REPORT: General Motors to kill Pontiac on Monday
by Damon Lavrinc on Apr 23rd 2009 at 5:33PM 
According to a report from InsideLine, General Motors could axe Pontiac as early as this Monday. Although IL isn't citing its source within GM, it did contact the General's PR man, Tom Wilkinson, who said, "There's nothing I can share with you at this time... Officially, nothing has changed with Pontiac's niche-brand status, until you hear differently." Not very clear, but not particularly positive either.
The line about Pontiac's "niche-brand status" has been floating around since last December, when GM began to focus on its four core brands – Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC – while readying the rest (Saab, Saturn and Hummer) for execution or extradition.
Pontiac's focus has been ill-defined (at best) over the decade, with solid products like the G8 coming to market alongside other less-than-stellar offerings (cough, G3). There was talk of reigniting Pontiac's performance heritage or even refocusing the brand as a Scion competitor. Regardless of past plans or intentions, there was no doubt that Pontiac was in the cross-hairs, and come Monday, we might know it's final fate.
[Source: InsideLine]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Walter 5:36PM (4/23/2009)
No more Trans Am :(
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ksmith 5:54PM (4/23/2009)
My bet's on notgonnahappen.
AZZO45b 6:18PM (4/23/2009)
The Trans-Am was DEAD long before Pontiac (if Monday is the kill date...)
jg 6:32PM (4/23/2009)
Pontiacs best car is built in Australia, no way they can survive.
Kill The Fanboys 8:26PM (4/23/2009)
R.I.P. Pontiac, some of you will be missed.
Polly Prissy Pants 10:19PM (4/23/2009)
For people who have been alive long enough to remember when a Pontiac really was a Pontiac, that company died as soon as they started putting Chevy motors in the Trans Am. Having spent many a day wrenching on small block Chevys and Pontiac 400s, I'd take the Pontiac block 400/455 any day.
iamhoff 3:41AM (4/24/2009)
At this point, there's no reason to drag it out. My only requests are:
1. Take the Solstice (or maybe Saturn Sky) and rebadge it as a Buick Velite. Give Buick the halo car it needs, and it keeps the Kappa platform around long enough for it to be used to underpin something else, like a new Skylark or even the rumored Cadillac BLS 3-series fighter.
2. The G8 is currently sold in the Middle East (among other places) as the Chevy Caprice and/or Impala. Why not swap out the G8's Pontiac front clip for a proper Chevy one, and use it to replace the current FWD Impala. Help keep Holden and the RWD development teams busy, and save a damn fine sports sedan.
The rest of Pontiac's lineup is, sadly, poo. G8 and Solstice...the heritage can live on that way.
jgp 8:21AM (4/24/2009)
@iamhoff
Agreed. I had hope for Pontiac a couple of years ago, but now I think it's best to just kill the name and shuffle their only good cars to other brands.
One of the best ideas I've seen for how to replace the Impala came from GMI. You see, the FWD Impala is popular for some reason (among who and why, I have no idea), and GM is hesitant to move it to RWD. The idea GMI had? RWD Impala based on Zeta and FWD Caprice based on a stretched Epsilon II. It would keep both sane people and those who like the FWD Impala happy, and it would preserve the historic distinction between the Impala and Caprice; the Impala is the sports sedan, and the Caprice is the soft-riding big car.
jjpg2000 5:38PM (4/23/2009)
Ack no!
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hypermiler 5:37PM (4/23/2009)
Sell the brand to Chinese and get $50 million for it.
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hypermiler 5:53PM (4/23/2009)
With Pontiac gone, GMC is next. GM will become a three brand company; Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick.
airswingman 6:10PM (4/23/2009)
they are not gona buy it, not worth it at all.
Mr.Oak 6:20PM (4/23/2009)
Hypermiler: When GMC goes, the Silverado may well become the #1 truck in America. Ford F-Series will now have a head to head contest.
ChaoZ 6:27PM (4/23/2009)
They wouldn't want Pontiac. They'd want Buick though.
jg 6:34PM (4/23/2009)
'When GMC goes, the Silverado may well become the #1 truck in America'
I still can't believe Ford gets to say they build the best selling truck when that's only true if you see Chevy and GMC as two distinct brands. Its the same truck damnit!
The Luigiian 7:10PM (4/23/2009)
@ Mr. Oak and jd:
I agree, the Chevy Silverado thing is stupid, but at this point I think Ford and GM should be competing to see who can sell the best truck rather than the truck that makes the most sales.
I personally think Ford builds the better truck, even if I think it's a little ugly. I like the Ford's towing, hauling, safety credentials, and equipment choices. But I do like the Silverado's styling better, and in many trims it gets slightly better mileage and has a V-6 engine as an option.
Greg Aryous 8:52PM (4/23/2009)
The F-series is a (better) brand vs. Silverado and GMC as a brand comparison. The only way GM sells more trucks is when you add Chevy and GMC togther, also beacuse they ahve more combined dealerships = more volume!
As GM goes down the drain and closes dealerships, the F-series will gain in its dominance of the truck market simply because it is the better product!
With the 400HP and 400 ft-lbs torque EcoBoost 3.5V6 coming in the F150, it will deliver 25mpg and further build on Fords leadership. Plus, this is a lot cheaper than Chevy's $48K Silverado Hybrid that only gets 22mpg.
Matt 11:30PM (4/23/2009)
Remember that the F-150s towing stats (towing and payload) are only applicable to ONE truck...of 56 possible combination.
Your average run-of-the-mill F-150, 4X4, crew cab/extended can has a average towing and payload capacity that is WORSE than the competitors.
To get the stats that Ford claims, you need the heavy duty payload package.
Clay Garland 10:29AM (4/25/2009)
Ford has a nasty habit of offering odd option packages in their trucks which make them able to say random things like, "Most Payload, best fuel economy, etc," but in actuality make up a negligible portion of sales.
abbas350 5:38PM (4/23/2009)
the soul's been dead for years, good riddance
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