RIP Pontiac 1926 – 2010
General Motors will announce today the end of the Pontiac brand. As part of their restructuring, they will kill off the “we build excitement” nameplate.
“Two people briefed on GM’s plan confirmed that it includes the demise of Trans Am sports car brand Pontiac, 83 years after the first Pontiac car was introduced.”
Could it be that the Trans Am (the car that Pontiac was so famous for) hasn’t been manufactured in years? Pontiac lost its “excitement” years ago. They dumped the cars people loved like the Firebird and, instead, focused on producing vehicles like the Aztec, Vibe, and G6. They might as well changed their slogan to “we build borring”.
“Efforts in the last few years to market Pontiac as performance-oriented brand failed.”
That’s because their definition of “performance” was cramming 6.0L V8 engines into family cars with drab styling. While this trick worked in the 60′s, today’s consumers expect more. To start, it’s hard to sell big block gas guzzlers during a time when fuel prices are soaring. If you are trying to sell a muscle car, it helps to make it stylish and desirable. Instead, the GTO looked like a rehash of an old Chevy Cavalier and the G8 looked like a grocery getter. It’s almost like GM wasn’t trying anymore. If they were, they couldn’t figure out that the definition of “exciting cars” is constantly changing and you have to adapt to meet market demands.
In the state Pontiac has been in the last few years, the world won’t miss the brand much. However, it is rather perplexing that GM is keeping other “boring” brands like Buick and GMC and dumping what has traditionally been more popular brands like Saturn. Doesn’t give you much faith in GM’s restructuring plans.
Here is a tribute to the exciting Pontiac we choose to remember:
- 1965 GTO “Tiger”
- 1967 Firebird
- 1969 GTO “Judge”
- 1980 Trans Am
- 1985 Fiero
- 1998 Trans Am
- More Trans Am
Rest in peace Pontiac!
