Pontiac

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by djinva

Beleive it or not I heard the G5 is a keeper, at according to my buddy who works at a Pontiac dealership.

I've heard the same thing, but it could all stem from the same rumor source

[Mr. Wyndham]

The G5 is...for all intents and purposes...the Cobalt. I wonder if they brought over the SS version to Pontiac, too....

And Stovt001...don't be so sure about the Cruze and a sport edition not coming together at some point.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

The G5 is...for all intents and purposes...the Cobalt. I wonder if they brought over the SS version to Pontiac, too....

Not that I can see, it would have been the G5 GXP. There is 1 engine, the 2.2L ecotec. That's it, they've even droped the 2.4L engine from the GT. If anything, they should offer the new DI 2.4L and the 2.0 turbo. Let the cobalt have the economy model and Pontiac be sporty(ish)

[Camaro_Corvette]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Not getting rid of it. They're shrinking it down to 2-3 cars, and selling them through the Buick/GMC dealer network as a niche brand. So far is seems like G8 and Solstice have made the cut...not sure if there's a third........

I'm soo happy the G8 made the cut!

[888GT#31]

^ What he said!

[BowtieGuy]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

The G5 is...for all intents and purposes...the Cobalt. I wonder if they brought over the SS version to Pontiac, too....

Look up the Pontiac G5 Pursuit. It didn't last long, but it was there.

[oldtransam]

I think Pontiac is dead... it's just a matter of when.

My cynical view is that the "niche brand" thing is only going to last until they can get more Pontiac dealers dualed up as Buick/GMC so they don't have to pay the dealers off to axe the brand. And until they can develop a Chevy fascia/trim for the G8, because that car's too good to let go. Given the likelihood that the Solstice loses money... I can't see how it would be kept around long. The rest are pretty much rebadged Chevy's, which GM has said it's trying to stop doing.

The Pontiac brand just doesn't work. The '04 - '06 GTO, and current G8, were/are pretty darn good cars. But neither sell anything close to what GM hoped. Enthusiast buyers just don't shop at Pontiac dealers anymore, at least not nearly enough of them. And GM just doesn't have the time and money to keep trying to revive the brand, IMO.

I think Pontiac as a brand has been in a slow death spiral since about 1973.

My favorite "old" cars are mostly Pontiacs, so I'm sad to see where this seems to be going....

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by oldtransam

I think Pontiac is dead... it's just a matter of when.

My cynical view is that the "niche brand" thing is only going to last until they can get more Pontiac dealers dualed up as Buick/GMC so they don't have to pay the dealers off to axe the brand. And until they can develop a Chevy fascia/trim for the G8, because that car's too good to let go. Given the likelihood that the Solstice loses money... I can't see how it would be kept around long. The rest are pretty much rebadged Chevy's, which GM has said it's trying to stop doing.

The Pontiac brand just doesn't work. The '04 - '06 GTO, and current G8, were/are pretty darn good cars. But neither sell anything close to what GM hoped. Enthusiast buyers just don't shop at Pontiac dealers anymore, at least not nearly enough of them. And GM just doesn't have the time and money to keep trying to revive the brand, IMO.

I think Pontiac as a brand has been in a slow death spiral since about 1973.

My favorite "old" cars are mostly Pontiacs, so I'm sad to see where this seems to be going....

They do have a Chevy nose for the G8, its the Chevy Lumina in the middle east.