[jasaero]

Originally Posted by Bravada

Really, Marc, I hope you've had a bad day...

1. You can shove everything into Chevrolet, but there are still people who might not like your "all kinds of everything" brand. Look at Toyota - an entirely new generation grows up fed up with their omnipresence and middle-of-the-road blandness.

Miss Shebrah Lay might turn around and start building really good cars, but those would be the cars in the mold of Malibu - VERY sensible choices, but somehow not bought on a heartbeat, but on very good consideration. Think of it as of VW in Europe - only that Chevrolet has to downprice the market, and will have to do so for quite some time.

2. Even with the current lamey-o lineup, Pontiac has consistently posted more conversion sales, younger average customer age, more women and other "minority/segment" customer shares than GM corporate average in North America.

3. While Chevrolet has a global presence, it's a GM DAT presence. And it's not a bad thing, but you won't convince people they should shell out big bucks and pay premium for "specialty" vehicles from a brand that offers you Aveos. An Aveo SS? Please...

4. The VE is the best product GM had in many years/decades, and while it is blowing against the monumentally stupid CAFE in the US, it's got all it takes to make it on a global scene. And I don't think it fits in the Opel lineup - for Chevrolet, see above.

5. Pontiac has a lot of brand recognition in both North America and beyond - that's equity one cannot ignore.

6. In North America, the brand is already thinned, streamlined and prepared to work in combined showrooms -> little overhead.

7. GM will need to come up with much better, enjoyable small cars, which do not necessairly have the utilitarian Chevrolet/Toyota feel. I believe Pontiac is the perfect brand for this. Why not Saturn? Check out all the "why I won't buy a Saturn" threads.

Really, no GM brand should go - they should start by reorganizing the company and trimming actual fat and costs behind the front line. The actual Pontiac badge is not responsible for any of those - low-quality human resources and organisation are.

These are all good points. GM needs Pontiac solely to be a car that sells well Next to a Chevy for peeps that LIKE GM but not Chevy. Many won't like Chevy simply because everyone has it if they become successful again. Saturns won't work for those that like GM, but not Chevy. And Buick can offer the same sorta Chevy alternative as Pontiac, but be more for those wanting something more elegant and mature looking and such than more extreme and young pontiac. Saturn just doesn't work the same yin vs yang way like this with Chevy?? It's more to fool peeps who refuse to buy gm into buying one unknowingly.