I found this blog on cardomain.com. I would like to hear your guys thoughts. http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/01/16...e-for-pontiac/


While I was in Detroit, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Susan Docherty, General Motors Vice President for Marketing at Buick, Pontiac and GMC. I mostly just wanted to talk about Pontiac. First of all, there is no plan for a Firebird. Sorry guys! Susan said that they are looking to focus the brand down to few models, much the way they took the Buick brand from eight to three models. So how many models will Pontiac end up with (from the current six, which incudes the new G3—basically a rebadged Aveo)? “Less than six,” is all Susan would commit to.

In our discussion Susan seemed to really focus in on the G8, the Solstice and the Vibe. Now, those are three very different vehicles, and to me, make for a somewhat confused brand image. The only one that really screams Pontiac to me is the G8. I like the Solstice, but it doesn’t really fit my idea of what Pontiac should be. And the Vibe seems more pratical than exciting. If it was up to me, I’d love to see a RWD G6, a Firebird, the G8, a two-door G8 with the GTO nameplate, and maybe a super hot hatch. But what do I know? It’s clear that the next year or two will be rocky for Pontiac. Susan emphasized that plans for the Pontiac brand have not been finalized. So stay tuned, and let your voice be heard.

 

GM has yet to demonstrate the focus and consistency necessary for the long term survival of this brand.

 

Pontiac needs to be a rear-wheel driven brand of well designed and efficient vehicles. Knocking it down to less than a hand full of vehicles leaves no excuse to making the brand what GM lacks.

 

Wouldn't that be nice. But I think it's pretty clear it's not going to happen that way.

I do think the Solstice makes for a good Pontiac, and it's just the type of vehicle that would get lost at a Chevy dealer. The G8 is a nice counterpoint to the new Buick LaCrosse.

 

Unfortunately i think GM has no intention of doing whats necessary for this brand. It either can't do it, or just doesn't want to.

Either way, it's all bad for the brand.

A agreeable line up would be G8 (rename), some RWD G6 (rename) coupe and sedan and the solstice. Done.


Blow up the majority of the Pontiac dealerships too.

 

Niche...G8 and Solstice fit that description very well...but the Vibe?
I think that'd be a better...I dunno...Buick or GMC. It'd make a GREAT Chevy, imo...but there's already too many cars in that brand's showroom, and the Orlando is up-and-coming.

Another route...might be to just make Pontiac a G8-variant only brand. G8 ST, G8 Sportwagon, and G8 Sedan. Now that's niche.

At least they're doing something instead of letting the brand rot. (G3...seriously?)

 

maybe Fiat can buy the Pontiac name from GM and sell decontented re-fascia'd Alfas as Pontiacs through Chrysler showrooms. would be 10000 times better than GM's plans.

 

anyone who thought the Firebird was coming back is clearly delusional to start with.

I think the Solstice suits Pontiac very well...but it's a very low volume car whose days are numbered.

 

A smaller Pontiac should be:

G8-Malibu sized RWD sedan/coupe
Solstice coupe/convertable
Very sporty Delta II coupe (think mini Trans am/GTO)
Pontiac Astra

 

There's only hope for Pontiac if you are a fan of the Vibe.

 

We all have a dream of what Pontiac should be, or what GM should do with Pontiac. Realistically, G8, Solstice, and the Vibe or it's successor are the only ones secure.

The G8 will continue, and there is (at present) as close to certainty as one can get with GM that the G8 will continue when Holden brings out the next gen Commodore. It's essentially a free car for GM, and with exchange rates back in alignment between the US and Australian dollars, GM is making substantial money on each one sold. That makes it immune to losses at low sales numbers.

Continuing the Solstice also is an all-but-certainty as well. Although a Kappa-II program has been killed, the current Solstice is already an exceptional (and dirt cheap) chassis. It's become a strong image car for Pontiac every bit as Corvette has become, and has a strong fan base/cult following. To top it off, if the Saturn does cease to exist, Solstice is the only Kappa sports car left.

Meawhile, the Vibe is barely more than a restyled Toyota Matrix, so again, it costs little. It also is the 2nd best selling Pontiac. If that's not enough, the Vibe has seen it's sales jump 25% last year.

Both the G5 and G3 are certainly toast as is the Torerent.

The only Pontiac whose future GM is debating is the G6. After Impala, Cobalt, & Malibu (in that order), the G6 is GM's best selling car. Last year, the sum of everything sold with a Buick name, from Lacrosse to Enclave to Lucerne, all combined sold 137,197. The G6 alone last year sold 140,240.

To me there should be no debate at all. The new Lacrosse is nice, and since China did the car for their market so it's not exactly a high cost to GM-NA. But it's clearly upmarket from the G6...it's even upmarket from the last Lacrosse. The G6 would clearly fit in below Lacrosse, and be the volume car leader at BPG. GM already had DI V6 and/turbos in their global FWD engine arsenal to give some teeth to the car (which is already pretty quick).

 

And there was much rejoicing from GM and Pontiac fans. Dealers will probably complain about not having cheap and/or high mileage cars to sell....

I wonder how many G6s sold at retail? And does GM make money on the fleet models? And does the total profit justify the expense of developing separate sheetmetal, brand image, etc.?

I can see why GM would be struggling with this one.

 

I thought the Solstice was outrageously expensive to produce?

 

The Insignia based Regal will fit in below the LaCrosse, and I imagine for all practical purposes the Regal replaces the G6.

 

No way a G6 buyer trades it in for a LaCrosse...no way no how. They will get an Altima or Mazda6. The only reason Pontiac is in the hole it is...is because GM has given the customers away rather than trying.