Quote:
Originally Posted by tripowergto
While August was a bad month for Pontiac, it has been mostly ignored by GM investment wise. It's still soldiered on making money with reasonable sales volume even though GM has eliminated it's most popular models the Grand Prix, Grand Am and Bonneville renaming each replacement with a confusing G# scheme. Saturn has received an ENTIRE new line-up with BILLIONS in investment yet still doesn't come close to selling Pontiacs (albeit declining) sales figures. I'm with Nikivee, it's OBVIOUS which brand should be eliminated. Much easier to close up 415 Saturn dealers then 2700 Pontiac dealers.
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Agreed. I understand the arguments for keeping Saturn, but also recognize the sheer and massive investment it will cost to not only close what stand alone Pontiac stores exist (probably a small amount) but also move Saturn stores into the existing 2800 or or so BPG locations. That ALSO will be a huge investment since GM will undoubtedly need to shell out money to get dealers to invest in carrying the brand.
But regardless, just as you say, Pontiac's total sales have dwindled, but is it any wonder when you get rid of their most popular nameplates, reduce the total number of products they sell and give them no advertising?
If GM sunk the same $18 BILLION in Pontiac that it did in Saturn then perhaps Pontiac would be outshining all expectations by now.
Regardless, its cheaper for them to close those 400+ locations than it would be for them to force other dealerships to add Saturn to their locations...