[IH8Rice]

surprisingly Pontiac will get the axe before Hummer and Saab, joining the ranks of Oldsmobile in the dead GM brands.

most would have thought Hummer would have been the first to be axed, followed by Saturn, Saab, then Pontiac for the American GM brands...and Buick being bought by SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp)

Hummer supposedly will get the axe if not sold by the end of the month, but will GM take the 3 offers they have to buy the brand?




http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=146706

 

[ohio]

Not too surprising. Even though Hummer got killed by the gas prices last year, they're stil la stronger brand than Pontiac who basically has zero brand allegiance.

I AM surprised Saab doesn't have a buyer though...

 

[dante]

Not surprised one bit. For all the talk in the intrawebs about what Pontiac *could* be, there was no discussion about what it is... rebadged vehicles that you can get from Chevy or Saturn. Ok, the G8 was special, and the Solstice could be unavailable with the disappearance of Saturn, but right now there's no reason for Pontiac to exist other than it's history and what it *could* be. Since GM has screwed up what it is now, I don't have any faith in what they could do to this brand (in a positive way) in the future. Kill it and get it over with.

 

[IH8Rice]

Not surprised one bit. For all the talk in the intrawebs about what Pontiac *could* be, there was no discussion about what it is... rebadged vehicles that you can get from Chevy or Saturn. Ok, the G8 was special, and the Solstice could be unavailable with the disappearance of Saturn, but right now there's no reason for Pontiac to exist other than it's history and what it *could* be. Since GM has screwed up what it is now, I don't have any faith in what they could do to this brand (in a positive way) in the future. Kill it and get it over with.

well said. the G8 really is the only car in the U.S. that doesnt have a Chevy or Saturn counterpart.

Saturn could see a resurgence if the dealers bound together to buy out the brand, but as of now, its just speculation.

Hummer's brand does hold its water more so than Pontiac, even tho most manufactures are steering away from giant full size SUV and focusing on CUV's.

 

[valve bouncer]

well said. the G8 really is the only car in the U.S. that doesnt have a Chevy or Saturn counterpart.

Well the G8 is fully imported as far as know, built in South Australia in a coals to Newcastle type of deal.

 

[vtjim]

Not surprised one bit. For all the talk in the intrawebs about what Pontiac *could* be, there was no discussion about what it is... rebadged vehicles that you can get from Chevy or Saturn. Ok, the G8 was special, and the Solstice could be unavailable with the disappearance of Saturn, but right now there's no reason for Pontiac to exist other than it's history and what it *could* be. Since GM has screwed up what it is now, I don't have any faith in what they could do to this brand (in a positive way) in the future. Kill it and get it over with.

You can't even say the G8 was special though really... it had the Corvette engine in it, swapped over to a sport sedan body. I'm still clueless why they put so much HP in such a boring looking car.

Can't say I'll be disappointing to see Pontiac go.

 

[IH8Rice]

Well the G8 is fully imported as far as know, built in South Australia in a coals to Newcastle type of deal.

yeah, its built by Holden in Australia on their new platform that they were supposedly going to be using going forward. so far the new Camaro is the only one using it moving forward.

You can't even say the G8 was special though really... it had the Corvette engine in it, swapped over to a sport sedan body. I'm still clueless why they put so much HP in such a boring looking car.

the two 8 cylinders are used int he Vette, but obviously not the 6's. but the Vette isnt imported to Australia if im not mistaken.
i personally love the look of the G8...its a great sleeper in GXP form

 

[WhoRyder]

Damn, i just picked up a G6.... i was loyal to the Pontiac Brand, owned 3 of them....

Time to pick up a German or Japanese car!!!!!

 

[vtjim]

yeah, its built by Holden in Australia on their new platform that they were supposedly going to be using going forward. so far the new Camaro is the only one using it moving forward.


the two 8 cylinders are used int he Vette, but obviously not the 6's. but the Vette isnt imported to Australia if im not mistaken.
i personally love the look of the G8...its a great sleeper in GXP form

No I don't think it's imported either, but was really just commenting on the fact that there is an argument that while not quite being a 're-badged' corvette, it did take the whole engine from it. Now I know car models swap parts all the time, and you can find the same tail lights on a super car as you can on a budget model, but the whole engine? Fail I say; make something original. Or at least keep it in the same badge, i.e. - Nissan using the same 6 cylinder for the majority of their cars and just tuning it differently depending on what model it's in.

I may just be acting harsh though; I've never liked Pontiac...

 

[vtjim]

WOW -

Major EDIT here: I've been thinking GTO, not G8 - my apologies. I think I need more coffee...

 

[IH8Rice]

No I don't think it's imported either, but was really just commenting on the fact that there is an argument that while not quite being a 're-badged' corvette, it did take the whole engine from it. Now I know car models swap parts all the time, and you can find the same tail lights on a super car as you can on a budget model, but the whole engine? Fail I say; make something original. Or at least keep it in the same badge, i.e. - Nissan using the same 6 cylinder for the majority of their cars and just tuning it differently depending on what model it's in.

