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This past year, it was announced that Pontiac was being shut down as a brand. As of Hallow's eve, it has ceased to exist completely. The brand had been jettisoned along with other under-performing brands under the General Motors banner. Saturn, Hummer, Pontiac, and several other brand names had to be divested or shuttered. It had been one of the oldest and best known brand names for some time. Pontiac was the embodiment of the muscle automobile, and its machines sold for incredibly reasonable costs.
Pontiac is no more
Pontiac was just one of the brands that General Motors got rid of during its bankruptcy. The brand had been suffering as of 2008, and GM decided to allow Pontiac to pass away. USA Today reports that Pontiac isn’t a corporate entity anymore, as of Sun. Models of Chevrolet and Buick seemed to be too much of Pontiac. Numerous were upset that General Motors had done this with the brand. From the late 1950s to the 1980s, Pontiac had been synonymous with raw horsepower, and many of the archetypes of muscle cars are indeed Pontiacs.
Looking into history
Pontiac had been launched in 1926 as a budget brand for working class families. General Motors had to rethink the car as the sales within the 1950s were really decreasing. Racing cars tended to be Pontiac cars for a when there. Then, the Detroit muscle car came out at the Pontiac GTO in 1965. ”Gran Turismo Omolagato” is what GTO stands for. It was made following the inspiration from Italian sport tour cars. John DeLorean got a small team together which put a 389-cubic-inch engine under the hood with a Tempest frame. In 1968, 17 percent of GM sales were these cars proving its popularity. Other successes, like the powerful Pontiac Trans Am of the Firebird line followed, but the brand was shifted from its horsepower focus by the 1980s.
It had been no longer worth it
From the 1980s to the 2000s, Pontiac had been no longer sold as a performance brand, and sales reflected it. As of 2008, fewer than 275,000 were selling annually. The demise of Pontiac marks an unfortunate end to a former legend.
Citations
USA Today
usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-11-01-pontiac-vanishes_N.htm
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We all know that General Motors shortened for GM is the world's second largest automotive makers. Having an employee about 209,000 people. The company's bankruptcy is really such a bad news especially for those employees that are going to lose their job. First-half profits for General Motors Co. reached $6.3 billion, reports Automotive News.
Yet as reported by Automotive News, GM CEO was not happy. Austerity measures are in the future. The proof is here: Despite record first-half profit, GM plans major cuts