GM dropping Pontiac

[pecha]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/bu...ef=todayspaper

DETROIT — With its history of building muscle cars like the GTO and the low-slung Firebird, Pontiac had good reason to take pride in its best-known marketing slogan from the 1980s, “We Build Excitement.”

Lately it has been using “Pontiac is CAR,” a phrase more likely to catch the attention of grammarians than car buffs.

And on Tuesday, when General Motors asked the federal government for more bailout money, it also announced a reorganization plan that included demoting Pontiac to a “focused niche brand,” signaling that its lineup of vehicles would shrink and that it would no longer be a separate division.

To industry analysts and Pontiac’s longtime fans, the downgrade provides a case study of the product missteps that helped put G.M. in its precarious state, and a reminder of the dangers in straying from a successful formula.

“When you deviate too far from it, that’s when you run into trouble as a brand and a company,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book, whose 1968 Firebird made him feel “as cool as I could be.”

More than any other G.M. brand, Pontiac stood for performance, speed and sex appeal. Its crosstown rivals followed with similar muscle cars, giving Detroit bragging rights over the cars that Japanese automakers were selling based on quality and reliability.

Though still G.M.’s third-best-selling division, behind Chevrolet and GMC, Pontiac’s sales peaked in 1984, when it sold almost 850,000 vehicles, roughly four times as many as it sold last year.

G.M.’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, said the company’s decision to concentrate primarily on Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC left the company with a “comprehensive portfolio.”

By many accounts, Pontiac started to falter when G.M. pursued a cost-saving strategy of providing the same cars to different divisions.

It gave Pontiac vehicles like the TransSport minivan, and the Sunbird, Sunfire and Phoenix cars that were barely distinguishable from models sold by Chevrolet and Oldsmobile.

Pontiac also garnered unwanted publicity in 2001 with the Aztek, whose tag line declared, “Quite possibly the most versatile vehicle on the planet.” Its bulky looks landed it on lists of the world’s ugliest cars. Indeed, Aztek won top honors in that category from The Daily Telegraph of London last year.

Pontiac’s current plight is reflected in its Vibe, a well-regarded crossover vehicle that shares underpinnings with the Toyota Matrix, as part of a joint venture between Toyota and G.M.

While the Matrix holds 67 percent of its resale value after three years, according to Kelley Blue Book, the Vibe retains just 54 percent.

The Vibe, whose future is not clear but which was redesigned for 2009, is meant to appeal to the same age group that Pontiac’s muscle cars once did.

But many younger Americans, who were not around for Pontiac’s prime period, will not miss the brand as it shrinks, said Ron Pinelli, who is president of Motorintelligence.com, a company that tracks industry statistics.

To them, he said, “it doesn’t have any cachet unless they’re watching a late-night movie with Burt Reynolds,” whose film “Smokey and the Bandit” featured the Pontiac Trans Am.

But in its best years, Pontiacs were “highly styled and valued and really something,” Mr. Pinelli said.

Known before World War II primarily for its sedate sedans, Pontiac got a lift in the 1950s when G.M. used its cars on the racing circuit. Because of its “wide track” stance, Pontiacs quickly caught on with street racers, as well.

Tim Sampson, whose family owned a yellow Pontiac Grand Prix in the 1960s, remembered the Pontiacs that were used for drag races on President’s Island, in an industrial part of Memphis. “People used to get arrested,” said Mr. Sampson, a founder of the Stax Museum of American Soul.

Italian sports cars inspired another classic Pontiac in the 1960s, when the division’s new general manager, John Z. DeLorean, decided it needed a small, fast car modeled after a Ferrari. He hit on the name GTO — after a Ferrari coupe called the Gran Turismo Omologato.

The GTO returned this decade, as part of an effort to revive Pontiac. But G.M.’s Holden division in Australia built that car.

Its appearance barely echoed the original GTO, disappointing its core audience. It lasted only from 2004 to 2006, before G.M. stopped selling them.

The most recent efforts to breathe new life into Pontiac were put into motion by G.M.’s vice chairman, Robert A. Lutz, who will retire at the end of 2009. Known in the industry for his love of high-performance vehicles, Mr. Lutz had pushed the division to return to its car heritage.

On its Web site, Pontiac explains its new slogan more fully: “Pontiac is style. Pontiac is performance. Pontiac is culture. Pontiac is music. Pontiac is CAR.”

Now, G.M. will have to determine which Pontiacs will remain Pontiacs. So far, Mr. Wagoner and other executives have not given any indication of the company’s specific plans for Pontiac.

But unlike Saturn, which will be discontinued by 2012, G.M. does not have to dismantle a dealership lineup for Pontiac. Its franchises, for the most part, already have been grouped with Buick and GMC. Any future models, G.M. said this week, will be sold through this Buick-Pontiac-GMC organization.

“We’re the third generation, and we’re the last,” said Rick Zimmerman, whose family has sold Pontiacs in Pittsfield, Ill., since the brand came to life as part of its Oakland division in the 1920s. (Pontiac became a stand-alone division in 1932.)

