[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by rbuzz00

I found an interesting advertisement on the inside of the rear cover of my May/June issue of Car and Driver that brings up more questions than it does answers. The headline is "Make Some Noise...Pontiac Is Back".

It starts off by mentioning that it's been 15 years since Pontiac left and says "America needs us. The future needs us. So Pontiac is back."

It then goes on to say they will first come out with a hybrid system using a battery and electric motor to start a 667-hp-supercharged 372-cubic-inch V-8.

It goes on to say that Pontiac is here to offer a future filled with V-8s, great sounds, gold pinstripe, and window louvers. A V-8 and great sounds sounds great, but I'm not so sure about gold pinstripes and window louvers. Well, maybe to real Pontiac fanatics. It's hard to follow the hidden meaning of all that, but that last part seems to insinuate that something like a Trans Am may be coming.

Nowhere on the ad is there any GM emblem, or the mention of GM, and there is a weird little disclaimer at the bottom of the ad: "Do you need to be told that this advertisement is fake and not to be taken seriously? Our lawyers think you do."

So is Pontiac coming back, or is this just a fake advertisement meant to gauge the interest of GM possible bringing back the iconic Pontiac brand? Or could it be something from one of the manufacturers of clones of various Pontiac models? Like I said, it brings up more questions than it supplies answers.

Surely GM wouldn't be foolish enough to cancel the Camaro only to bring back Pontiac, which would mean that the Trans Am would eventually return.
Performance cars are losing to SUVs as far as sales go, so why would GM reinvent a performance oriented division? What about the switch to EVs? And what could Pontiac bring out that already isn't available with the Chevy brand? Like I said, lots of questions but no answers.

So what do you think? Is this ad just checking for interest in the return of Pontiac, or is it fake, or what?

Bringing us back on topic. Especially since I played more than a minor part in spinning us way off topic. What would be the business reason for bringing Pontiac back?

• High demand for moderately priced performance vehicles? Nope. Camaro, Challenger, Charger and 300 are gone. Mustang is still standing but sales have dropped year over year despite having no competition. There is simply not enough demand for performance vehicles to revive an entire brand and support all the expense involved in that.
• A brand to keep the sedan alive? Nope. Malibu just got dropped. Sedans in general are losing volume to compact and mid-size crossover utilities.

There is not a logical business reason to revive Pontiac. Especially if whatever comes out of a Pontiac brand only serves to “borrow” sales from Chevrolet.