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Title: Pontiac, Maker Of Muscle Cars, Ends After 84 Years
Source:
Associated Press
URL Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie ... AULT&CTIME=2010-10-31-14-39-37
Published: Oct 31, 2010
Author: Associated Press
Post Date: 2010-10-31 19:11:37 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 3948
Comments: 7
DETROIT (AP) -- Pontiac, whose muscle cars drag-raced down boulevards, parked at drive-ins and roared across movie screens, is going out of business on Sunday. The 84-year-old brand, moribund since General Motors decided to kill it last year as it collapsed into bankruptcy, had been in decline for years. It was undone by a combination of poor corporate strategy and changing driver tastes. On Oct. 31, GM's agreements with Pontiac dealers expire. Even before GM's bankruptcy, Pontiac's sales had fallen from their peak of nearly one million in 1968, when the brand's speedier models were prized for their powerful engines and scowling grills. At Pontiac's pinnacle, models like the GTO, Trans Am and Catalina 2+2 were packed with horsepower and sported colors like "Tiger Gold." Burt Reynolds and Sally Field fled the law in a Firebird Trans Am which raced through the 1970s hit movie "Smokey and the Bandit." By the late 1980s, though, Pontiacs were taking off their muscle shirts, putting on suits and trying to act like other cars. The brand had lost its edge. Bill Hoglund, a retired GM executive who led Pontiac during its "We Build Excitement" ad campaigns in the 1980s, blames the brand's demise on a reorganization under CEO Roger Smith in 1984. That overhaul cut costs by combining Pontiac's manufacturing, engineering and design operations with those of other GM brands. "There was no passion for the product," says Hoglund. "The product had to fit what was going on in the corporate system." Although the moves were necessary to fend off competition from Japanese automakers with lower costs, they yielded Pontiacs that looked and drove like other GM cars. By 2008, the last full year before GM announced Pontiac's shutdown, sales were 267,000, less than a third of those sold in 1968. Formed in 1926, Pontiac made cars for the working class until a sales slump in the 1950s nearly killed it. GM revived the brand by connecting it to auto racing. From then on, each Pontiac sales boom was driven by speed; each bust generally featured outdated or boring rides. The brand's most storied muscle car, the GTO, came about when some GM engineers took a small car called the Tempest and put a powerful V8 engine under the hood. The letters stood for "Gran Turismo Omologato," Italian for "ready to race." Sparked by the GTO, the Pontiac brand thrived, making up 17 percent of the 5.4 million cars and trucks GM sold in the U.S. in 1968. The GTO even spawned its own 1960s hit song. "C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO," was the chorus of the tune by Ronny and the Daytonas. Pontiac's decline stemmed from a lack of a consistent strategy or leadership. Executives rotated through every few years on their way up the corporate ladder, each with a different vision. Some even tried to make Pontiac a luxury brand. One strategy that eventually hurt the brand was rebadging: putting the guts of less powerful GM cars inside the skins of Pontiacs. Big economic shifts also damaged the brand. Two gas spikes in the 1970s steered Americans toward smaller cars with more fuel-efficient engines, areas dominated by Japanese automakers in the U.S. About two dozen unsold Pontiacs now linger at dealerships around the country, including a maroon G5 coupe that sits awkwardly in a no-man's land between used cars and new models next to the showroom at Orr GM Superstore near Little Rock, Ark. The car, which is really just a poky Chevrolet Cobalt gussied up with a spoiler, fancy wheels and the red arrowhead Pontiac logo, has been on the lot for more than 700 days. Sales Manager Alex Valencia has knocked almost $7,000 off the sticker price, down to $16,585. Despite spells of success during the last 30 years, Pontiac never returned to its supercharged sales of the 1960s. A low point was the late 1990s, when Pontiac came up with Aztek, an attempt to merge campers with SUVs and win over young, outdoorsy Americans. The vehicle, which seemed more like a cross between a minivan and armored car, flopped. In the mid-2000s, GM tried to rekindle the brand with powerful sedans, such as the G8, which harkened back to the GTO. But dealers wanted a full model lineup, and GM gave them renamed Chevrolets, diluting Pontiac's performance image, says Bob Lutz, GM's former product guru who headed up the effort to reinvigorate Pontiac. This year, Pontiac's sales are less than 1 percent of the 2.2 million cars and trucks GM is expected to sell. GM built the last Pontiac in May. Even after their Pontiac agreements expire, GM dealers will continue to service the cars and honor their warranties. But after this weekend, any new Pontiacs that remain on dealer lots will be considered used cars by GM. Anthony "Tony" Augelli, owner of a Pontiac-GMC-Buick dealer in Gurnee, Ill., near Chicago, still has a gleaming orange 2009 Solstice roadster that's the first car to greet customers in his showroom. Despite its prime perch, the $32,000 car hasn't sold. Augelli gets emotional when speaking of Pontiac's end. "I miss it already," he says.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
They committed suicide!