Mr. Zimmerman, whose first car was a GTO, said hundreds of customers used to flood his showroom each fall when new Pontiacs — like the popular Bonneville, now a retired nameplate — were unveiled.

Now, despite positive reviews about the performance of some new models like the G8, he has trouble getting his customers interested in them.

“It’s been a good name, and had a lot of good cars,” Mr. Zimmerman said. “It’s tough to see it go.”

I still want another 05 GTO

[86 IROC-Z]

It's like they're only still around for the lulz

[cammed goat]

I hope things turn around for Pontiac...I really do.

[blue02Z]

you know maybe gm should get rid of the stupid mother fuckers that have drove the company into the dirt i.e. rick wagoner. gm used to be the MMFIC but now is in dire straights of going bankrupt. could it be the sons of bitches that run the company???

[third_shift|studios]

why drop Pontiac-drop BUICK! Make more affordable Caddy's and those are your buick line. Christ, what's going to be left to appeal to the "younger speed-inspired crowd" that Pontiac is meant for?

[02transamce]

gm should be giving gmc the boot,what vehicle does gmc have that is not a rebadged chevy?gm is still making the wrong decisions,they need a management change.

[third_shift|studios]

you know maybe gm should get rid of the stupid mother fuckers that have drove the company into the dirt i.e. rick wagoner. gm used to be the MMFIC but now is in dire straights of going bankrupt. could it be the sons of bitches that run the company???

Agreed. GM shouldn't get another dime, firstly, and secondly; the money that they were given should be dictated by the grantor-we all know that GM and the other car manufactueres have no means to pay that shit back. In borrowing that money, they should relinquish decision making to the people who are trying to keep them alive.

[third_shift|studios]

gm should be giving gmc the boot,what vehicle does gmc have that is not a rebadged chevy?gm is still making the wrong decisions,they need a management change.

It costs much less to rebadge a truck, then to convert a cobalt into a g6

[02transamce]

i'm glad i work for hyundai.

[rooster99SS]

you know maybe gm should get rid of the stupid mother fuckers that have drove the company into the dirt i.e. rick wagoner. gm used to be the MMFIC but now is in dire straights of going bankrupt. could it be the sons of bitches that run the company???

I've honestly been very disappointed in GM lately. Everything they build these days sucks! They killed the cars we loved, and everything they throw at us now is boring and copied off of other brands. As much of a GM fanatic as I am, if they don't turn things around and get rid of the morons running that goddamn company, they deserve to go under IMO

why drop Pontiac-drop BUICK! Make more affordable Caddy's and those are your buick line. Christ, what's going to be left to appeal to the "younger speed-inspired crowd" that Pontiac is meant for?

no shit! That would be a very smart decision, which is why they won't make it

[blue02Z]

It costs much less to rebadge a truck, then to convert a cobalt into a g6

you mean g5

[blue02Z]

i'm glad i work for hyundai.

hyundai rhymes with sunday!!!!!

[02transamce]

yeah,and monday,tuesday,and anything else ending in day.that commercial was good until the hyundai like sunday part.genesis is one seriously good car.

[Y2KPewterSS]

Whats the 2011 new Firebird gonna look like?

[310stanger]

I agree with the drop GMC, they are just redundant overpriced chevy trucks. Same shit just different badge. GET RID OF Buick is a useless division, they already have cadillac for luxury. what sense is their in selling a product like Buick that only appears to such a narrow demographic. This very demographic that puts on about 500 miles a year on their cars anyways. Theres no point in innovative buick product line.

[02transamce]

^ +1.buick is a lot like lincoln-mercury,they (ford and gm)are scared to do away with them because of the old folks that like these brands.mercury only has one vehicle that sells well(grand marquis)and lincoln just recently added modern cars to their lineup.

[SouthernBornThriller]

Dropping Pontiac before Buick was a PR decision, methinks. Sporty brand before "mature folk who cant afford a Caddy" brand. Buick will likely be gone soon enough, especially since Saturn got axed.

I agree with dropping GMC as well. Or at least drop the Silverado and Colorado from Chevy's lineup. No sense in putting the exact same truck on two lots..

The real question is though....WTF is SAAB still around??

[02transamce]

saab,why did gm but them?i understand ford buying volvo,but what does saab bring to the table?

[blue02Z]

Dropping Pontiac before Buick was a PR decision, methinks. Sporty brand before "mature folk who cant afford a Caddy" brand. Buick will likely be gone soon enough, especially since Saturn got axed.

I agree with dropping GMC as well. Or at least drop the Silverado and Colorado from Chevy's lineup. No sense in putting the exact same truck on two lots..

The real question is though....WTF is SAAB still around??

no way drop the silverado!!! WTF are you thinking? unless you mean sierra vs. silverado silverado is the premier work truck. countless oilfield companys buy them in fleet to do the nasty work cuz ford will break

[blue02Z]

saab,why did gm but them?i understand ford buying volvo,but what does saab bring to the table?

born from jets, duh!