Meet Your 2010 Pontiac Lineup; ONE MODEL!

[vcs2600]

Originally Posted by lio45

Not at all.

Around here at least, EVERY SINGLE Pontiac dealer is forced to carry the GMC and Buick brands.

The extra Pontiac dealer footprint is easy to quantify: it's exactly zero.

It still makes a difference. They put a couple G8s at every single BGP dealer, and bam the thing had a one year supply on the lots. (Probably nobody could see them parked behind the wall of GMC pickups.) It would be impossible to run Pontiac as a niche brand unless GM cut 90% of the franchises and located Pontiac only in high-volume urban areas.

I'm guessing GM examined the 'niche brand' plan and realized if they were winding down 90% of Pontiac, they might as well make it 100%.

[Grizzlor]

My question is, what will they do with the albeit smaller market Pontiac was catering to? Will it just go over to Chevy?

[Type34]

I still say if GM had brought over the Commodore as a Chevy Impala SS to begin with, they would have been more successful.

I know it's much easier to type on a keyboard than to manage the branding of GM, but the G8 is such a dynamically entertaining (and universally-praised) vehicle that it's a tragedy a FWD rental wh*re like the Impala lives on. I would badge the Impala as the Chevy Classic (like they did with the old Malibu) and sell to rental fleets, leave the FWD mainstream market to the Malibu, and move the G8 over to Chevy as the Impala SS.

Given GM's bankruptcy, I think enthusiasts and consumers alike would understand and applaud the move. No the Impala SS wouldn't lead GM out of its financial woes, but it would at least capitalize on a well-built & engineered vehicle that must be costly to suddenly remove from one's product portfolio.

[SwampFoxZ71]

An Impala SS based off the G8 would certainly get me interested when my truck is paid off. If they did that, I'd have to choose it over a Camaro, simply for the increased comfort. And if they kept a manual available at some level, of course. So, something like that or I'll likely just end up w/ another Jeep for a toy.

[FireFox89]

Originally Posted by Grizzlor

My question is, what will they do with the albeit smaller market Pontiac was catering to? Will it just go over to Chevy?

New thinking of Chevrolet=one size fits all.....when in reality, it waters down the brand. luxury, perfomance and economy cars in one mixing pot.