Can't help myself. I'll break my earlier promise to abstain... No, because I enjoy mocking your goofy online aura of superiority. Boo hoo. Not really. I've never told you to stop, just pointed it out and mocked it. As I said earlier.
Here's something else I don't get. They're killing Pontiac but keeping GMC. GMC has nothing but duplicated vehicles. Everything they sell has a Chevy equivalent. While several Pontiacs are also duplicates of Chevy cars, there were at least one or two that were unique (or, like the Solstice, shared with another division that's being shut down). Why keep GMC?
Because they sell. Everything about PONTIAC is Fugly from the name to the design for the last 20 or so years excluding the Solstice which I thought was cool but for that price range I'd rather get an S2000 or a used Z4 or 350z conv.
They cannibalize sales from identical Chevy products. That's not the kind of sales GM needs. And compared to many other brands, Pontiac sells, too. For 2008: Pontiac sold 267,348 cars, which is more than: Acura Audi BMW Buick Cadillac Infiniti Lexus Lincoln Mazda Mercedes Mercury Mitsubishi Saturn Subaru VW and almost as much as Kia. And while GMC still sold about 100,000 more cars than Pontiac did last year, that's not exactly a ringing endorsement (especially since, as noted, every single one of those customers could potentially be directed to a Chevy dealership to buy the exact same vehicle. And cutting that exact competition could, potentially, lead to Chevrolet dealers getting more profit per car).
Out of all those car makers 8 of them would be considered Luxury vehicles Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes. You can say its personal preference but ultimately you know it's because of PRICE why Pontiac outsold these makers. They're in a class if not a few above Pontiac so it's unfair to compare them. That leaves Buick, Mazda, Mercury, Mitsu, Saturn, Subaru, VW. I'm surprised Pontiac outsold Mazda, Mitsu, Subaru and VW and I'm guessing the final numbers were really close. Those makers however are big in Japan and VW I assume is huge in Europe. Also I'm guessing those 2008 numbers are for U.S. only. I highly doubt people in other parts of the world are driving honking pieces of steel called Pontiac.
I'm going to miss Pontiac because I like my cars named after real things. What the hell is a "lexus?" I have problems enough memorizing my ATM numbers and you expect me to remember a bunch of numbers and letters thrown together like 583i or something? RIP Pontiac.
my old man had a lemans convertible when i was a kid. don't remember the exact year, but probably a '65 or so. got it right after we sold the Rambler station wagon.
I get getting rid of Pontiac. GM needs fewer makes and fewer models. And most of Pontiac's cars are duplicated from Chevrolet. My point was that GMC also duplicates Chevy (actually even moreso than Pontiac), so it makes sense to get rid of GMC while they're getting rid of brands. You said they aren't getting rid of GMC because they sell. I note that Pontiac sells, too, outselling quite a few brands, but that isn't enough to justify keeping them open because almost all of their line can be filled by very similar Chevy cars (and cars that don't have a Chevy-equivalent like the Solstice could become Chevys if GM wants to do that). I wasn't trying to justify keeping Pontiac open. I was saying that, as long as they're closing down brands, it doesn't make any sense to leave GMC open. Mazda - 263,949 Mitsubishi - 97,257 Subaro - 187,699 VW - 223,128 I know Buick is being kept alive solely because they're big in China and, apparently, other parts of Asia (and probably to lessen the number of dealerships GM has to close). I don't know anything about Pontiac or GMC sales worldwide, but I would venture to guess that, given that pick-ups and SUVs are almost a uniquely American phenomenon that there aren't a whole lot of GMC sales outside the U.S. (and, once again, since GMC doesn't offer any vehicles unique to the brand, any GMC sales outside the US could be made up by other GM brands). I'm not entirely sure they sell Pontiacs anywhere outside the U.S. GM owns a lot of foreign brands like Holden, Vauxhall, Daewoo and Opel that sometimes sell cars very similar to what Pontiac sells (the G8, for example, is just a modified Holden). If Toyota came out tomorrow and said "We're going to start a new division with its own dealer network consisting solely of existing Toyota trucks but with slightly different grilles and different badges, people would think they'd gone nuts. But that's exactly what GMC is to GM. If they really want to be a lean company, they keep Chevrolet as their main brand of cars and trucks, they keep Cadillac as their luxury brand and they probably limit Buick sales to Asia. Everybody else gets the boot.
How many of those 200k vehicles that Pontiac sold went to rental fleets? Sometimes the folks at the AVIS counter give me a G6, which actually a pretty decent ride. But I would never consider buying one of these pieces of sheet.
Probably a lot (the GM average was around 25% in the middle of last year, and Pontiacs are apparently popular fleet vehicles. I read something about nearly half of all G6s were sold to rental car companies). The point, though, wasn't that Pontiac deserves to live but that GMC should also die.
My guess is GMC will be gone soon enough as well. GM needs to get down to maybe 3-4 brands at most. The stupid thing in all this is that Saturn *should* be the model brand - non-union labor, newer technology in their factories, loyalty from their customers, etc. Just build better Saturn vehicles and market them better. If I were them, I'd pick: Chevy - main line Cadillac - high end ??? - low end Saturn - specialty/fun brand Let the rest go. Good vehicles from other lines can be incorporated into any of those four.
official DETROIT — General Motors Corp. said it will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year, phase out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take company stock in exchange for half GM’s government debt as part of a major restructuring effort needed to get more government aid. The struggling automaker also said it will offer 225 shares of common stock for every $1,000 in notes held by bondholders as part of a debt-for-equity swap. The annoucements came in a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GM is living on $15.4 billion in government loans and faces a June 1 deadline to restructure and get more government money. If the restructuring doesn’t satisfy the government, the company could go into bankruptcy protection. GM said in a press release that it also will ask the government to take 50 percent of its common stock in exchange for canceling half the government loans to the company as of June 1. GM said the bond exchange would wipe away $27 billion in unsecured debt if successful. The company estimates that after the exchange, bondholders would own 10 percent of the company. In addition, GM is offering the United Auto Workers stock for at least 50 percent of the $20 billion the company must pay into a union run trust that will take over retiree health care expenses starting next year. All the stock offerings mean that current common stockholders would own only 1 percent of the company under the deals, the press release says. In premarket trading, GM shares rose 10 cents, or 5.9 percent, to $1.79.
Sweet! This is my '65 fastback, except that I had different wheels and a red interior. (can't tell what interior color this one is)
Sexy! If you are an automobile enthusiast, it is sad to see such an historic brand go under, regardless of their struggles as of late or where you stand on GM in general. Pontiac had some legendary vehicles in the past. I was really looking forward to a new Trans AM to go along with what looks to be a worthwhile new Camaro.
