GM to drop Pontiac

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by Cyberfan

Nothing that Pontiac makes has turned me on since the Firebird, and I still drive an 02 to work every day. The GTO looks like a Grand Am and the 4-doors lose to the Japanese cars just like most of the rest of American 4-doors do. And the G-8 is a high horsepower overpriced 4-door loser!

Really?

Chevrolet Malibu. 2010 Ford Fusion. Cadillac CTS. 2010 Ford Taurus.

We lose to the Japanese? Yeah right. The Malibu led all other midsizes in fuel economy for a few years, the Fusion now has best in class fuel economy, the new Ford Taurus is sure to be a hit, and the CTS is already outclassing BMWs and Mercedes, much less Japanese luxury brands.

And the G8 is nowhere near overpriced, in fact, it was marketed as a cheaper alternative to a 5-series for quite some time.

[dodson914]

Originally Posted by OUR72GTO

The point was they over promised and under delivered for a long time.

Solstice is old news, G8 is bombing just like the " Imported GTO."

YA ...I am going to rush down my Pontiac dealer to grab a rebadged AVEO.

The "imported GTO" didn't really bomb. It was always intended to be a short production. The G8 is a GREAT car for the money. That just happened to be the wrong time with gas prices and economy.

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Really?

Chevrolet Malibu. 2010 Ford Fusion. Cadillac CTS. 2010 Ford Taurus.

We lose to the Japanese? Yeah right. The Malibu led all other midsizes in fuel economy for a few years, the Fusion now has best in class fuel economy, the new Ford Taurus is sure to be a hit, and the CTS is already outclassing BMWs and Mercedes, much less Japanese luxury brands.

And the G8 is nowhere near overpriced, in fact, it was marketed as a cheaper alternative to a 5-series for quite some time.

[TheClassicCarKid]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Really?

Chevrolet Malibu. 2010 Ford Fusion. Cadillac CTS. 2010 Ford Taurus.

We lose to the Japanese? Yeah right. The Malibu led all other midsizes in fuel economy for a few years, the Fusion now has best in class fuel economy, the new Ford Taurus is sure to be a hit, and the CTS is already outclassing BMWs and Mercedes, much less Japanese luxury brands.

And the G8 is nowhere near overpriced, in fact, it was marketed as a cheaper alternative to a 5-series for quite some time.

[meanmike]

I would like to inform the missinformed that the G8's sale's have been 20'000 a year wich is what GM wanted. And they did that without advertisement in these shitty time's.

[camaro5]

the G8 had its best sales month in March with 2,939 deliveries. The car has received generally stellar reviews, but its sales have been lower than Pontiac hoped. Despite that, GM's Holden unit in Australia is cutting one shift as the global recession slows sales at home.

http://www.freep.com/article/2009040...orty+Zeta+line

I like the G8 a lot.

[OUR72GTO]

The GTO ( I am a member of POCI) left 1/2 the first 19,000 built ON LOTS as carry over into year two and dealers were putting the " missing hood scoops" and duel tips on to sell them a year late.

It looked like a large SUNFIRE.

G8 is a great value, good car but the sales are based on $8500.00 rebates.

[UCF w00t]

It's official.

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. said it will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year, phase out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take company stock in exchange for half GM’s government debt as part of a major restructuring effort needed to get more government aid.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30431844/

[Embalmer]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/...9jdXQyMTAwMA--


They're still hemorrhaging :(

[CommandoSS]

Looks like the government now owns GM...

Great. Not sure if I can buy another GM again.

[UCF w00t]

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.

GM said the bond exchange aims to wipe away a large majority of the company’s $27 billion in unsecured debt. The company estimates that after the exchange, bondholders would own 10 percent of the company.

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.

All the stock offerings mean that current common stockholders would own only 1 percent of the company under the deals, the press release says.

Ownership looks like the following...
US Fed government - 50%
Bondholders - 10%
UAW - 39%
Current Ownership - 1%

Wow..................

