It's Official, Pontiac Dead at end of 2010!

[duckSol]

Some people just don't get it,

Break even is not ROBUST!

I am subtle and vague for a reason, to make you think!

Building Buick's and bastard models is not viable!
The number of badged models could have been reduced even more by eliminating cross-branding.

And thanks Chief for the information and the Mods for allowing it to stay

This is not a viability plan, it is a RAT BAG sack lunch!

[Koobie]

Accountants crunch the #s and what is cheaper to dispose of and how much each car makes. Buick's are produced in lower volume and people (although very few) pay higher prices for them. They need to really revamp Buick in the US, because their customer base is dying off.

[AeroDave]

I guess this means it goes back to the way it was, with Mazda having the affordable roadster market all to itself. I really hate the new happy, smiley cartoon Miata.

[rick112]

This is really a sad day. All that history. Being a Sky owner I was hoping the Kappa would be safe and that perhaps (I can dream) the Sky would have been rebranded as a Chev. Well this announcement brings an end to that dream.

[imaj]

Humm...History repeating itself.

Pontiac Fiero 1984 -1988

Pontiac Solstice 2006 - 2010

[LatinVenom]

China is set to become the largest consumer of automobiles, so selling Buicks in China is a good marketing plan.
I will be surprise if they do produce a 2010 Solstice model though.

[AeroDave]

Originally Posted by Koobie They need to really revamp Buick in the US, because their customer base is dying off.

I don't get their clinging to Buick, but at the same time giving that brand nothing to sell. I totally get the China thing, I just don't understand Buick in North America at all. They have three products now and one of them is scheduled for retirement leaving them with Lacrosse and Enclave. Similar, if not identical vehicles are available at Chevy and Cadillac. If they're not going to give Buick lots of new product, why not just kill Buick in NA and focus on Chevy and Cadillac. Most of the dwindling traditional Buick buyers will no doubt go either Cadillac or maybe Chevy. Sadly, I suspect their plan is to make the Lacrosse the flagship, and start importing smaller Chinese made Buicks to fill up the lower end of the line. If this is their plan, they might as well kill the brand now.

[ozz]

Very sad day indeed personally I think they should have dropped the Buick line after I got the news on TV this morning I stopped at the local walmart store and looked around the parking lot there must have been 20 Pontiac's to every Buick seems to me at least in this country Pontiac was a very good seller there or a tremendous amount of Pontiac's on the road a lot more then Buick's.I just purchased my second solstice a 2009 GXP this year and I feel like GM has stabbed me in the back oh well I guess my brother is happy he just bought a new Buick

[LatinVenom]

GM need the Buick name plate for the Chinese market, and that is the reason they are keeping this brand.

[JRinKY]

AeroDave : I don't get their clinging to Buick, but at the same time giving that brand nothing to sell. I totally get the China thing, I just don't understand Buick in North America at all. They have three products now and one of them is scheduled for retirement leaving them with Lacrosse and Enclave. Similar, if not identical vehicles are available at Chevy and Cadillac. If they're not going to give Buick lots of new product, why not just kill Buick in NA and focus on Chevy and Cadillac. Most of the dwindling traditional Buick buyers will no doubt go either Cadillac or maybe Chevy. Sadly, I suspect their plan is to make the Lacrosse the flagship, and start importing smaller Chinese made Buicks to fill up the lower end of the line. If this is their plan, they might as well kill the brand now.

It is more likely that Buick won't have a "lower end" car. That's what Chevrolet is for. They are going back to the very early plan for the corporation: Chevrolet is the entry level and every-man car. Buick is the middle-manager / retiree product. and Cadillac is luxury. GMC is work trucks.

Less badge engineering, less inter-company competition, more logical.

[brentil]

I'd expect we'd start to see some of the Buicks that are sold in China to start filling out the lineup here. There's an Opel based one that looks awesome, there's even a turbo version of it. They also have the new Buick Business based off the Orlando. They all look really sharp.

I'm sad to see Pontiac go but it's been a long while since Pontiac was really the performance brand. Ignore the Solstice (which was dead all on it's own) and the G8 (there's already been talk of it stopping deliver as is) and Pontiac is just a Toyota/Chevy rehash brand with no real flavor. In 2010 that's all Pontiac would have been since the only performance cars they have would have been gone. It's like calling Chevy the performance brand because they have the Corvette and Camaro...

[AeroDave]

Originally Posted by JRinKY It is more likely that Buick won't have a "lower end" car. That's what Chevrolet is for. They are going back to the very early plan for the corporation: Chevrolet is the entry level and every-man car. Buick is the middle-manager / retiree product. and Cadillac is luxury. GMC is work trucks. Less badge engineering, less inter-company competition, more logical.

All fine and well, except GM has said it plans to down size Buick to meet tougher CAFE standards, that's why the Lucerne replacement was scrapped. At the same time they aren't announcing Buick getting any new models. That leaves them with Lacrosse and Enclave and in the future something smaller... ?? It almost makes sense, If Buick is going gang busters in China, and that market needs some smaller models, why not just export those smaller models to America? Only problem is, the thought of a Chinese Buick will make most people sick.

It just occurred to me what's going on. They have no real plans for Buick and GMC, they're just saying they are sticking with those brands to give PBG dealers something to sell and live by their contractual agreements. Of course the model offering of a Buick/GMC dealer will be so pathetic and sales volume so low, that the dealerships will go out of business naturally. A way to thin the dealers without the lawsuits they had with Olds. This makes sense to me now. They intend to land as a two brand company in the end. This is already happening. In my area, the PBG dealers have all already gone out of business or have been incorporated into all GM brand stores. In the end, when the dust settles and there are only Chevy/Buick/Cadillac/GMC dealers left, they will retire Buick and GMC.

[Snugglebear]

I'll probably be the only one to say this about Pontiac, but good riddance. GM marketing did a fine job ruining the brand in the last 15 years with their fumbling and lack of vision. Buick probably should go, too, but they still see some value in that brand, even if it is a ploy to avoid franchise penalties.

On CNBC this morning they had a number of GM folks on who were stating that Buick's main value over Pontiac was that Buick has almost no fleet sales while the majority of Pontiac's sold are to fleets. Their logic was that these are just basic model cars, low/no margins, and could easily be replaced by other brands with greater economies of scale (e.g. the Malibu in lieu of a G6). From a business standpoint I don't disagree with this; GM has to restore their margins and slashing brand overhead while consolidating on fewer models reduces their variable costs. It's not like they can increase pricing at this point given their lineup, their image, the uncertainty in the air, and the general market for cars.

As for GMC, I agree with what was discussed over the last few months since the bailouts began - they have a sufficient commercial business to make it attractive. No telling if many of the rebadged vehicles will survive, but GM does need GMC to keep building the big metal. Worst case it could be sold off akin to Volvo cars vs. Volvo trucks/aerospace et al.

[SCISOLSTICE]

First 1000 Sols. I think we have a collector.

[POTFH]

Originally Posted by PAO but on the good side...UNEED2 told me this morning that if we can swing it.....she would like to get a 2010 GXP in addition to keeping our 06 N/A.......WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

Good for you, taking to the wife about a GXP for me. I keep telling her I purchased Sol507 for her.