Oh really? In 4 years you guys will be comparing the Dart unfavorably with its replacement and calling it a POS. No thanks. Pontiac should have stayed Firebird-GTO-Solstice-G8... (and marketed properly)... these will be remembered fondly 20 years later... which is like Dodge with only the Viper, Charger and Challenger.
I'd have to disagree. we knew the Caliber was crap when it came out because it was a (bad) attempt at making a mini Magnum. We knew it was ugly. That's why it didn't sell. We knew the Sunfire and Grand Am weren't going to sell. we were all disappointed/frustrated when the G6 came out looking incredibly boring and nothing like the concept.
We do however know what the Giulietta is like it's been tested by several media outlets; it's gotten favorable reviews. We do know that this is an arguably attractive design (As opposed to the Caliber which is arguably NOT), that is similar to another car (Charger) that has a measure of attractiveness.
Look at a Charger. Sure, it's not a '62 Ferrari 250 GT, or a Jaguar E-Type but yet at the same time one is drawn to it because it has its own visual appeal. The Dart borrows some of that, and then struts its own stuff. true we don't know if the Dart will turn out to be a total piece, but it looks far more promising than any Caliberneonshadow that came before it. Compared to its predecessors, you see my point on the Dart, don't you?
Producing ONLY Firebird/G8/Solstice/GTO would not have been a viable alternative for Pontiac. That would have made it too niche, and would have seriously hurt its sales chances, especially if it's limited to sports cars like this (which, don't forget, tend to be rather expensive). Pontiac needed viable mainstream vehicles to keep it afloat. The problem is they could have made a compact and small-midsizer that could still be sporty instead of just "look" sporty and just be a crappy Aveo underneath (and just barely underneath, remember?) Pontiac could have made competitive product that could be mainstream and affordable, but they didn't because:
..bombshell..
GM didn't give a $h!. they thought they were invincible. They thought they could sell subpar product and stay on top of the heap forever and ever. but then when it hit the fan, their countermeasures were too little too late. this is why we don't have a Pontiac anymore.
And I'm hardly a new-car fanboy. I'll point out for instance, that I still own an almost seven year old Cobalt (that I baby to death, mind you) and dislike Cruzes. I still own a 15 year old Camaro, and while i still want a new one, I'm not willing to give up my old one (It's like my firstborn son).