In reply to szeis4cookie:
The coupe was announced very shortly before the plug was pulled, had the plug not been pulled it would have sold more, it's not like it was out there for years not selling. However that car would not ever be a high volume seller, ask the BRZ/FRS/Miata et al.
But the question was could it be had in any other division, which it couldn't. So I stand that my answer is correct and the production numbers are meaningless. Pontiac had three unique performance oriented offerings that you could not get anywhere else in the states.
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: Pontiac had three unique performance oriented offerings that you could not get anywhere else in the states.
That nobody wanted enough to actually, you know, buy. Automakers the size of GM don't live on hopes and dreams, they live on sales in mass quantities. If it doesn't sell or isn't awesome enough to get people in the door to buy the Blandmobile X then it is useless. And Pontiac wasn't selling G8s, GTOs, or Solstices in six figure numbers. And those cars weren't awesome enough to get people in the door and then maybe think about buying a Grand Prix.
A small automaker could have worked with those numbers, and a small automaker would have been thrilled with those numbers, but GM is the opposite of a small automaker.
In reply to Knurled:
Pontaics fate was sealed long before those cars were even thought of. If the GTO and G8 and Solstice had been hugely successful it still would have been far too little far too late, they were already done.
I'm sorry I missed this thread yesterday. Would have gone out and ripped a nice smoky burn-out in memoriam.
Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote:
In reply to Knurled:
Pontaics fate was sealed long before those cars were even thought of. If the GTO and G8 and Solstice had been hugely successful it still would have been far too little far too late, they were already done.
I would argue that Pontiac's decline started in the '90s when somebody thought that their "we build excitement" division needed a freaking minivan.
I think the best way they could have saved most of the divisions was to avoid giving every division a full lineup, and force dealerships to consolidate - either to an "Everything GM" dealership, or possibly give options of a Chevrolet-only dealership or an everything-but-Chevies dealership. Then, set a rule that no more than two divisions may have substantially similar platform mates and the platform mates need a very clear differentiation - radically different styling, different powertrains, or one version is seriously decontented. Changes so drastic that you can't tell the vehicles are corporate twins (e.g. a sedan and crossover SUV on the same platform) would not count towards the limit.
A good example of how much duplication they had: I was recently looking for a GM W body with the 3.8 supercharged V6. GM offered no less than four different body shells and nameplates for this particular combo - Impala SS, Monte Carlo SS, Grand Prix GTP, and Regal GS. If I'd been looking for a naturally aspirated 3.8 instead, there would have been five models to chose from, as the Oldsmobile Intrigue didn't have the supercharged 3.8 offered. Not very much to distinguish these options from each other except that the Monte Carlo and some Grand Prixes have two doors and the rest have four. (I later found out that the Regal has a somewhat shorter wheelbase.) Was it really worthwhile to have separate tooling, ad campaigns, etc. for that many variants?
my dad's 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix GT Sedan was the car I learned to drive on.
At the time we also owned a 1998 Pontiac Montana SE SWB, which was the first car I drove to school.