[Tantalizer43]

Scary scary scary.....

[moto-camaro]

If this is a repost, mods delete it, and the rest of you may flame me in the meantime
It's an article i came across this morning, i checked the general forums and here, didn't see it posted, so i'll post it up. i'm sure some of you already know.

Here's the link as well:
http://business.theglobeandmail.com/...wgmpontiac0427

_____________

GM scraps 21,000 jobs, Pontiac

TOM KRISHER

The Associated Press

April 27, 2009 at 9:35 AM EDT

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. [GM-N] said it will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year, phase out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take stock in exchange for half GM's government debt as part of a major restructuring effort that would leave current shareholders holding just 1 per cent of the company.

The struggling auto maker said it will offer 225 shares of common stock for every $1,000 (U.S.) in notes held by bondholders as part of a debt-for-equity swap that aims to retire most of GM's $27-billion in unsecured debt.

The announcements came in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

GM is living on $15.4-billion in government loans and faces a June 1 deadline to restructure and get more government money. If the restructuring doesn't satisfy the government, the company could go into bankruptcy protection.

GM said in a news release that it will ask the government to take 50 per cent 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 per cent of the $20-billion the company must pay into a union run trust that will take over retiree health care expenses starting next year.

CEO Fritz Henderson said the objective of the bond exchange is to reduce GM's $27-billion of outstanding debt by about $24-billion dollars. The company estimates that after the exchange, bondholders would own 10 per cent of the company.

All the stock offerings mean that current common stockholders would own only 1 per cent of the company under the deals, GM said.

In premarket trading, GM shares rose 16 cents, or 9.5 per cent, to $1.85.

GM said it would speed up six additional factory closings that were announced in February, although it did not identify them in its news release. Additional salaried jobs cuts also are coming, beyond the 3,400 in the U.S. completed last week.

Including previously announced plant closures, the restructuring will leave GM with 34 factories at the end of next year, down from 47 at the end of 2008.

The company also said it plans to thin its dealership ranks by 42 per cent from 2008 to 2010, cutting them from 6,246 to 3,605.

“The Viability Plan reflects the direction of President Obama and the U.S. Treasury that GM should go further and faster on our restructuring,” Mr. Henderson said in a statement. “This stronger, leaner business model will enable GM to keep doing what it does best — provide great new cars, trucks and crossovers to our customers, and continue to develop new advanced propulsion technologies that are vital for our country's economy and environment.”

The new plan lowers GM's break-even point in North America to an annual U.S. sales volume of 10 million vehicles, the company said. That's slightly more than the current sales rate, and most economists expect an uptick in the second half of the year.

“This lower break-even point better positions GM to generate positive cash flow and earn an adequate return on capital over the course of a normal business cycle, a requirement set forth by the U.S. Treasury,” the statement said.

The company said it would phase out its storied Pontiac brand no later than next year, and the futures of its Hummer, Saturn and Saab brands will be resolved by the end of this year by either selling them or phasing them out.

For Pontiac, the decision means the death of a brand known for its muscle cars including the Trans Am made famous in movies and the GTO, the subject of a nostalgic song by the Beach Boys.

Mr. Henderson said in a news conference that the company was spread too thin to make Pontiac work.

“We didn't think we had the resources to get this done from a product perspective,” or marketing, he said Monday at a news conference.

He said the decision was very tough for many at GM because of the brand's heritage.

Mr. Henderson said GM wants to develop a plan that doesn't have to be repeated.

“We only want to do this once,” he told reporters.

[GMtothecore]

It's hard to even fathom the entire Pontiac brand just going away. I thought it would have been one of GM's core brands that would have been there till the end. But then again,....this could be the end.

[lafountain]

Vibe and Solstice will not survive and be rebadged.

http://jalopnik.com/5229396/pontiac-...e-on-as-chevys