Pontiac: Try to Catch the Wind

Houston, Texas, June 2007

I remember the performance Pontiacs of the past.

A buddy had a '66 GTO convert, equipped with the 360 hp HO option. He liked to play tricks on his passengers.

We'd pick up a couple of strange girls and go for a ride.

He'd pull up to a two lane state highway tee-intersection. As cross traffic approached, maybe 100 yards away, doing about 60 mph, he would crawl out of the side road in the same direction as the traffic.

Real nonchalant like.

When we were square in the lane, with the other driver bearing down on us and his brakes, he would mash the pedal and wind first gear to redline, about 67 mph.

In those days, most young women had never experienced the stimulating rush of that combination of fear and acceleration.

At 67 mph, with the other car rapidly receding, he dropped the big chrome Hurst floor shift quietly from first into fourth gear.

Real confident and casual, we'd grin at the girls.

We built excitement, before Pontiac coined the slogan.

Little GTO

A couple of years ago, Pontiac's future was widely discussed.

Drifting from its heyday identity, a series of boxy products had sales declining.

General Motors chose not to axe the brand, but to condense Pontiac, Buick, and GMC into one channel.

Pontiacs, it was decided, would revert to the performance niche with a product lineup of powerful rear-wheel-drive cars.

GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz summed it up: "We want to make Pontiac an affordable, American BMW."

A narrowed range of products, and a younger target demographic, would lower sales, but define a niche for the marque.

This lofty goal will require far more resources than GM is ready to invest.

Today the marque overlaps with Saturn and Chevrolet, faces strong Asian competition, and is reduced to a marketing co-channel without product development of its own.

Pontiac's product line-up has long consisted of rebadged Chevies and other platform-sharing. Many of these rebadged cars were purely cosmetic, often plastic, makeovers.

Platform sharing has become an industry standard practice, but this is pure badge engineering.

There is even a joint venture: Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe.

Today's performance cars, especially the BMW, are a far cry from the straight-line dragsters of the GTO muscle car era.

Handling and braking are as important as acceleration, and buyers demand luxury features.

Underfunded Pontiac has a couple real problems competing here.

G'day Mate

Pontiac's traditional soft riding image is inconsistent with tight handling.

Excessive body roll in the corners was part of the reason for the 400 hp Holden Monaro-based GTO's lack of success.

Holden is GM's Australia division: using hopped up Holdens saved big money over a ground up redesign.

The new 362 hp rear drive 2008 Pontiac G8 might be the promised "poor man's BMW."

Yes, it's a rebadged Holden Commodore from Australia, but the same Zeta platform is under the new Camaro.

My problem with this picture is price: just how "affordable" is GM's BMW 3-series killer?

Rumors of a $35K base price have been leaked.

I remember the promises of a $20K roadster resulting in $35K marked up Solstices.

If this car delivers in the upper thirties to low forties, it will flop just as GTO did.

Pontiac has been selling over 400,000 vehicles annually, still respectable volume.

But back in '86, 952,943 vehicles were sold.

Where will the new performance themed Pontiac bottom out? After a couple more years we'll know if sales volume will support the condensed brand.

Pontiac Quality

JD Power's 2007 Initial Quality Study gave Pontiacs 26 stars out of 40, an average score.

Power's latest three-year dependability study, on 2004 models, ranked the brand 23rd of 37, well below the industry average. Ironically, Buick finished 2nd.

Consumer Reports (CR) has "recommended" labels on three of the six Pontiacs listed in the 2007 Annual Auto Issue. Fifty percent is above average at CR.

Grand Prix was a 2007 JD Power Initial Quality "Large Car" category winner.

Other than the red hot Solstice, often flipped for a premium, the brand has above average depreciation.

Dealer Network Condensing

2800 dealers once sold Pontiacs.

GM is consolidating Buick, Pontiac, and GMC into single dealerships.

This plan means many models sit on the tarmac rather than in the showroom.

Pontiac's demographic represents some of the youngest buyers in the auto industry, with an average age around 40.

How does that core demographic fit GMC's slightly upscale pickups, and Buicks for old golfers?

During a recent visit to one such dealer, in Houston, Texas, I saw a large force of obviously inexperienced salespeople, and no customers. A sharp Solstice dominated the showroom with a $4K dealer additional markup sticker on the windshield.

Across the street, Saturn Sky is selling for MSRP. Who is Pontiac kidding?

If a poor man's BMW is the goal, then they're at least 5 years away.

I think the goal will not be reached before the next big oil crisis. GM was wise not to bet the farm on V8 powered hotrods.

But I still hope the new Pontiacs can bring back the old excitement.

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