Everything Is Fine At Pontiac, So Stop Asking Questions
Except that it isn’t, of course. “Pontiac still has a mission in the BPG channel and it’s one that a very dedicated team of engineers, marketers, and dealers is determined to complete successfully, one step at a time,” writes Buick-Pontiac-GMC VP, Susan Docherty, at Fastlane. Actually, that’s the last sentence of the post, tacked on in case its complete lack of substance failed to convince you of the endlessly repeated talking point. So what’s changing? “Very little,” in the near term, says Docherty. “Pontiac will continue to offer the G5, G6, G8, Solstice and Vibe, and we’re adding the economical G3.” Because, as Docherty puts it, “Pontiac’s top reason for purchase is “fuel economy” and we won’t disappoint with four of our six entries getting over 32 miles per gallon on the highway.” So Pontiac is efficiency. Glad we cleared that up. Also, “the Pontiac Torrent will be discontinued to enable the brand to “focus” on cars,” says Docherty. “But the good news is that a new, five-passenger crossover SUV entry will soon be found at GMC . . . stay tuned.” Uh, no, that’s bad news too. The point of the exercise to cut the number of nameplates, remember?
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
Maybe the (ex-Pontiac) Vibe will be sold as a um. Er. Toyota Matrix. Oh, wait it already is, in slightly different sheetmetal. Um, maybe a Saturn... oh wait, that's dying too. How about a GMC? Oh wait, that'd be retarded (about as dumb as moving the upcoming crossover unit body thing from Pontiac to GMC instead of not bothering at all). How about Chevrolet Viva instead of Pontiac Vibe? They'd have to actually spend the dime on doing a new Chevrolet style horizontal center bar grill instead of a vertical center bar grill, and they'd have to tool up a specific oversized gold bow-tie... can GM afford to do that? (sarcasm) When my wife's best friend needed a reliable car with not-too-much-money, she came to me for advice and I suggested a Chevrolet Prizm (used) since it was Toyota quality and Chevrolet p*ss poor resale value. We literally spent 80% of the money of the equivalent Toyota price, and it has been almost totally reliable with very few mechanical problems over about 5 years, now. I think one wheel bearing, oil changes, tires and maintenance. If you stop and think about that, it speaks volumes for not only Toyota, but also GM...
With GM's 161-day inventory, you could pull the plug on Pontiac today and they'd still be kicking in August. Good grief.
Is there EVER a problem for which a rebadged Daewoo is a viable solution? Maybe if you had a levee with a car-shaped hole in it... Pontiac's got a lot of issues, but I don't think any of them fall into this category.
The only BPG dealer here (pop 60,000) went belly up last month. All remaining product was moved over to the Chevy dealership, where they sit with "$5000 off sticker!" signs on the windshields. There's nothing left at Pontiac, might as well close it up now.