Good Bye Pontiac

[Paul D.]

Re: Good Bye Pontiac

I am sure that GMC survives only to appease the GM franchises that do not include Chevrolet. If Cadillac ever gets a pick-up,good-bye Denali. the only drivetrain difference I know of is the availability of the larger (6.2?) engine in the Denali line similar to what's available in the Escalade and Hummer.

As for costs savings, I am sure production line costs are minimal with a "shadow" brand compared to all the ancillary costs (marketing, management, etc.) required to maintain a seperate brand name. That said, I am sure that a lot of money will be spent shuttering Pontiac considering franchise agreements and existing contracts. No real quick and easy solutions to the problems we face in these times.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Good Bye Pontiac

May be a last chance here to get a G8, i.e. a rear wheel drive V8 powered Sedan. Saw one at Sam's club for $27,500. (not bad). wonder what I can get w/ my GM discount? Better use it before it goes away too.

p.s. I'd even get one in green just for the hell of it!

Stu Fox

[Dick W.]

From Automotive News this morning

GM dealerships will be cut by half; Pontiac will be phased out by 2010



Automotive News
April 27, 2009 - 8:15 am ET
UPDATED: 4/27/07 8:55 a.m. ET


General Motors, speeding up its restructuring in a bid to survive, plans to shut half of its 6,200 U.S. dealerships by 2014 and phase out its Pontiac brand by next year.

The dealership reduction, from the current 6,200, marks a significantly deeper cut than the company previously planned.
GM's revised viability plan submitted to the U.S. government today also said the automaker will offer stock to debt holders to reduce its crushing debt load.
GM said it will file for bankruptcy unless a sufficient number of debt holders agree to take stock before a government-imposed deadline of June 1. GM estimates that the swap must cover at least 90 percent of its unsecured debt to satisfy the Treasury Department.
GM cautioned that it will be up to Treasury to decide whether enough debt had been exchanged.
The automaker will continue to invest in four core U.S. brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. In its earlier plan, Pontiac was to have continued as a niche marque.
The company also said that it is accelerating plans to spin off, sell or close Hummer, Saturn and Saab. Their futures will be resolved this year. In the previous, Feb. 17 restructuring plan, rejected by the Obama administration's auto task force, GM planned to determine the brands' fates before 2011.
GM said if it files for bankruptcy protection, it may ask the court to sell most of its assets to a new operating company and liquidate the rest.
In citing risk factors, GM said former parts unit Delphi Corp. is unlikely to emerge from almost four years of bankruptcy "in the near-term without government support and possibly may not emerge at all."

[John H.]

Re: Good Bye Pontiac

GM also announced this morning that Saturn and Hummer production will stop at the end of the current 2009 model year, vs. the previously announced 2011 model year:

General Motors plans to build the last Saturn vehicles this year, two years earlier than planned, as it speeds up plans to shed dealerships and divisions, CEO Fritz Henderson said today.
The Saturn brand still may survive if GM can sell it to another automaker or investor, but GM no longer will build vehicles for Saturn after the 2009 model year, Henderson said on a conference call.
In its Feb. 17 plan submitted to the U.S. auto task force, GM planned to build Saturn vehicles through 2011. Under a revised plan announced today, GM will shed Pontiac next year, leaving the automaker with just four U.S. brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac GMC and Buick.
Henderson also said that GM no longer will build Hummer vehicles after the current model year.

[Steven B.]

Re: Good Bye Pontiac

GM accelerates Saturn shutdown to this year


Richard Truett
Automotive News
April 27, 2009 - 9:37 am ET


General Motors plans to build the last Saturn vehicles this year, two years earlier than planned, as it speeds up plans to shed dealerships and divisions, CEO Fritz Henderson said today.

The Saturn brand still may survive if GM can sell it to another automaker or investor, but GM no longer will build vehicles for Saturn after the 2009 model year, Henderson said on a conference call.
In its Feb. 17 plan submitted to the U.S. auto task force, GM planned to build Saturn vehicles through 2011. Under a revised plan announced today, GM will shed Pontiac next year, leaving the automaker with just four U.S. brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac GMC and Buick.
Henderson also said that GM no longer will build Hummer vehicles after the current model year.
No Pontiacs rebadged
No Pontiacs will be rebadged as Chevrolets, he said. The new G8 sports sedan will be dropped as will the Solstice sports car. Henderson said the Pontiac Vibe could be built into 2010, pending negotiations with manufacturing partner Toyota Motor Corp., which assembles the same car as the Toyota Matrix at a joint venture plant in California.
GM has begun talks to sell Saturn to a private equity group working with Saturn dealers.
"If a sale of Saturn does not occur, we intend to phase out the Saturn brand by the end of 2009," GM said in its government filing today.
"As a result, our current Viability Plan does not comprehend production and sales to dealers of Saturn products beyond 2009."
Earlier this month, an investor group called Telesto Ventures said it wants to acquire Saturn's retail operations and provide dealers with vehicles from GM through 2011 and from mostly overseas manufacturers thereafter. A GM spokesman called the group's proposal legitimate and "very interesting." He said there also were other parties interested in Saturn.
A Telesto spokesman said his group was in discussions with several unidentified foreign manufacturers.
He said Telesto, which was formed specifically for the Saturn venture, encompasses a private equity firm, Black Oak Partners LLC, of Oklahoma City, and several other investors. It's unclear how much money is backing Telesto and what automotive experience it has.
Dealer reaction
John Danielson, sales manager at Saturn of the Lakes north of Orlando, Fla., said he has 100 new Saturns in stock. The store sold only eight new Saturns last month. Monday's announcement confirmed a rumor Danielson said he heard last week.
"Business is very tough right now. Our new and used is down 50 percent over last year," said Danielson. Some deals for new cars that have not yet been delivered are now in danger of falling through because of GM's announcement Monday that no new Saturns will be built after the 2009 model year.
Danielson, who worked at the store when it was an Oldsmobile dealership, said he expects GM to come out with new incentives to persuade customers to buy the final models.

MATT_H wrote:
Hello GM! The G8 is a great car and would make a great replacement for the aging Impala. So just make the G8 the new 2010 Chevy Impala. A no brainer.
4/27/2009 10:59 AM EDT

DanEng wrote:
The Japanese save a lot of money by not re-branding in markets that have massive overlap. Keep in mind that US consumers benefit by not having tariffs. Japan has suffered now for almost 20 years because of economic policies that our government seems to be repeating. Starting a tariff war now would be disastrous.
4/27/2009 10:57 AM EDT

Ford Retiree wrote:
rl_monroe - The only reason the Japanese get away with "murder" is because they came here, learned the manufacturing technique from the US auto manufacturers, and applied it. They kept lean and surged ahead. Incompetence? It's at the helm of the company, not from Washington DC. The only reason Washington DC has a say is because of the infusion of taxpayer money -- yours and mine -- unlike other welfare programs where we have no say in how many cigarettes and how much liquor welfare recipients buy, but we should because it's for food for the children, not for adult bad habits.
4/27/2009 10:38 AM EDT

rl_monroe wrote:
This is about the dumbest thing they've announced to date. Truly, truly incompetent people are at the helm in GM and in WASHINGTON. Let's just scrap US industry all together, shall we? Friggin' Japanese manufacturers and government continues to get away with murder. A $25k chevy costs $50k in Japan. What if a Honda Fit cost $35k in the US? It's only fair, people.
4/27/2009 10:15 AM EDT