Quote:
Originally Posted by 1965gp
I guess I never understood why they could not keep Pontiac in the US and sell Buick’s in China? It’s not as if they are selling the same car in the US and China, there are many structural, design and safety differences.
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GM didn’t give Pontiac the ax entirely on its own; the government also played a bigger role than people know. See post #29. Pontiac had been in decline for some time, due to mismanagement both at the Pontiac and corporate levels and corporate in-fighting primarily from Chevy.
The you-tube link below gives a pretty accurate view of the History of Pontiac. At the 1:12:30 mark Bob Lutz answered a question about the elimination of Pontiac. For those afraid to open the link the take-aways are; No bail out loans-too many brands cutting into the bottom line. Something has to go and initially they only wanted to keep Chevy and Cadillac; Two, so yes the Chinese Buick market was a factor; Three,
Government-how much money did Pontiac make in the last 10 years? GM answer-NONE….Government-PONTIAC IS GONE….
Per Mr. Lutz—when someone is going to give you a check for 53 billion dollars, the choice is pretty easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odb0eFs_3xU