The G8 auto transmission is going to also come with autostick, isnt it? May lack a clutch, but if executed successfully, could also be fun. I have a lot of "fun" shifting my transmission gate of my Charger Daytona into autostick. The manual transmission shift feels very nice (and precise), compared to say the one in my 300M. and when I just feel like crusing along, leave it in auto.

 

There's a thread here with a list of 2007 penalty payments from several makers for their sins...

 

Didn't I start a thread like this 2 years ago? And I was told to relax, that I was nuts?

The writing is on the wall, gentlemen. Unless GM steps up VERY soon and gives us something real, us Pontiac guys are screwed. Why they will invest the $$$ in Buick, when its been proven over and over that catering to a younger audience is important, I will never know.

I honestly believe this is a planned move. A few of us thought that with Saturn moving up, it would run over Pontiac. Remember, Olds was killed because it overlapped too much with Buick and Pontiac. Saturn is our new Olds...only its more successful because of less baggage. I give Pontiac 5 years of rebadges, then we're done

I've owned 8 cars throughout the years...3 Camaros (2 I still have), 2 Grand Ams, 2 Grand Prixs and a Firebird. Were it not for Camaros, I would have always been a Pontiac guy. They had swagger, they had style, and they had attitude. Despite its obvious compromises, I love driving our Comp G. My fiancee thinks I'm an idiot probably, but I drive that car like a slot car. The torque of the s/c 3800 is fun as hell, the ride is rough but the handling is awesome with the Comp G additions, and gadgets like the HUD (WHY don't more GM cars have this???) make the car even more fun. In black with tinted windows and nice aftermarket chrome ARs, it looks simply badass. The GXP, IMO, could be counted as a real GM engineering achievement...yet it went unnoticed.

The problem is this: GM has only so much marketshare, and so much money to spread around. Pontiac has the worst advertising I have ever seen. Period. Even Mazda can have a far better, more cohesive, further reaching ad campaign than Pontiac. Pontiac is an embarrassment to GM at this point, and they will squash it the way they squashed Olds.

If it sounds like I'm bitter, its because I am. Pontiac was always the car I wanted. I still miss my '01 GP GT coupe because of the style...how many cars looked that good when they came out? I love our Comp G for the reasons stated above, despite the Plasti-Crap dash. The G8 is a great car, but its gonna be a niche car, not volume-oriented. The G5 is a crappy rebadge, and the G6 was questionable 4 years ago. Its been completely overshadowed by the Aura and Malibu.

I've been b!tching that the sky was falling for a long, long time now. I have the distinct feeling that I will never replace our Comp G with another Pontiac Where we live, there is no way I'm putting my fiancee in a RWD daily driver (studded snows make the Comp G like a tank...don't start me on a tire debate, because even my winter-driven F bodies with studs were nothing like this car), and the G6 has nowhere near the interior cache of the newer offerings, or the sporty look that made me love Pontiacs since I was a little kid.

I'm with Charlie. As Pontiac enthusiasts, we're screwed. And to me, when companies like Nissan and Mazda can offer mainstream performance lineups, its pretty sad GM cannot.

 

At the risk of showing how lame I am, am I the only one here who watches old Pontiac commercials on YouTube and gets sad? Look at the marketing they used to have, and look at it now!!!

 

No, not "autostick," but flappy-paddles on the steering wheel...

 

We tend to forget that Pontiac is not a vehicle manufacturer. They simply market General Motors-built vehicles. Study a little marketing, and you see how Pontiac could indeed fill a very important niche for GM. Will they? Only GM knows.

 

Pontiac is not going anywhere. At all. Just wait until you see what's coming for E-Flex...just wait.

