Pontiac RIP. What Happened To Pontiac?

Ten years ago GM announced that Pontiac car brand would be dropped. In business since 1926, Pontiac was discontinued in April, 2009. A brand of General Motors, Pontiac made vehicles and muscle cars that defined an era with legendary models.

There are so many wonderful cars that Pontiac has offered over the years. Responsible for the GTO, Fire Bird, Fiero, Solstice, G8 and of course, the Aztek. In the ’70s, the Grand Prix defined the personal luxury car. Laugh now, but they flew off dealer lots back in the day. They have resulted in top sales and very good memories.
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Many will tell you that the Pontiac line of cars is the best product that GM has ever offered. That is a prestigious honor when you think about all of the wholesale vehicles that GM has been producing for many decades.

Two of the most popular muscle cars of Pontiac are the Firebird and the Trans Am. They are very similar to the Chevy Camaro of the early days, but Pontiac was able to offer some great elements such as the bird on the front of the Trans Am and the lower price of the Firebird.

If you go back even further, though, you will find that the Pontiac GTO was a star from the very start. It continues to be one of the vehicles that set the bar high for the future of all muscle cars. It was bold and risky and that really paid off for Pontiac. They were also able to show that they could be a leader in the market and not a follower when it came to the top-selling vehicles.

If you take a look through the various Pontiac vehicles that have been offered, you will find that in every era they have something to offer. They have always been on top of the game when it comes to performance and design. They have not always been wholesale with pricing and interior details but they did try to stay within the price range of most consumers.

So, what killed Pontiac? Pontiac’s problem was not sales. The problem for Pontiac was profitability. This, of course, was an oversimplification. In 2000s car market was flooded with really cheap cars. Plastic body cladding proliferated. Rebadged Chevy (and Korean) compact cars. Inferior build quality. Those were the bad times for Pontiac. No matter how good or interesting its vehicles were, the Pontiac name had zero equity in the market.




While you may have your own preference about the best Pontiac vehicles, you have to agree that there were some terrific cars that came off the production line. It also makes you wonder what Pontiac may have had in mind for consumers in the years ahead. Many were quite sad when GM liquidated Pontiac products.

There is hope, though, that one day they will revive and once again offer great cars and great memories. The good news is that there are many of them still out there with lots of life in them. As a result, consumers can get the vehicle they want and even enjoy the fun of restoring a classic Pontiac. That can help them to vividly remember early memories of driving or riding in a great Pontiac.

In the video below Nolan Sykes explained what happened to Pontiac.