Yeah,mostly because that is almost 10 grand more than the sticker. I really wanted to buy one when they first came out,but the local Pontiac dealer added 8 grand to the sticker and smugly told me he didn't care if I bought it or not when I tried to talk him back down to suggested retail because somebody else would.
"I adore John McCain, support him 100 percent and will do everything I can to support his reelection. As everyone knows, I was honored and proud to run with him. And Todd and I were with him in D.C. just a week ago." (Sarah Palin,Dec 2009) ************************************ DID Palin say or write these things or not? (Me) I don't know or F ing care. (Mad Dog posted on 2009-12-26 16:36:33 ET,post # 105 http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=5510&Disp=114#C114)
Who would help your stiff old broken body in and out of the vehicle? Or were you just planning to remain planted in it once you managed to get in?
GM had too many brands. Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, GMC, Cadillac, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer. A lot of the brands offered the exact same cars with minor feature differences (grills, lights). They all had a few things in common: poor design, poor quality, poor market targeting.
I could get in and out of it. It may not have looked graceful,but I could have done it. I have a friend that is about 75,and he is also about 6'5" tall. He can still get in and drive the Mini-Cooper he used to race. I have no idea how he does it because the roof seems to be below his belt line,but he does it.
"I adore John McCain, support him 100 percent and will do everything I can to support his reelection. As everyone knows, I was honored and proud to run with him. And Todd and I were with him in D.C. just a week ago." (Sarah Palin,Dec 2009) ************************************ DID Palin say or write these things or not? (Me) I don't know or F ing care. (Mad Dog posted on 2009-12-26 16:36:33 ET,post # 105 http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=5510&Disp=114#C114)
I'm 6'3" with bad knees. Getting in and out of typical passenger cars calls for a major effort.
I have no idea how Bob gets in and out of that thing without requiring major surgery,but he does. I even asked him to prove to me he could do it the first time I saw him standing next to it because it seemed impossible. He also used to race a Austin-Healey A-100 with a full roll cage and a full race small block Ford engine in it.
"I adore John McCain, support him 100 percent and will do everything I can to support his reelection. As everyone knows, I was honored and proud to run with him. And Todd and I were with him in D.C. just a week ago." (Sarah Palin,Dec 2009) ************************************ DID Palin say or write these things or not? (Me) I don't know or F ing care. (Mad Dog posted on 2009-12-26 16:36:33 ET,post # 105 http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=5510&Disp=114#C114)
when Pontiac came up with Aztek
#2. To: Brian S, *Gear Heads* (#0)
Despite its prime perch, the $32,000 car hasn't sold.
#3. To: sneakypete (#2)
I really wanted to buy one
#4. To: Brian S (#0)
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." -- Thomas Jefferson
#5. To: Ibluafartsky (#3)
Who would help your stiff old broken body in and out of the vehicle?
#6. To: sneakypete (#5)
I have a friend that is about 75,and he is also about 6'5" tall.
#7. To: Ibluafartsky (#6)
I'm 6'3" with bad knees. Getting in and out of typical passenger cars calls for a major effort.
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