 

It makes sense to give Buick some compelling new models, to pursue boomers in the US who buy and lease a lot of mid-lux vehicles. Something real for Pontiac? What do you call the Solstice GXP and the G8 GT and G8 ST? Apple butter?
I can sure relate to your frustration. Pontiac and GM have made their share of mistakes, as have all the carmakers. But it seems like a lot of hand-wringing, to me, to worry about what "Saturn is doing to Pontiac" for example.
A lot of car fans are starting to run quality snow tires in the winter here in Detroit, on RWD cars. I see them on BMW's, Audi's, Fbodys, GTO's and even some FWD cars. Have you tried snows lately? They have advanced tremendously in the last few years. The Dunlop Wintersport M3's I had on my 05 GTO made it pretty much as good as my old 98 GP GTP was on its mediocre-in-snow OEM tires.

The G6 GTP is a solid car for those wanting a peppy midsize. GP GXP's are still for sale too (you sound like they are all gone and salvaged already....). Solstice is a major hit in all its variants. The G8 family (sedan, GT, ST and wagon) is coming online now and/or soon. So I just don't buy this "sky is falling" mentality. It's clear your a bonafide Pontiac fan and owner... but how about keeping a little perspective here. I can completely understand why for example, it appears according to the blogs that Pontiac is holding off on plans to make a zeta GTO. But that's the world we're in today and tradeoffs need to be made unless/until the CAFE/energy cost climate relaxes some.

Maybe we're just operating under two different philosophies. I tend to be a glass-half-full person. I see a resurgence happening at Pontiac, based on the Solstice and G8 for example. Sure they are/have been making some mistakes (the incomprehensible and weird new marketing theme on their web site for example - "Pontiac is... CAR" ) but I'll take the bad with the good and wait and see. Maybe a G8 GT, or a G8 wagon is in our family's future (not until after I get my new Camaro though ).

As for those old Pontiac ad's - I see them sometimes too. I love them - especially that one where the Trans Am eats another car

 

Dual Clutch Transmission. Volkswagen's DSG is an example of this (and one of the only examples in production), and it has been getting excellent reviews since it's introduction last year.

 

Now that is some nice stuff! Shifts in 8 ms. Crazy!

 

Nope. The G8 does have "autostick" on the console.

 

Sorry, you are absolutely right. I had Malibu on my brain...

 

Same old problem -- too many models, not enough development money or advertising.

Malibu looks awesome, but its 2008 and there should be a G6 MCE (shouldn't there?) as well as an MCE for the Cobolt/G5. Instead they're going to let these models languish and then in 2012 or whenever some amazing replacements will arrive (at which time the Malibu will be overdue).

 

Let me ask the question a different way. Should there be any life at Pontiac?

I'm not suggesting they axe the brand for obvious reasons. But what models would you really shed a tear over if they fell off the face of the earth?

Solstice. That's one. G8, that's kind of two...

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I'll throw G6 in there just because I think it has been innovative in several ways and is a step, albeit a small one, in the right direction. I think it just needs a little more attention.

G5 offers no content over Cobalt and simply reminds everyone of old GM. Kill it. Hell, if you could get hardtop Solstice with a decent trunk or hatch I would take the dangerous bet that you could probably conquer a good bit of the small car market by offering something that was fun, cheap, different and arguably, practical.

Grand Prix, makes a commendable effort, but G8 is coming, and I think the money spent on the GP would be better spend on the G8s replacement. Don't know why the Torrent isn't a GMC. If they can make a Malibu Maxx they can make a G6 wagon, or something of the sort and throw Vibe out the window.

That leaves you with three models, in six total configurations, and I'd say you have your bases covered. That doesen't step on Chevy's toes, it doesen't strangle Buick either. Why drag along a bunch of also rans when it's only sapping resources from the products that have the potential to compete? Why have a bunch of models that make it harder to respond to the market, a lot easier to do a quick restyle on three than six.

Maybe GM is getting Pontiac down to fighting weight. And maybe that's bantamweight instead of heavyweight like some people are hoping for.

 

What if Pontiac was merged with another brand? They have a very small product base as it is (I think). And GM has a few low-vehicle number brands (all really great vehicles)...why not merge them?