While everyone was focused on the 2009 Geneva Auto Show
, Susan Doherty, vice president for the North American divisions of Buick, Pontiac and GMC, quietly announced the discontinuation of the Pontiac Torrent, the smallish midsize crossover SUV that's a twin of the Chevrolet Equinox.
In an entry titled, "Pontiac: Alive and Kicking and Part of GM's Future Plans," on GM's FastLane blog, Doherty wrote, "The Pontiac Torrent will be discontinued to enable the brand to 'focus' on cars. But the good news is that a new, five-passenger crossover SUV entry will soon be found at GMC ... stay tuned."
Although the slow-selling Torrent won't be missed much, another line in Doherty's entry makes us as uncertain as ever about the future of the Pontiac G8, arguably the best car in the lineup.
"Pontiac will continue to offer the G5, G6, G8, Solstice and Vibe, and we're adding the economical G3. Pontiac's top reason for purchase is 'fuel economy' and we won't disappoint with four of our six entries getting over 32 miles per gallon on the highway."
Even the six-cylinder G8 gets only 20 mpg combined, while our preferred G8 GT gets just 18.
Clearly, more changes are afoot, as Doherty concludes, "we know that we don't have all of the answers right now and that can be very uncomfortable, but we refuse to let media speculation and negativity make up our minds for us."
TSRocket says:
11:55 AM, 03/ 4/09
This is change? The G8 and the Solstice are the only cars in the range that have any reason to exist. Clearly GM hasn't understood the problem or the solution.
firstwagon says:
12:10 PM, 03/ 4/09
Why does the Solstice have a reason to exist?
It may be a nice looking sports car but they sell very few of them.
billt9 says:
12:40 PM, 03/ 4/09
If selling numbers is important then Mazda shouldn't exist at all and GM would be rich and Ferrari broke.
It's being able to sell things for more money than it cost you to make it.
Although I thought I read something about the Solstice/Sky using some expensive frame...
zohaib says:
02:36 PM, 03/ 4/09
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compliance says:
03:41 PM, 03/ 4/09
"Pontiac's top reason for purchase is 'fuel economy'"
Are they really trying to say that is Pontiac's brand identity? Sad. Please no G3!
roar02ram says:
04:19 PM, 03/ 4/09
Umm - yeah, I was expecting byebye for the G5 and DOA for the G3...but whatever.
bpizzuti says:
05:51 PM, 03/ 4/09
Umm, Pontiac = Fuel Economy? I thought it was Pontiac = Performance...or was it Pontiac = Premium? Now it's Pontiac = Putt-Putt and Pontiac = Petroleum Savings?
Pontiac should = Perished by now GM, don't you get that you have WAY too many brands? Apparently not, because "Pontiac: Alive and Kicking and Part of GM's Future Plans" just indicates that this is the same old GM doing the same old things, trying to invent identities for its brands out of thin air.
stovt001 says:
07:42 PM, 03/ 4/09
I agree with all of the above. Axing the Torrent was the right move, but thinking the G3, G5, and G6 have any place in the lineup, or that people buy Pontiac for fuel efficiency, or that selling the Solstice at a higher price than the superior MX-5 and still making a loss on every unit makes sense just shows that GM just doesn't get it when it comes to any brand other than Chevy or Cadillac. When they said Pontiac would be a niche brand, I actually thought they finally got it and would use Pontiac to import a few select performance cars from overseas, like the G8. Guess I was wrong. Such a shame these fools are flying this once proud American icon into the ground.
cwc1 says:
07:49 PM, 03/ 4/09
GM is damned if it does, and damned if it doesn't. They just can't please all of us.
I sure hope the G8 doesn't get killed.
anythngbutgm says:
04:52 AM, 03/ 6/09
EXCITEMENT!