📰 Auto News Jim Waldron still tryin to buy Pontiac.

[Oreif]

http://blog.mlive.com/genesee-general-motors/2009/06/general_motors_says_it_will_co.html

Davison, Michigan -- General Motors is saying "nothing is off the table" and that it will consider reasonable offers to buy the Pontiac brand, though the automaker previously has said the brand isn't for sale.

GM dealer Jim Waldron of Jim Waldron Pontiac Buick GMC Inc. in Davison said he and five investors want to buy the brand, plants and equipment needed to make Pontiacs from the bankrupt automaker.

Jim Hopson, a spokesman for the Pontiac brand, said that Pontiac has fewer than 40 standalone Pontiac dealerships nationwide, which would make it hard to sell the brand.

Typically, franchise agreements prohibit dealers from selling competing brands in the same showroom, Hopson said. In all, some 2,500 GM dealerships sell Pontiacs, he said.

"We're not taking anything off the table and we'll listen to any reasonable offer," Hopson said.

"We can not see how it could be a viable business given the fact that it's so interconnected with the other GM brands," he added.

Hopson said he doesn't know if anyone at Pontiac is talking to Waldron. Waldron said he has meetings set up next week on the proposal.

Current GM plans are to phase out the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010. Dealers would wind down their Pontiac inventory by October 2010.

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[firemandan1700]

Is this a glimmer of keeping the pontiac brand alive?!

 

[Mook]

pontiac really has no business sticking around...honestly, aside from the g8, pontiac is a waste

 

[skeezer]

you're a waste

 

[shaferz]

pontiac really has no business sticking around...honestly, aside from the g8, pontiac is a waste

Vibe, G8, G6, Solstice, Torrent. Its a hell of a gamble, but the enthusiasts would jump all over it for sure.

 

[Mook]

the enthusiasts would jump all over the g8...thats it...and its painfully obvious that they didnt even really do that when they had the chance

 

[Yaj Yak]

wasnt the solstice selling well?

 

[James]

Why the fuck would you let something disappear off the face of the planet when someone want to pay you money for it.
Something smells fishy.

 

[slowchevy]

obama got sick of the "poor old ****** thinks its a cadillac" jokes so he's trying to eliminate pontiac.

 

[Bru]

Why the fuck would you let something disappear off the face of the planet when someone want to pay you money for it.
Something smells fishy.

As the current lineup sits most of the cars would likely be competition to Chevrolet. One of the reasons they wanted to kill badge engineering is so their core brand would get a bump in sales. Killing the G6 means people would have to buy a Malibu. Same thing with the Saturn Aura. All midsize sedans, and of course built on the same platform.

 

[Oreif]

As the current lineup sits most of the cars would likely be competition to Chevrolet. One of the reasons they wanted to kill badge engineering is so their core brand would get a bump in sales. Killing the G6 means people would have to buy a Malibu. Same thing with the Saturn Aura. All midsize sedans, and of course built on the same platform.

Penske just bought Saturn and is going to be selling the Aura for a couple of years still.

 

[firemandan1700]

As the current lineup sits most of the cars would likely be competition to Chevrolet. One of the reasons they wanted to kill badge engineering is so their core brand would get a bump in sales. Killing the G6 means people would have to buy a Malibu. Same thing with the Saturn Aura. All midsize sedans, and of course built on the same platform.

You nailed it spot on!

Couldnt say it better myself

 

[Stink Star]

but the G6 is a piece of shit compared to a malibu

 

[James]

As the current lineup sits most of the cars would likely be competition to Chevrolet. One of the reasons they wanted to kill badge engineering is so their core brand would get a bump in sales. Killing the G6 means people would have to buy a Malibu. Same thing with the Saturn Aura. All midsize sedans, and of course built on the same platform.

Very astute observation.

It's hard to predict why they're making the decisions they're making, maybe because they aren't making smart decisions...
They sell Saturn- but will still be producing them- but it sounds like it's only temporary until factories around the world start making Saturn's.

 

[Sprayin]

pontiac really has no business sticking around...honestly, aside from the g8, pontiac is a waste

Thats because GM fucked up Pontiac. If Pontiac were allowed to go in its own direction, instead of just being rebadged Chevy's, I'm sure they could make good cars again.

 

[Boreas]

Wouldn't happen, because it would make to much sense (for us at least), and if its one thing GM is good at is to stop doing things once they are done well (see: GM History).