Pontiac to die on Monday

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So the dealer network want to buy Pontiac but GM says no.

Autoblog
Pontiac dealer offers to buy brand, GM says "Not For Sale"
Davison, MI, Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealer Jim Waldron isn't ready to give up on the Pontiac brand just yet. During a local news program on Flint ABC affiliate WJRT-12, Waldron revealed that he had made an offer to General Motors to buy Pontiac. Earlier in the week, GM announced that the Pontiac brand would be shut down no later than the end of 2010.

However, GM VP for North American Communications, Tom Pyden, later told the station that no deal would happen since the brand is not for sale. The latest viability plan put forward by the automaker makes no provision for spinning off Pontiac like it does with Hummer and Saturn.

However, if someone offers cash for Pontiac, it seems hard to imagine GM turning a blind eye to the deal. This would be especially true if the potential buyer offered to take over some closed factories to use for manufacturing, as Waldron intends to do. However, it's even harder to imagine that Waldron could make a going concern of a stand-alone Pontiac.
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Why doesn't GM want the cash? I mean worse case scenario it doesn't work and the dealer network folds.
 
GM obviously wants to keep the brand and I am glad.
 
YSSMAN
Blame the product planners at GM. At least they've made a worthwhile effort at Buick to build good cars at a fair price (again).
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While I don't see a problem with Buick's cars, I don't see where there is any demand from someone who isn't 50+. I've never heard somebody talk about being excited about a new Buick.
 
Maybe Buick is going after a younger audience now compared to years past? We are getting all those Opels here, which indicates that they are trying to appeal to a bigger market.

I'm guessing GM has plans to do something with Pontiac, or something that Pontiac has, which would be a good reason to not have them for sale, even if cash was offered. And that would be good news most likely. It'll be interesting to see what becomes of that.
 
Philly
Maybe Buick is going after a younger audience now compared to years past? We are getting all those Opels here, which indicates that they are trying to appeal to a bigger market.
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Your assessment is correct, GM is attempting to make Buick more appealing to younger, more or less middle-aged folk. The sleek lines, more modern technology, and strangely lower prices are attempting to draw in more 30-somethings than before. While I may be a GM whore, I particularly like the new LaCrosse in terms of look and performance.

I'm guessing GM has plans to do something with Pontiac, or something that Pontiac has, which would be a good reason to not have them for sale, even if cash was offered.
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More likely than not, Pontiac will disappear for a few years, and then come back to life (again) as a niche product line. That's my guess, probably selling hyped-up and re-dressed Buicks, and maybe a few of the "good" Chevrolets.
 
YSSMAN
More likely than not, Pontiac will disappear for a few years, and then come back to life (again) as a niche product line. That's my guess, probably selling hyped-up and re-dressed Buicks, and maybe a few of the "good" Chevrolets.
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I don't know why they wouldn't. Pontiac is a brand that can easily be successful. If you want proof, look at all the Grands Prix around, or count the number of Pontiacs in any parking lot at your college. It is definitely something that will make GM a lot of money when the economy turns good again.
 
Yes, you see a lot of older Pontiac's. Sales of used Pontiac's don't make GM any money. Even before the economy went down the crapper I hardly saw any new Pontiac's(I've only seen maybe 6 G6's and 2 G8's a few Torrents and a few Vibe's), they were all old ones that people had bought used. If they come back GM will have to make the new product desirable again, not just cheesy re-badged Chevrolet's.
 
Pontiac should be sold to someone who knows what to do with it--go back to making "Driving Excitement". I vote for BMW or VAG to buy them out so they can do some cool stuff.
If GM keeps Pontiac and decides to bring it back out later if a true American GTO or Firebird/Trans-Am isn't the launch vehicle that will = epic fail.
 
It's official, Pontiac is no longer fly like a G6.

Autoblog
Finally Official: Pontiac is dead
Pontiac has been dead for some time now, at least from a manufacturing point of view. The Vibe was the last vehicle to roll of a Pontiac assembly line, marking the end of new car production for the brand in August of 2009. However, the former automaker has been stuttering and mumbling to itself while lying in its death bed. After all, new cars still needed homes and buyers eventually ponied up dough for the keys to the ghostly souls of a marque that once built the king of muscle cars: the GTO. Now, though, the very last new Pontiacs have been sold and the brand is completely, officially, no-doubt-about-it dead.

In an act of lunacy mercy, retired police officer Ed Dieffenbach drove over 1,100 miles to trade in his Chevrolet Silverado on one of the last Pontiac Solstice Coupes left in the country. Driving from Miami to northern Florida, Mr. Dieffenbach helped put an end to the brand's suffering while also putting a somewhat stylish two-door in his driveway. We're sure he'll have years of fun with the Solstice, as long as he doesn't need to use the cup holder... or stow the roof... or look back.
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I had a friend toying with the idea of buying that model just to store away. You know those things will be worth money in a few years, flaws and all.

Goodbye, purveyor of ribbed-for-her-displeasure automobiles.
 
That's kinda what I was thinking after I read it, but then I thought about it and looked on Google Maps. Miami to Pensacola is like 700 miles, so they are probably talking round trip.
 
Joey D
That's kinda what I was thinking after I read it, but then I thought about it and looked on Google Maps. Miami to Pensacola is like 700 miles, so they are probably talking round trip.
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Oh of course. Round trip makes sence.
 
IMHO, their last awesome car was WS6 Trans Am.. the one with those cool ram-air snouts. Made it look like big bad wolf.. Some day, if I just can afford it before fossil fuels run out, I'll buy one.
 
The last Pontiac Solstice Coupe is a fairly fitting end to the "Excitement" brand. The only way it could have been done better would have been with the G8 GXP. Thankfully, they disappeared early on.

It's a shame, all of it. They could have left Pontiac as an extreme niche brand, sold through Chevrolet dealers. One day, I hope they bring it back.
 

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