With the General Motors announcement that it will end production of Pontiac the news is filled with stories of how the American icon will soon be gone. In addition, GM will accelerate the wind-down of its Hummer, Saturn and Saab brands, ceasing production by year’s end. Pontiac will be terminated after 2010.
Fuzzy and I have been wondering how Pontiac has lasted this long. How can GM run a business model from the 1940s of having the same cars over and over under different nameplates? At the last auto show this was very evident Aura, G6, and the Malibu. Did we really need this? When the other carmakers have one VERY well built sedan. Yes, every car has it’s own set of workers and plants, and yes I lean socialist when it comes to workers rights. But now Pontiac is gone baby gone. Your job is gone.
Anyway, back to the news. I’ve seen no less then five pieces on how Pontiac brought us the GTO. Yes, it rocked. But, what I want to see is an article about how the gave birth to the Aztec. Remember the Aztec? I want the Aztec owners club president to explain that Pontiac is one of the great brands in history.
As you know, the Aztec was an amazing concept car that was “cost cut” to death by, Pontiac engineers called into the front office. Now it lives as the one of the fifty worst cars ever.
With Pontiac, Hummer, Saab and Saturn slated to be eliminated, GM will focus on four brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick. Let’s hope that the focus will help them move the quality and design up to really compete with the Asian boys.