NYIAS Actually "Remarkable" For Pontiac Relaunch
Pontiac, Beta
Prone to carp and crow as the folks over at The New York Times are at present, the newspaper waxed unenthusiastic at the few original débuts that showcased at the Javits this year.
The Times pinned the blame for the failure to promulgate fresh product on the basis that, “crowded car-show [schedules] left many automakers played out, with little new or remarkable to unwrap in New York.”
Keyword – “remarkable.” Ah, so.
2nd Fiddle
It’s true that despite the show’s location in the media capital of these United States, the New York International Auto Show plays second fiddle to events at lesser destinations like Detroit and Geneva and as such is less a home to first round concept premieres.
That having been said, The Times’ editors managed to give precious few column inches to the fact that NYIAS was particularly significant for at least one carmaker (other than Suzuki) >>>.
Pontiac.
The division has for years wallowed in an identity crisis. Indeed, at last Wednesday’s press conference, Bob Lutz allowed that, “It was just five short years ago that Pontiac had no rear wheel drive cars, just one V8, and enough body cladding to fill Aztec.” That kind of funny talk seemed bloggish somehow…
Anyway, that all changed – dramatically – with the success of the functionally flawed but classically beautiful Solstice roadster. As part of GM’s invite to NYIAS, yours truly asked for and was granted three interviews with various Pontiac execs to discuss the Solstice (stay tuned for the videos).
The folks at Pontiac have since pushed that power envelope further with the introduction of the 6.2 liter, 402 horsepower (!) G8 GXP sedan – “Fiddy” should be getting his very own any day now.
Memory can’t recall a sedan from Pontiac so visually taught.
Couple those sharp looks with a hip and with-it marketing campaign featuring a NYC rock band called the Young Lords >>>, the aforementioned rap star, and a new TV ad that plays off the old arcade game “Spy Hunter” >>> (my personal favorite as a kid) and Pontiac is suddenly ready to be on the map of Gen X’s automotive lexicon.
Considerably less hip is Pontiac’s G8 based truck that looks like a lousy after thought. Indeed, 50 Cent himself seemed to have trouble pushing the ’09 El Camino.
Still for all the creative spark that’s finally hit the troubled GM division, let’s hope the youthful exuberance is here to stay.
About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
J | Mar 24, 2008 | Reply
It is nice to see that Pontiac is having a bit of a resurrection (and at Easter even), but a somewhat successful Pontiac does nothing to help GM resolve its problem of having too many brands to provide distinctive and innovative products, and then have the money to market them properly.
At last years NY show the Saturn Aura was the darling of the show with a bit of promotion from GM and then nothing as they had committed the big bucks to launching Buick CUVs (yawn) and spread the rest of the money pretty much evenly around the rest of the products. The result being that the Aura is a decent car that no one hears about.
GM needs to be 3, maybe 4 brands, Chevy, Cadillac and ?, so two of the three, Pontiac, Buick or Saturn needs to die.
Jim
Gunnar Heinrich | Mar 24, 2008 | Reply
I’m not sure I buy the too many “brands” bit. For years the formula worked very well for the General.
With effective management practice – there’s every reason to figure that the formula can be made to work. They have to make sure 1) quality continues to improve (sharply) and 2) that the brands maintain distinct identities to avoid extinction.
We have only to the look at the VW-Audi Group to see that this is so.
Zarba | Mar 24, 2008 | Reply
I’m with J on this.
GM could have so many brands back when they controlled 50% of the market in the US, but with thier market share at 21% and falling, they are over-saturated.
Of perhaps more importance than the number of brands is the fact that GM has far too many dealers, which average 1/3 the unit sales of a comaprable Toyota dealership. This has led to internecine price wars as dealers struggle to survive. This “race to the bottom” is destroying GM’s brands and killing resale values.
GM needs Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and maybe Buick. Saturn and Pontiac, which cannibalize sales mostly from Chevy, need to go.
Most of all, GM needs to pare its dealer network by about 40% so the dealers can survive, and to kill off the disastrous priced cutting among competing dealers that hurts overall profitability, since GM is forced to put incentive dollars on the cars to move them.
Unfortunately, US franchise laws make it nearly impossible for GM to cut dealers.
The G8 should have been the new Impala. No need to continue to pour resources into a dead brand like Pontiac.
Or Saturn. The Aura *is* the same as a Malibu, thought the Malibu is more developed, and the Astra should be the Cobalt. The Vue should be the small Chevy SUV.
GM launches a good car, but then they whither on the vine for lack of marketing resources. G6, Aura, Vue, Torrent, Vibe, Lucerne, XLR, the list goes on and on.
steane | Mar 25, 2008 | Reply
Gunnar! You don’t like the ute G8 ute (truck). Its a poster boy over here in Oz.
I’m not sure if the VE Commodore based Pontiacs will save the brand but they are damn fine cars for the money.
One wonders just how relevant the 6.0-litre plus V8′s are going to be with the price of fuel on the rise – and it hurts me to say that as I was the owner of the previous model LS2 equipped Oz version of the Ute (truck). It rocked!!! And drank like a fish…
Gunnar Heinrich | Mar 25, 2008 | Reply
Zarba and Jim – there is room for a US sports sedan carmaker that sells primarily under $30K. This market exists! And Pontiac is best positioned to fill it.
They need to get Honda level quality and keep the flash.
Gunnar Heinrich | Mar 25, 2008 | Reply
Steane, I have to say that the mini Pontiac truck looks like a bad afterthought. The way the door is squeezed in next to a pointless rear window- looks awkward to be kind.