GM to pull the plug on Pontiac
The brand credited with originating the muscle car will not be part of GM's future.
By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer
April 24, 2009: 2:27 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors is preparing to announce that the Pontiac car brand, once marketed as GM's "Excitement division," will be killed off, according to a source familiar with the decision.
An official announcement is expected Monday. GM spokesman Jim Hopson declined to comment on Pontiac's fate, saying the automaker has no announcements to make at this time.
In its most recent "viability plan" - which will be updated to reflect this new brand cut - Pontiac was not named as one of GM's four "core brands." Those are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. But Pontiac was also not to be killed or sold off, as were Saturn, Saab and Hummer.
Instead Pontiac was to continue on as a "niche brand" focusing on just a few models.
That was already a step down for Pontiac which, in 2008, sold more cars than Cadillac and almost twice as many as Buick. But Cadillac is a high-profile - and high profit - luxury brand while Buick is a hugely popular brand in China and is seen as seen as resurgent in the U.S...
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I can't say I'm terribly surprised. That line has been without a hit in so many years that I don't know how it's lasted this long. The entire line has consisted of as many variations of unreliable and ugly as they could think up.