What if? Pontiac had gone slumming...

[SAmadei]

I'm sure there will be 'what if' posts about Pontiac for a long time to come... since this forum has been kinda dull, I thought of one.

So, I was driving behind a Scion tC with fart pipes and a booming stereo, and once I was able to get around the slowpoke, I was thinking about the positioning of Scion in the Toyota hive. Obviously, Scion isn't doing as well as planned, but with a lot of people viewing Toyota (and Honda) as being somewhat upmarket over Chevy and Ford, I was thinking that perhaps GM needed to shake up the brand ranking.

Since Chevy is trying to go eye to eye with Toyota, GM has a vacuum forming at the low end, where the young drivers are. Its been brought up on the forum before that Pontiac could have been GM's Scion, but why stop there... Since Pontiacs have been lambasted as rental car premium wannabes, perhaps GM should have revamped the line so that most Pontiacs undercut Chevy... by a considerable margin... just to ensure that young people started grabbing Pontiacs as the first rung in the GM ladder. The Aveo would be an upmarket G3, the Malibu an upmarket G6... the G8/GTO, well, Pontiac would still have a few cars for those of us who never really grow up. This way, GM could still sell the bulk of cars as Chevys... but now slightly upmarket as a slight upmarket premium, yet still have a channel to bring in new blood... and since the young are a fickle crowd, GM could feel more comfortable trying out the experimental styling on Pontiac.

Thoughts? Discuss.

[Blake Noble]

Nah, I wouldn't have went for it. Sending Pontiac further down the spiral would've only served to support negative public perception and the brand's eventual closing. Pontiac shut its doors as a brand that was working to recapture its former glory and I suppose I could settle for that (I shouldn't have to, though).

[Justin Bimmer]

wasnt that what geo was for?

[Blake Noble]

wasnt that what geo was for?

Yes and to capture import buyers. Look how that turned out.

[Z-06]

NO

[Camino LS6]

Polar opposite of what should have been done.

[Camino LS6]

Without RWD, it should stay dead.

[Blake Noble]

Without RWD, it should stay dead.

Agreed.

[zmanjr80210]

geo was the import fighter where gm placed their foreign built products into.. however it was never a scion brand as the buyer could not really customize their geo via the factory like scion buyers can. and for scion the biggest seller is the Tc which one could say is the Toyota Celica gone to Scion.... I think that the MR2 and Celica and perhaps even the Supra should be scion and all rear wheel drive and no higher then about $20,000 for the supra.

[hyperv6]

If Pontiac had been given the LNF Ecotec Turbo and used it in the G5 and G6 then let GM Performance Division tune each of their cars in the line that would have sold more cars than anything.

Pontiac would have been a contender vs pretender in the performance group.

Imagine a G5 with the Cobalt SS drivetrain. That could be bought for $20K. Leave off all the cradding crap and offer it with a big wing and one without.

The real killer of Pontiac was the fact it was a performace division with little to no performance. Unless you wanted a big sedan or a 2 seater you were screwed. A great FWD performce car would have been better than nothing and the Cobalt SS is one sweet car to drive. Just check the lap times at the ring and at VIR vs a Mustang GT.

Pontiac with no performance cars is like Cadillac selling cars like a Cavalier. And we know how that turned out.

[GMTruckGuy74]

I agree with you hyperv6... if Pontiac offered the LNF 2.0 I4 Ecotec Turbo in the G5 (plus offering the G5 in sedan form too) and in the G6 as part of the GXP package for those two cars, I'm sure more attention would have been paid to the brand by the audience that desires that type of product. And with the G6 getting the LNF, it would have been another way to differeniate that car from the Malibu. But alas, GM had made its mind up about Pontiac long ago and those plans called for it t die a slow, painful death.

[hyperv6]

I agree with you hyperv6... if Pontiac offered the LNF 2.0 I4 Ecotec Turbo in the G5 (plus offering the G5 in sedan form too) and in the G6 as part of the GXP package for those two cars, I'm sure more attention would have been paid to the brand by the audience that desires that type of product. And with the G6 getting the LNF, it would have been another way to differeniate that car from the Malibu. But alas, GM had made its mind up about Pontiac long ago and those plans called for it t die a slow, painful death.

The sad part is when I was at Lordstown last fall playing on the shut down assembley line. I still cant berleive they let us mess with the cars. They has built a G5 Turbo. The plant built one and they use it on the grounds to run around. I am sad to say that when it's time is up it will be crushed. So if anyone should ever ask there was one G5 Turbo and most people will neve know it was ever built.

The good news is that GM is loking to use the LNF or variations of it in many new cars. This will not only give GM the MPG they need to add but a very advanced and techinical engine. Imagine a Malibu with this engine that woulf give a little more HP and more MPG. Or even in a Nox over the V6.

All I know is I said years ago I would never buy a 4 cylinder but today I own one a love it. Sad to say it has more power than the 72 Big Block Chevy I had.

[Chicagoland]

Pontiac started slumming it when the Canadian Pontiac dealers demanded the Vega cloned Astre. Then we got it and then T1000... we know the rest.

Edited August 3, 2009 by Chicagoland