Pontiac goes out of business after 84 years

by Tom Krisher - Nov. 1, 2010 12:00 AM
Associated Press

DETROIT - Pontiac, whose muscle cars drag-raced down boulevards, parked at drive-ins and roared across movie screens, is out of business.

The brand, in business for 84 years, has been moribund since General Motors decided to kill it last year as GM collapsed into bankruptcy. Pontiac had been in decline for years. It was undone by a combination of poor corporate strategy and changing driver tastes. On Sunday, GM's agreements with Pontiac dealers expired.

Even before GM's bankruptcy, Pontiac's sales had fallen from their peak of nearly 1 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 such as "Tiger Gold."

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.

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Well there is a lot of fat to be trimmed I think. The fact that you can buy the exact same car from two different manufacturer's only sporting different badges is just stupid really. All of them do it and people fall for it. one trucks a chevy ones a GMC ones $500 more maybe I don't get it.

I think you are correct Sal.

Back when Pontiac made cars like the GTO and the TransAm you were getting a unique vehicle with the Pontac brand name, but today all the cars are the same.

The Toyota and Lexis are the same car but people pay more for the brand name, GMC trucks are more expensive than a Chevy trucks but you get he same product the only difference is what day it ran down the assembly line.