Pontiac seems to be sinking

[walt]

Just read and article in auto week about how well Buick and Hummer have been doing with the incentives of july. Seems Buick is up 36.4% and Hummer and amazing 210.5%.In the mist of this pontiac sales fell 14%. Seems the 400 horsepower GTO is impressing few performance buffs as they would rather wait in line for a Mustang, and even though Solstice sales showed promise at the begining they are not selling as well as Pontiac hoped. Pontiac plans to take the Solstice racing with factory race models to help keep the Solstice head above water.How this will affect the Sky sales I dont know,but Im hoping GM will do more with the Sky in the ad dept then they did with the Solstice.

[Galileo]

Saturn of State College, PA recently had a customer, a 20-something male, put down a deposit on the SKY. No big deal, right? Well, before he put the deposit down, he canceled his order for a C6 Corvette convertible because he saw the SKY at an event in PA... I think that's saying a lot! IMO, the Solstice will appeal to an older generation while the SKY will attract a younger demographic just because of the styling differences between the Pontiac and the Saturn. In any case, neither of these cars will ever have a significant impact on either make's sales totals. The production volumes are too low. These are simply halo cars meant to attract people to the showroom where customers will most likely be apt to buy more practical offerings.

[L300GATTLINGGUN]

The G8 Sedan and Solstice should save them within 2 years time.
G6 picked up big time last month to almost 12,000 units
up from like 7 or 8k per month.

The G6 has several models coming out which will boost sales.
1.3.5 liter v-6 GT
2.3.9 liter v-6 GTP
3.retractable hardtop convertible GTP
4. 2.4 liter entry level 4-cylinder model
5. 276hp 3.6 liter GXP model

and everything else in between.
The G6 hasn't been out even a year yet
and the packages are just rolling out.

[mikec]

Pontiac doesn't have alot to offer right now. Some closeout Sunfires, Grand Am's and Bonnevilles that are probably not available at most dealers. The G6, which, IMO, looks like a glorifed Neon, a minivan that has had 3 or 4 names since it came out, a bland looking GTO and I'm not sure that the Solstice even comes under the Employee Discount promotion. I think that they need to do something to bolster Pontiac or it will be the next GM brand to go.

[97_Saturn_SL2]

Walt, fyi, those are not year to date increases, but - I believe - increases from "year ago" sales. In other words, Hummer is up 200% when comparing this June's sales to June 2004 sales.

The GTO may seem like it is selling slowly, but keep in mind that it was NEVER intended to be a high volume car. It's projected and intended sales volumes are in the 12k to 18k unit range (basically an order of magnitude lower than the 150k unit Mustang, which is sold as a rental car and often comes as a base V6 car, while the GTO comes only as a loaded 400 hp version).

I think the G6 will continue to climb, once a) the public realizes that it is effectively the new Grand Am (changing the name had its good points and bad points), and b) the other engines/body styles/trim levels come out. At first you could only get a base or GT trimmed 4 door sedan, both with the same 200 hp V6 and automatic transmission. Soon you'll be able to get a base car with a ~170 hp 4 cylinder, the GT with the 200 hp V6, and the GTP with a 245 hp V6 and six speed manual (or the automatic). Also, the coupe and retractable hardtop convertible will be coming out (also in GT or GTP trim). That should add some volume; remember that the Grand Am had coupe and sedan body styles and 4 cylinder or V6 power.

The upcoming Equinox-based Torrent (practically a rebadge, but still a nice small/mid suv) should move a little better than the outgoing Aztek, too.

All that being said, Pontiac does need some help right now. The Solstice will help a lot, as will the coupe version that is rumored to be coming after the Solstice and Sky roadsters hit the market. GM has said that Pontiac, Buick, and GMC will be more aligned, and certain vehicles will be dropped/added as needed to streamline their lineups. I imagine that the Montana will go away as Pontiac moves more toward the "excitement" image, for example.

[LTS]

I guess people just don't like the Remington Micro-screen grills. Strange, I can't imagine why people wouldn't want to drive something like that!

[spencerb]

At least they don't have two foot wide ribbed plastic cladding on the sides anymore.

[GR898SL2]

http://www.autoextremist.com/page2.shtml

I agree 100% with Peter D's rant. Pontiac has the Solstice, G6 and to an extent the GTO, but not much else after that. Sorry the Pontiac 'Nox, er, Torrent, doesn't cut it in my book, even if it sells more than the Aztek.

Pontiac has a serious problem, especially as they wrestle with what product eventually replaces the Sunfire. The Vibe can't do it alone and the Torana concept or a Kappa-based sedan/hatch looks like something genuinely feasible to slot below G6.

If they put the Canadian Pursuit in the American market, it's going to open up a hornet's nest. Think the media is dumping on Pontiac now, just wait until GM greenlights Corporate Rebadge #3 to keep a griping dealer network at bay.

I wish Pontiac well. It's the only GM brand I actually like outside of Saturn.

[cdp326]

GM distinguished the Sunfire and Cavy a good deal to at least keep them somewhat unique in styling, and they have the ION (both current and presumably the 2007) and Cobalt are different in styling. I think the first thing Pontiac needs to do is get a new trim level naming scheme; they've been using SE and GT for years. If Pontiac does get a version of the Cobalt, I think it should be called the G4 or they'll look stupid for having the G6 name and nothing else like it in names; the problems with G4 would be the videogame channel on TV copyrights. If that pans out, then I'd suggest the G3, like the Mazda 3 and such.
I'd also suggest making the possible G8 based off the next GTO platform, with the GTO the highest level model there much like the first GTO's.