Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close

Official: Saturn is Dead, Pontiac is a Ghost

Blake Noble

By Blake Noble
in General Motors

 Share

Recommended Posts

CaddyXLR-V Newbie

CaddyXLR-V

Posted
Posted
Simple...

1) GM is a global company and is structuring itself as such. The major growth in our lifetimes will come from China and India. The US is a mature market, and probably -- unfortunately (I hope I'm wrong) a shrinking market for GM. Buick has a global presence that saved it's ass. Pontiac does not AND Pontiac basically duplicates Chevrolet in the market unless it's a nice performance brand (which I hope GM fulfills it's promise of) So instead of 3 divisions fighting for the volume seller spot (Saturn, Chevrolet and Pontiac) GM has (naturally) given Chevy the nod, killed Saturn (because it's the easiest to kill) and reduced Pontiac to hopefully something very promising.

2) GM isn't worried about share anymore. If it can sell 2 Buicks for every 4 Pontiacs it sold and sell them at a better ROI (profit point; READ: not to fleet) then mission accomplished. The current Opels are too upscale to be passed off as Pontiacs (save for the Astra) without decontenting the hell out of them. If GM tried that, it would lose sales and lose it's ass profit-wise. GM previously believed that the Opels were too sporty to be Buicks. These factors made the Opel-Saturn marriage a perfect fit. But with the dire straights the company is in now, and Saturns failure to sell the cars (even though that was more the fault of GM as a whole) that makes Buick the new dancing partner. (which is a complete reversal of the 2005 plan) I'd say the performance of the Enclave raised a few eyebrows in the RenCen as well and saved Buick from death.

I just hope this plan works... Chevrolet and Cadillac (if it gets product) will both be fine and I think Buick has huge potential given certain aspects of the brands image. However, if GM f*cks the marketing up like they typically do, I don't see Buick lasting long. I also think that GM needs to give Pontiac a very focused line up that will begin to rebuild the image of the division AND I think that Saab should be retained and allowed to operate independently, concentrate on increasing it's global pressence and make america a high 2nd priority. (i.e. Sell well here, but grow big where you're strengths are)

That's ok then. I'll be happy buying somewhere else. I'll never buy a Buick, and now that Pontiac is going away, I'll never buy a GM. I bought one Chevy, and only because I couldn't afford the Pontiac I wanted at the time. Goodbye GM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 249
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

gm4life Newbie

gm4life

Posted
Posted
That's ok then. I'll be happy buying somewhere else. I'll never buy a Buick, and now that Pontiac is going away, I'll never buy a GM. I bought one Chevy, and only because I couldn't afford the Pontiac I wanted at the time. Goodbye GM.

Don't count Pontiac dead yet. After all if the market gets good again that could be good for Pontiac.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Intrepidation

Intrepidation

Posted
Posted
Don't count Pontiac dead yet. After all if the market gets good again that could be good for Pontiac.

You're being hopelessly optimistic my friend. GM will cut Pontiac's models down two or three at best, and I suspect will phase the brand out over time. The writing has been on the walls for a while now. With Lutz gone, there's no car-guy near the top who can push to keep Pontiac going anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Satty Newbie

Satty

Posted
Posted (edited)

Pontiac will get one or two models, become even less relevant than it is now (I assume thats possible) and be dead by 2020. Saturn had a definition, a direction, GM just messed with it. Pontiac has been rebadging Chevrolets for 30 years.

EXCITEMENT!!!!!!! anyone?

2009-Pontiac-Wave-001.JPG

Edited by Satty
Link to comment
Share on other sites
vonVeezelsnider Newbie

vonVeezelsnider

Posted
Posted
This is so much EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!! that your heart might explode!

96transportse.jpg

To be fair we had one of those vans and it was good to us...

This is how I see things looking after the restructure

CHEVY

-Spark/Aveo

-Cruze

-Malibu SWB Ep II

-Impala LWB Ep II

-Orlando

-Traverse

-Equinox

-Volt

-Silverado

-Colorado

-Suburban

-Camaro

-Express

PONTIAC

-G8

-Solstice

BUICK

-Astra

-Regal (Insignia)

-LaCrosse

-Enclave

-Possibly a TE Crossover

GMC

-Sierra

-Acadia

-Yukon (XL model Only)

-Savana

-Terrain

CADILLAC

-Converj

-BTS

-CTS

-DT7

-SRX

-Escalade

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robert Hall Veteran

Robert Hall

Posted
Posted
A vehicle so EXCITING, they couldn't even sell it in the United States!

2716843785_552b8712cd.jpg

Whoa!!! What is that?? Never seen of one of those...tt's a Canadian version of the Chevy Spectrum? I was familiar with the Firefly and Tempest, but not this...incredible!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Satty Newbie

Satty

Posted
Posted

We could probably start a "Pontiac is EXCITEMENT!!!!!!! thread, but then somone would ruin it by posting a Trans Am, which I would point out is nothing more than a Camaro with a bunch of plastic tacked on, which others would disagree with and it would quit being fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ZL-1 Newbie

ZL-1

Posted
Posted
Those had better be lols of EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!, mister!

You betcha, man! I feel nothing but EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!! when I think about random people running around Chevy clay models with forks in their hands to design those EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!! ribbed cladding body panels!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Robert Hall Veteran

Robert Hall

Posted
Posted
You betcha, man! I feel nothing but EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!!! when I think about random people running around Chevy clay models with forks in their hands to design those EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!! ribbed cladding body panels!!!!

Mmmmm...ribbed for your pleasure and excitement.

My car has gray ribbed cladding on the lower body, but a giant trapazoidal grille and a 3 pointed star hood ornament. 4800lbs, 121 inch wheelbase, 177k miles of gas guzzling V8 Teutonic commuter car...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
David Grand Master

David

Posted
Posted
Why doesn't the passenger get to have their groinal area ventilated? That's like, the polar opposite of EXCITEMENT.

That is cause the woman does not like them, Only men drive EXCITEMENT!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search

Change privacy settings