Pontiac, The Excitement Division of GM, was killed on this day in 2009, by its mother. Remember? The economy was down but just beginning to recover, as it turned out. GM and Chrysler were going bankrupt. Ford was selling off its assets to stay afloat. Car magazines were disappearing. Gas was about four bucks a gallon and TV shows were predicting it would go to maybe eight? Barack Obama was just getting going on his first term. You just never know how these things will turn out. Hey, if you still have a Pontiac, take it for a spin today.
I was wondering yesterday, why would gm kill their number 3 seller yet keep cadillac which stayed at the bottom and i belive mostly bankrupt?
NickD
Dork
4/27/16 10:34 a.m.
Still pissed that GM killed off Pontiac. Cadillac was and still is a terrible brand (A lot of complicated unreliable junk in the lineup, I know I work on them). And GMC is totally redundant.
I'll make sure to hug my Trans Am when I get home. 
My wife, who generally has no opinion on cars, hates pontiac's with a passion. My grandfather was a pontiac mechanic for over 50 years. He believed in Pontiac's superiority over all cars. Good thing they never met.
This reminds me of a quote from an older professor I had in college. "There are 2 kinds of drivers that scare me: old guys in Buicks and young guys in Pontiacs."
A bit more detailed and less sensational information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Chapter_11_reorganization
Javelin
MegaDork
4/27/16 11:10 a.m.
It was pretty simple, really. The Feds gave GM an ultimatum on killing off brands to get the bailout on a silver platter. Some were easy (Saturn, Hummer) but when it came down to it, Cadillac and GMC had too high a profit margin to kill, and Buick is the E36M3 in China, so Pontiac had to go. Nobody ever accused GM of being smart.
Javelin is spot on. I think that's the reason Buick survived but Pontiac didn't. Buick is a lost brand here (though some of their newer stuff is pretty nice), but it's a huge cash cow in China. By the end, Pontiac had long lost its' sporty edge, but I still always liked them. Our Bonneville SSEi was a hell of a cruiser.
What had Pontiac made in recent years, that wasn't available in another brand, that justified them staying around?
The gto?
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
What had Pontiac made in recent years, that wasn't available in another brand, that justified them staying around?
The gto?
GTO and G8 are the 2 big ones I can think of.
In reply to Fueled by Caffeine:
GTO, G8, solstice coupe. Not to mention that the Pontiac version of the same stuff you could get from lesser divisions was simply better.
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: solstice coupe.
Also known as the Saturn Sky.
rslifkin wrote:
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
What had Pontiac made in recent years, that wasn't available in another brand, that justified them staying around?
The gto?
GTO and G8 are the 2 big ones I can think of.
Those are the two I'm thinking of and they were just rebadged Aussie cars. I just feel like there wasn't enough justification to keep them around.
EDT
New Reader
4/27/16 11:33 a.m.
rslifkin wrote:
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: solstice coupe.
Also known as the Saturn Sky.
They never made a Sky coupe from the factory.
Javelin
MegaDork
4/27/16 11:43 a.m.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
What had Buick made in recent years, that wasn't available in another brand, that justified them staying around?
The LaCrosse?
FTFY
Honestly, you could substitute any GM brand in that statement. They were all E36 M3 in 2009. Uncle Sam should have let the bastards fold.
Javelin wrote:
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
What had Buick made in recent years, that wasn't available in another brand, that justified them staying around?
The LaCrosse?
FTFY
Honestly, you could substitute any GM brand in that statement. They were all E36 M3 in 2009. Uncle Sam should have let the bastards fold.
20/20 hindsight.... wish they had let some of those banks fold too....
EDT wrote:
rslifkin wrote:
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: solstice coupe.
Also known as the Saturn Sky.
They never made a Sky coupe from the factory.
And they made about 6 Solstice coupes. Not enough to make a difference.
Knurled
MegaDork
4/27/16 12:18 p.m.
chiodos wrote:
I was wondering yesterday, why would gm kill their number 3 seller yet keep cadillac which stayed at the bottom and i belive mostly bankrupt?
They were in the midst of repositioning Cadillac, and they needed Buick for the Chinese market since Buick is to them what Mercedes is to us. The only vehicles that made Pontiac unique were duds, and the rest were Chevy me-toos.
oldeskewltoy wrote:
Javelin wrote:
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
What had Buick made in recent years, that wasn't available in another brand, that justified them staying around?
The LaCrosse?
FTFY
Honestly, you could substitute any GM brand in that statement. They were all E36 M3 in 2009. Uncle Sam should have let the bastards fold.
20/20 hindsight.... wish they had let some of those banks fold too....
in hindsight, I'm glad they stayed. Saved us, too.
BTW, it's interesting the want to punish so many for the deeds of so few.
Sucks that Pontiac and Mercury are gone.... But for Mercury- they had no identification. Not that Lincoln does, other than higher profit margins.
Tom_Spangler wrote:
EDT wrote:
rslifkin wrote:
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: solstice coupe.
Also known as the Saturn Sky.
They never made a Sky coupe from the factory.
And they made about 6 Solstice coupes. Not enough to make a difference.
I'm still more cross over Saturn getting the big ugly axe.....but the final throws of that division at least yielded some of the rarest GM vehicles produced in the last 30 years. Damn shame they never marketed the Ion Redline very much.
WOW Really Paul? wrote:
Damn shame they never marketed the Ion Redline very much.
They did. Just with Chevy badges on it (Cobalt SS).
My buddy that owns both an 05 GTO and a 3rd gen 'Bird is stopping by for dinner and beers tonight. We'll make sure to have one for those poor, orphaned screaming chickens left behind.
Tom_Spangler wrote:
EDT wrote:
rslifkin wrote:
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: solstice coupe.
Also known as the Saturn Sky.
They never made a Sky coupe from the factory.
And they made about 6 Solstice coupes. Not enough to make a difference.
That wasn't the question that was asked. I answered the question as it was asked. And the sky was a freaking ugly afterthought.
