Can the division survive?

from top: G3, Vibe, G8 Sport Truck

General Motors’ recent plea for more US government bailout cash was accompanied by their plan for profitability. In that plan we learned that GM will concentrate on its “…three strongest global brands (Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick) and its premium truck brand (GMC).” Saab will likely become an independent Swedish automaker once more, while Saturn and Hummer are likely to disappear unless buyers are found.

And then there’s Pontiac. “Of the remaining brands,” GM goes on to say in their restructuring plan, “Pontiac—which is part of the Buick-Pontiac-GMC retail channel—will be a highly focused niche brand.” The once-proud Pontiac. The car I learned to drive in. My mother’s 1963 Catalina two-door hardtop with the 389-cubic-inch V-8. The one some guy nearly smashed head-on into as my dad and I were waiting to make a left turn on the night before my road test. Instead he side-swiped the whole driver’s side, with a 17-year-old me behind the wheel. A change of underwear was definitely in order. But enough about me. (Yes, I did pass the road test.) The past few decades have seen the division go from one of “excitement” (think GTO and Trans Am) to confusion about just what Pontiac was trying to be (think Aztek, GTO again, and plastic-cladded everything). In 1964 the original GTO was a cheap Tempest coupe with Pontiac’s biggest engine, and it started the muscle car period. In 1969 the division introduced a totally redesigned Grand Prix, which made personal luxury cars affordable to the masses. Fast-forward ahead to the 21st century. Pontiac buyers were confronted with a new GTO—probably a better overall car than the original model, except for the fact it was pretty dull-looking. And was actually an Australian-built Holden in disguise. After three years of disappointing sales, it was discontinued. The last Grand Prix model was a four-door sedan which hadn’t differed all that much from Pontiac’s own Bonneville. Both are now gone, too.

Just what is available in Pontiac’s showrooms these days, and is any of it worth saving? My dictionary defines niche as “a specialized but profitable corner of the market.” Unless there’s something cooking in Pontiac’s kitchen, I don’t see how they can become profitable with any of their present lineup. Let’s go through it model by model. At the bottom of the ladder is the tiny G3. Hardly anything special, it’s a Chevy Aveo with different badging (which in turn is a rebadged Daewoo Kalas, built in South Korea). The Pontiac G5? Not too special, either, unless you consider a rebadged Chevy Cobalt something you’ve just gotta have. The G6 is the division’s mid-size offering. (Are you picking up a pattern here of pretty dull names? What happened to monikers like LeMans, Catalina, and The Judge?) It’s available in two-door coupe and convertible, and four-door sedan versions. It shares some architecture with Chevy’s Malibu and the Saab 9-3, but certainly isn’t the car to pin Pontiac’s future on. The new G8, a really nice car, is a four-door Holden, and is doing about as well as the last GTO. The small SUV Torrent is a rebadged Chevy Equinox. ’Nuff said. The small crossover Vibe is a shared platform with the Toyota Matrix. And then there’s the Solstice coupe and convertible. Again, neat little cars, but not selling in great numbers. There are rumors of a G8 sport truck, which is big in Australia where it’s sold as a Holden, but it can’t sustain a division—even a niche division. Sales of Solstices and G8s wouldn’t even be enough to sustain the cost of Pontiac signage in Buick showrooms.

I say, if you really want a Pontiac, buy one now. And park it in the garage next to your beloved Oldsmobile. Someday your kid can sell it on eBay and make a few bucks.