Whether you love it, hate it, or don't care, phasing out Pontiac means phasing out an iconic brand. Pontiac was fodder for well over 30 years, but had started to come around in the last several. Too little too late for a struggling GM:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-to-...-15039195.html

Better get your Soltice GXP (260/260) or your G8 GXP (415/415) (Most powerful stock Pontiac of ALL TIME) while you can since they are actually pretty badass cars

Soltice GXP Review and Pic:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/..._test/(page)/1




G8 GXP Review and Pic:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...take_road_test

 

u could still get those two platforms btw, in the middleast and australia, the G8 and the GTO are listed as Chevy Caprice coupe and 4 door. so u could still import them if someone really wanted one.
its sad to see this happening tho.

 

ah ok, i like to see them go jk

 

Meh. Serves GM right.

 

never like pontiac anyway..next will be saturn, saab, and hummer on the chopping block

 

they should've chopped buick.. even though they are popular in china... pontiac > buick... saturn also sucks too

 

2008 GM Vehicle Sales
Chevrolet 1,801,131
GMC 376,996
Pontiac 267,348
Saturn 188,004
Cadillac 161,159
Buick 137,197
Hummer 27,485
Saab 21,368
Total 2,980,688

so once again.. why didn't they cut buick???

 

they probably make more money per car with buick than it is with pontiac. don;t look at the # of cars sold, we need to see thier profit/brand/car.

 

Those are US sales. I've felt that GMC should be closed, Hummer sold off to a specialty maker, and Saab either sold off or axed. Buick, for better or worse, has a better global position than Pontiac. Saturn already has the "cheap" market covered for GM. Given that nearly every Pontiac dealer also sells GMC, I still think both brands need to go.

The main argument against Pontiac is that every Pontiac model is a duplicate of something offered by Chevy (or another brand), which while technically true, belies the truth that the Pontiac versions are often better. They couldn't go cheap (encroaching on Chevy), and if they were too fast/good they'd encroach on Cadillac. So instead you have identical models competing against each other. The Solstice is the perfect example - its competition is the Miata and the Sky, and not in that order.

The G8 will probably live on as something else (probably Saturn), but GM will probably ruin the styling in the transition. The Sky is better looking than the Solstice, and nothing else in Pontiac's current lineup stands out. Assuming GM does not also axe Saturn, losing Pontiac will only strengthen GM.

 

Poor K.I.T.T..........

 

Pontiac has really only ever been about one good model at a time, and the rest filler, as far as I can remember. They were never allowed to have anything really fast, for fear it would encroach on the Vette's position as the top of the heap. The same thing happened to the GNX, but it at least "sneaked" into production for a short while. They've had a few hits over the years, but never a complete lineup of good cars, and they kept making stupid stuff like minivans and Aztecs and small SUVs that dilluted the brand mission statement.

Anything they do could be covered by a Chevy "SS" variant, and perhaps they could revive performance at Buick whihc was known to make a few fast cars back in the day.

 

I wonder if people will car so little when/if Mitsu pulls the plug on the US market. I mean, if only having one decent car is the criteria, then Mitsu most definitely fis the bill. Outside of our community people simply do not care about Mitsu and many people who are not "car" people don't even know they still operate here. I can't count the times people have asked about my "Subi" and when I explained it was a Mitsu Evo, they replied that they didn't know Mitsu still sold cars here

 

Wow, people say that in SoCal? I would think if there's any place in this country where Mitsu has even so much as a blip on the radar of brand recognition it would be there. Nobody ever mistakes my car for a Subi here, but I imagine its only because Subaru is even less popular then Mitsu in the South.

I imagine people would care less about Mitsu leaving if they did because Pontiac has been around 100 years in this country and represents the health of GM in general.

 

Agreed. Mitsu will blow away and be forgotten by all but the staunch automotive enthusiasts, but despite its redundant products and several decades worth of failures, Pontiac's death in the US will be remembered for some time

 

Times change, these days K.I.T.T. is a Mustang. .........................