I may just be acting harsh though; I've never liked Pontiac...

using the same engine in multiple cars in not a fail what so ever. it saves tons of money in R&D for engine development. do you think its really practical to make a different engine for every model?

what about the Caddy V cars? they have Vette engines in them too...are they re-badged Vettes too?

the car is made by Holden, a GM subsidiary in Aussie land where the Vette isnt imported. Ford does it w/ their SVO division in Australia too. besides for the engine, the car is nothing like a Vette

 

[jimmydean]

I will not miss Pontiac. In the early years, I was a huge supporter because the Firebird was always thought of as "the nicer Camaro" and my very first car was an insane '72 Grand Prix that my parents should have known better than to buy me. But much like most American brands, there isn't a whole lot of lust from me post 1974 (sans Corvette).

The only American car that has gotten me excited since my teen years was the CTS-V and it's just a Corvette that seats 4.

 

[IH8Rice]

WOW -

Major EDIT here: I've been thinking GTO, not G8 - my apologies. I think I need more coffee...

haha okay, that makes a little more sense!

the GTO is still a sick car tho....its a poor mans Vette and sounds a lot sicker! and had the 6.0 before the Vette. the 6L didnt make it into the Vette until the new C6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AyCyJ854lKI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AyCyJ854lKI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

[IH8Rice]

The only American car that has gotten me excited since my teen years was the CTS-V and it's just a Corvette that seats 4.

$20k less then a M5 w/ 556hp

Zee germans better watch out

 

[jimmydean]

$20k less then a M5 w/ 556hp

Zee germans better watch out

My brother bought a DTS a few years back and I laughed at him until he let me drive it. I can only imagine what the CTS-V is like.

 

[valve bouncer]

WOW -

Major EDIT here: I've been thinking GTO, not G8 - my apologies. I think I need more coffee...

A lot more. If you're thinking this GTO;

then this one was also made in Australia, known as the Holden Monaro which was an iconic muscle car brand in Australia in the 60's and 70's.

 

[Serial Midget]

Looks like an over sized Dodge Neon.

A lot more. If you're thinking this GTO;

then this one was also made in Australia, known as the Holden Monaro which was an iconic muscle car brand in Australia in the 60's and 70's.

 

[IH8Rice]

its official. they get the CHOP

Pontiac will be "phased out by the end of 2010."

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/27/officially-official-gm-kills-pontiac/

GM said in a news release that it will ask the government to take 50 percent of its common stock in exchange for canceling half the government loans to the company as of June 1.

In addition, GM is offering the United Auto Workers stock for at least 50 percent of the $20 billion the company must pay into a union run trust that will take over retiree health care expenses starting next year.

the government is now in the car business

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-to-cut-21000-US-factory-apf-15039195.html

 

[blue]

I think I said 5 months ago that GM needed to be nationalized to continue...

re: Engine sharing inside of a company. Nearly every car company on earth does this in some iteration. Not only this, but the GM LS V8 is one of the greatest engines ever built. I mean, current iterations are light enough to be dropped into cars that originally used 4-cylinder motors without any weight gain or hurting weight distribution in the car.

The GTO/Monaro and Corvette are absolutely nothing alike. They share the same engine, but beyond that are very different cars. The GTO is a big grand tourer with sporty pretensions - the C6 Vette is pure sports car with razor-sharp handling and sports car-like interior space. Drive both.

I feel odd defending GM...not normally my realm

 

[J-Dubs]

Nah nah nah nah
Nah nah nah nah
Hey hey hey
Good bye.

 

[IH8Rice]

I think I said 5 months ago that GM needed to be nationalized to continue...

re: Engine sharing inside of a company. Nearly every car company on earth does this in some iteration. Not only this, but the GM LS V8 is one of the greatest engines ever built. I mean, current iterations are light enough to be dropped into cars that originally used 4-cylinder motors without any weight gain or hurting weight distribution in the car.

The GTO/Monaro and Corvette are absolutely nothing alike. They share the same engine, but beyond that are very different cars. The GTO is a big grand tourer with sporty pretensions - the C6 Vette is pure sports car with razor-sharp handling and sports car-like interior space. Drive both.

they have been in talks for months to do just that. i just kinda feel weird that the government is stepping in to bail these companies out, all while taking stake within the company. i would like to see corporations separate from the government, but i guess in these hard times, they gotta do what they gotta do.

i dont think youll see the LS V8's going into any car that had 4 bangers in them anytime soon though. companies are looking to turbo'd 4 or 6 cylinders that are for more efficient, lighter, cleaner but yet still produce a ton of power.
look at the new Ford EcoBoost engine. a turbo'd V6 w/ 350hp/355 lb-ft, or the turbo'd 4-pot w/ 275hp/280 lb-ft.
Even Chevy's new LLT V6 w/ 302hp/272 lb-ft, but still normally aspirated....that was V8 range just a few years back!!

dont get me wrong, i love V8's but the new 6's and 4's are starting to perk up in power in big ways.

and yes, besides for the engines, the GTO and Vette are nothing alike.
the Goat though, is a nicely priced alternative.

 

[jimmydean]

and yes, besides for the engines, the GTO and Vette are nothing alike.
the Goat though, is too fugly even for PSP.