Pontiac Officially No More

Pontiac, a division of General Motors, is officially out of business. Pontiac was made famous by producing muscle cars such as the Trans Am and GTO. Pontiac had earned a spot in American auto manufacturing history during the brands 84 years of operation. Unfortunately, the brand was in decline, GM was not doing well, and in the end the decision to end Pontiac was made.

Declining Sales

General Motors is a business. Pontiac was not building excitement among drivers. According to the AP "by 2008, the last full year before GM announced Pontiac's shutdown, sales were 267,000, less than a third of those sold in 1968." The last Pontiac built was in May and Pontiac sales will make up less than 1% of GM sales. General Motors expects to sell 2.2 million cars this year and Pontiacs will make up less than 22,000 of them.

Bargains

Consumers could find some great bargains on left over Pontiac vehicles. "After this weekend, any new Pontiacs that remain on dealer lots will be considered used cars by GM." This could result in even bigger discounts for customers. Many Pontiacs have already been sliced in price. Bargain shoppers could also have peace of mind as "even after their Pontiac agreements expire, GM dealers will continue to service the cars and honor their warranties."

What Brand Is Next?

General Motors closed down Oldsmobile in the 2000's. Last year they decided to close down Saturn and General Motors had more trouble and closed down the Pontiac Brand in 2010. What brand will General Motors close down the next time they are in trouble? Will the next one be Buick, Cadillac, or Chevrolet? Is it possible General Motors as a whole could go under? In order to survive General Motors will need to be able to compete with Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, Kia and all the rest of the car manufacturers.

Sources:

Article on Yahoo Finance from the Associated Press