Why is GM thinking of discontinuing Pontiac?

Question

Are they really thinking about this?
And they are going to keep Buick? lol
Pontiacs are one of Gms best looking cars!

Answer 1

General Motors dealership network will suffer. They want to eliminate 1,700 dealers. GM plans to eliminate Pontiac Buick and Hummer sell Saab Saturn. Why make 20 different unpopular cars that are a drain on company finances. I expect to see Chevorlet And Cadillac the only two to be left. Styling Studio has really lost lot's designers. We are in for a long hard economic ride.

Answer 2

This is a very instructive question. You can see that much of these answers is the same stuff that people are saying on TV, and pretty much all wrong. People are just parroting non-information to each other.



Here's the reality: Pontiac is a big division, but they sell no trucks at all. Pontiac product development was combined with Buick and Olds back in the 1980's. They mostly badge engineered with Buick and Olds from then until the G6. It would seem stupid, to me, to say that Pontiac's problem is they sell Badge engineered Chevrolets. There was not much connection between their 3 main cars and Chevrolet, over the last 15 years or so. Complain all you want about badge engineering, but remember they sold a lot of cars. By definition, badge engineering is okay if you sell 200,000 of something.



So what's going on? This is my opinion:



What has actually happened to Pontiac is that GM management doesn't like Pontiac. They admit it to some degree. During the runup to the new Camaro, whenever Lutz was peppered with requests for a Firebird, he always responded with something that decoded to "I hate Firebirds - I don't want to do that"



They decided, some time ago, to develop products for Cadillac. They cannot afford to ignore Chevy, so they get new products too. Pontiac has to take scraps. This is an obvious corporate strategy. Starting with the G6, Pontiac now has to take Chevy-based stuff to fill the gaps created by lack of development. Pontiac does not have sufficient product development effort going into it to stay the size it was, which was huge, so it's shrinking. This is all just a matter of recent management priorities.



I have no idea what they'll be allowed to have in the future. I think the Solstice is great. I don't dislike the G6 at all, especially the retractable. That's a pretty distinctive product. I think the Australian cars are a great idea. Pontiac can get some good stuff easily from Australia, and it'll all be rear drive. They way they're built is just great. I'll take as many of those products as they'll let us have.



The G3, I can do without. The Vibe is a Toyota.



All you guys that brought up the Aztec, what was the Chevy version of that? Yuck. Distinctive is not always good.

Answer 3

GM is NOT cutting out Pontiac. They're making it their niche brand. And they'll be sold through their Buick-GMC-Cadillac dealers. To avoid selling everything similar to Chevy, as they have for the past decades, Pontiac will now build and sell only specialty cars, like the new G8/truck variant, the Solstice and a revised GTO. It will be mostly high performance cars.



This is something they should have done ages ago. It will be the best thing for Pontiac and GM and make the car line profitable again.



NOTE: Rick Waggoner, CEO of GM, told congress yesterday that it will either sell or discontinue Hummer and Saturn. It will sell Saab. Pontiac will become a niche brand focusing on sport and high performance models. They will buy out or close unprofitable dealers. They will discontinue slow selling models such as the Trailblazer. And all managers will take a cut in pay up to 20%.



So Pontiac is still alive and well.

Answer 4

Well, here are a few reasons:



1. The Pontiac line has 3 entries on Consumer Reports' 2008 list of the Worst of the Worst.



2. The Pontiac line has 32 entries on Consumer Reports' 2008 list of Used Cars to Avoid, making it the GM's worst line when account is taken of the number of its offerings.



3. The Pontiac line has 5 entries on AutoOnInfo.net's list of Automobiles with Worst Engine Reliability.



4. The Pontiac line has 6 entries on AutoOnInfo.net's list of Automobiles with Worst Transmission Reliability.



5. The Pontiac line has 3 entries on AutoOnInfo.net's list of the Worst Automobiles of 2008.



6. The Pontiac line has 4 entries on AutoOnInfo.net's list of the Worst Automobiles of 2009.



7. The Pontiac line is within the Worst 5 by the Composite Reliability Average.

Answer 5

First I owned a Cadillac Cimarron then GM Discontinued, Then I bought an Oldsmoblie, GM discontinued Now I was considering the Pontiac convertable and the whole company might go under, no thanks I think I will check out the VW's

Answer 6

Pontiacs are just chevy's with a new grill on them...

they save money this way, but lose loyalty to the brand...means GM cares so little about Pontiac that they just chuck crap from Chevy over to them in hopes of making an extra buck or 2.



Ditch the extra fat...lose Pontiac and Buick...stick with Chevy/Saturn/Cadillac



Works for Toyota pretty well...have a luxury brand, a "youth" brand, and your regular brand...*shrugs*

Answer 7

By eliminating another styling group - remember, most GM vehicles are simply dressed up Chevrolets - GM can cut more overhead and reduce the costs of manufacturing. They won't need to stamp out different panels, offer the variety, or make so many variations; eliminating that saves money.

Answer 8

I THINK GM SHOULD JUST GO OUT OF BUISNESS PERIOD.... I LOVE THE LOOK OF PONTIACS.... BUT THE TRUTH IS... GM MAKES THESE CARS TO BREAK... THE ORANGE DEX-COOL COOLANT EATS YOUR GASKETS..HOSES...ETC.... NOT PUTTING TRANSMISSION DIP STICKS IN.... I MEAN COME ON.... ABSOLUTELY REDICULOUS.. I'VE HAD A GRAND AM.....AND AFTE THAT CAR..WILL NEVER BUY A GM EVER AGAIN... I'VE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE BOUGHT MYSELF A MERCEDES CLK CLASS...AND I'VE HAD IT FOR 3 YEARS....AND ALL I'VE HAD TO DO IS REGUALR OIL CHANGES.... :-)

I STILL TINK PONTIACS LOOK REALLY COOL AND SPORTY... BUT THEY DONT LAST

Answer 9

Buick's sell great in China, huge growing market, they are some of the most popular cars there. Pontiac's are struggling to sell everywhere they are the top nowhere.

Answer 10

they don't really sell that well, and nothing there is unique to pontiac other than the G8 and the Vibe, both of which could easily be moved over to Chevy or Saturn...

Answer 11

Cause pontiac doesn't set the class for the competition, they just humbly follow, and they deserve what they get for not making any decent cars that carry some competition. Also, remember AZTEC p.o.s. !!!!

Answer 12

GM is about to go under...they may not be making any cars soon.

Answer 13

Because china is buying them like hot cakes.Why?? They have Honda the best made cars on the planet. Pontiac SUCK I had 2 of them and all they are good for is to keep the shop busy.

Answer 14

if you think gm is just discontueing pontiac your very wrong.gm is considering selling off vw,saab,and more

Answer 15

"Pontiac" sounds like "pon yak"...the name itself won't fly not to mention any further in details....piece of junk...

Answer 16

they have realised the error of there ways

Answer 17

They do not sell many, remember the Aztec.

Answer 18

They are crappy.