things look pretty bleak for Chrysler as of now.
One thing for sure is the American automakers, dealerships included, will be leaner & quite a bit smaller in the future.

[Challenger]

I am worried about the outcome, but not surprised,  I was a GM fan in my early years I had a 66 GTO, great car, but in the late 70s I had a new GMC pick-up and wife had a new Monte Carlo. on a still night we could hear them rusting in the garage, tranny went out of both and electronis dash quit several times, 80's same thing, I loved my Toronado, but started rusting at three years old, engine died at 42000. After many letters and visits to the dealers, Basicly got a (tough sh@!# ) from GM,  I bailed out an bought Toyotas after that and never looked back. I just got fed up with crap they were biulding.  They can't blame this on the consumer.

[huckleberry]

This is the car that made me want another Pontiac. I am real happy with my 17 year old 5.0 Mustang, but dang it would be nice to have 400hp, 4 doors, 6 spd manual and about $38K

[Jack]

This morning from Fox news:

The President of General Motors announced his plans Monday to discontinue production of its celebrated Pontiac brand and cut 21,000 factory jobs by next year as part of a massive restructuring effort needed to secure more government aid.

GM CEO and President Fritz Henderson said the automaker will also offer 225 shares of common stock for every $1,000 in notes held by bondholders as part of a debt-for-equity swap.

"We just didn't have a strategy that we were satisfied with that could allow us to win with the Pontiac brand," Henderson said during a morning news conference Monday at GM headquarters in Detroit.

"We could not provide the marketing muscle behind the brand," said Henderson, who said the decision was "tough" because "the brand has a considerable heritage within our company."

[Big IV]

It was speculated when the bail out of GM first happened. Then it took a while for them to announce it.
They are also trimming the remaining brands of low selling cars: Goodbye PT Cruiser.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

 PT Cruiser and  Pontiac should'nt even be used in the same sentence.Dream car #1 for me is a 1970 Cuda running a close #2 1967 Goat.

[fudgie]

Thats to bad. Love the Trans Am. We had a 01Firebird convertable and was a great car with great MPG. Would love to have a Ram Air T/A. We recently rented a G5 on our trip to se GiG in MI and it was a fun little car. But I guess they dropped Oldsmobile to.

[R J]

If they were going to drop something it should of been the Buick.

We sell 9 Pontiac's to 3 Buick's.    Losing Pontiac, I don't think the GMC and Buick alone in our dealership will survive.

I noticed in the article in our paper that GM wanted to eliminate about 45% of their dealer platform for Pontiac's.

Must of been why they stuffed Buick and GMC Trucks on us last summer.

Then we were a Pontiac, Mazda, Subaru and Porsche dealer.   Couldn't make a living off the Porsche, so they sold it to a dealer in Omaha.  They bought a separate building for the Mazda and Subaru, then added Buick and GMC Truck at GM and the others request.  Each manufacturer wanted their own show room and service dept's.....   They would let ya combine parts and other area of the lot for inventory.....