The folks that brought you the GTO (but also the Aztek) and the Firebird (but also the Trans Sport) appear to be one step closer to the gallows.
If rumors around GM's RenCen headquarters are true, the troubled corporation will announce the discontinuation of the Pontiac brand next Monday as part of the deeper-cutting reorganization demanded by the Obama administration's auto task force.
GM said, as early as late last year that the division would become a "niche brand," outside of the four core brands GM wanted to protect (Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick). The company, however, never defined exactly what sort of niche it was talking about. Was that a niche that included the G3, a Chevy Aveo re-badge? Or was that a niche that included the G8 rear-drive sports sedan?
It seems Pontiac's fate might have been sealed by a combination of increasingly tough demands for cuts from the Feds and Pontiac's utter lack of focus over the past few decades.
General Motors, in the person of News Relations PR man Tom Wilkinson neither confirmed nor denied nor, well, here's what he said: "There's nothing I can share with you at this point. Keep your eye on our media site. Officially nothing has changed with Pontiac's niche-brand status, until you hear differently."
Clear as mud, then.
roar02ram says:
12:20 PM, 04/23/09
+1 on the vintage Aztek photo!
adb4 says:
01:03 PM, 04/23/09
Is this from the same 'genius' who said they were killing GMC? Way to fan the flames of panic, kids...
jederino says:
02:06 PM, 04/23/09
Fine. Just hoping they can keep the talent, and bring GTO or "Pontiac" trim levels, if that could bring any prestige.
brn says:
02:40 PM, 04/23/09
In the same line as adb4's comments, these are rumors. Unless you have an extremely high degree of confidence that it's true, it's inappropriate for IL to spread this kind of rumor.
greenpony says:
04:18 PM, 04/23/09
The could also announce the end of Pontiac on Friday, or later today, or a week from Tuesday. They could also announce that GMC, Buick, and Chevrolet will form one brand: Buirolet-MC, and that 100% of their design engineers will be axed. Just because GM announces it doesn't mean it'll come true. And just because there's a whisper of a rumor doesn't mean it even deserves anyone's attention.
firstwagon says:
04:23 PM, 04/23/09
I see no problem with reporting on rumors here. It's a blog, not a CNN news headline.
I also have no problem if Pontiac, Buick and GMC went away. Aside from some memory lane stuff, they really don't serve much of a purpose anymore.
jederino says:
04:55 PM, 04/23/09
Since I was a kid, I've always admired the early GTO's. However, these nostalgic brands will never really go away completely. The antiques and aftermarkets should continue, and hopefully new iconic American brands will emerge.
altimadude00 says:
04:55 PM, 04/23/09
GM started killing Pontiac when they introduced the Sunbird and the le Mons (I know there was a better, earlier model) and killed the Fiero in the 80s. Oh and the somethingorother-9000 didn't help either.
In short the 80s killed Pontiac and they've been languishing ever since, feeding on other GM branches (and Toyota) for sustenance.
For those that are crying about the G8, GM can easily slap another badge on the front of it.
cwc1 says:
06:13 PM, 04/23/09
CNN is not even a credible news organization, so I'd take a blog over them.
The '80s killed Pontiac? I don't think so. They were still a few performance oriented and appealing cars that managed to make their way out, and Pontiac's sales were good then. I think most of the dilution occurred in the '90s and 2000s. By then, the long term damage begun by Roger Smith had started infiltrating all of GM's former divisions.
Love that '67 GTO.
estreka says:
06:50 PM, 04/23/09
Please folks. This isn't being reported as fact. It's being blogged as a rumor.
I wonder if GM's stock will go up or down when/if it's announced?
bbechtel16 says:
06:15 AM, 04/24/09
If this comes true, I hope we'll get a G8 based Chevy Imapala out of this.
felonious says:
11:25 AM, 04/24/09
I blame the Aztek.
flicmod says:
12:37 PM, 04/24/09
Screw G8 Impala. Bring back the Chevelle!
firstwagon says:
03:18 PM, 04/24/09
I think what killed it was the whole "Excitement" tag.
I remember cool looking ads showing Sunfires or Grand Ams driving around at night in a cool part of town with cool people behind the wheel all the preaching the excitement motto. Trouble is I've driven these cars and there was nothing exciting about them.
It doesn't take people long to clue in that the marketing people and the product planners weren't on the same page.
Pontiac isn't the excitment division, it's the rebadged Chevy division.
yeomancavalry says:
04:31 PM, 04/24/09
Just another chunk of American history being bit off the crumbling cookie. Seriously, I think its a bit lame that the old man Buick is staying and its only because the Chinese are buying them and Obama approves it. Maybe it's an Obama and Tiger Woods conspiracy to kill off Pontiac to make the mismanaged GM keep Buick. Dumb Dumb Dumb! I can see GM going away by the end of the year. I can see the Chevrolet Camaro going away without it ever reaching fruition. I'm so ticked of at all the American Auto Execs that maybe would should just fire them in order to get this industry in the right direction. We seem to forget most of what caused this is their mismanagement of the brands and their greed. Sad to see the Pontiac name brand go away, I'm not a Chevrolet kind of person so I'll have to defect to a Japanese car brand. At least they employ some people in the United States. Goodbye GM, nice knowing you...
firstwagon says:
04:44 PM, 04/24/09
What on earth is the difference between a Chevrolet kind of person and a Pontiac kind of person?
Unless you go back 40 years or more, they are the same cars except for the trim and the marketing campains.
Do you really love the Pontiac grill that much?
altimadude00 says:
06:18 PM, 04/24/09
firstwagon -- Maybe he liked Smokey and the Bandit better than The Rockford Files.
kpmick says:
08:43 AM, 04/25/09
Would it be a really bad idea to buy a G8 now? I've been offered 0% financing and beloe invoice price and was pretty much set to go before reading this...
alman08 says:
11:45 AM, 04/25/09
a G8 with a normal hood would be nice. a chevy caprice (holden caprice) is much nicer. I agree with what most said here, and rebadging is what killed American auto industry.