Pontiac (automobile)

This article is about the automobile brand. For other uses, see Pontiac (disambiguation).

Pontiac
Company typeBrand (1926–1931)[1]
Division (1931–2010)[2]
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1926; 98 years ago (1926)[1]
FounderGeneral Motors
DefunctOctober 31, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-10-31)
FateClosed upon General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization
HeadquartersDetroit, Michigan, United States
Area served
Canada, United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Middle East
Key people
Frank Hershey
Irving Jacob Reuter
Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen
John Z. DeLorean
ProductsAutomobiles
ParentOakland Motor Car
(1925–1931)
General Motors
(1931–2010)[2]

Pontiac, or formally the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors, was an American automobile brand owned, manufactured, and commercialized by General Motors. It was originally introduced as a companion make for GM's more expensive line of Oakland automobiles.[3] Pontiac quickly overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent entirely by 1933, in turn establishing its position as one of GM's dominant divisions.

Sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by GM, Pontiac came to represent affordable, practical transportation with an emphasis on performance. The division’s name stems from the Odawa chieftain Pontiac, who led an indigenous uprising around the city of Detroit from 1763 to 1766.

In the hierarchy of GM's five divisions, it slotted above Chevrolet but below Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. Starting with the 1959 models, marketing was focused on selling the lifestyle that the car's ownership promised rather than the car itself.[4] By emphasizing its "Wide Track" design, Pontiac billed itself as the "performance division" of General Motors that marketed cars with the "we build excitement" tag line.[5][6][7][8][9]

Facing financial problems in the late 2000s and a need to restructure, as a prequisite for a $53 billion government bailout, GM agreed to discontinue the Pontiac brand;[10] the final Pontiac, a white G6, was assembled in January 2010.[11] Franchise agreements for Pontiac dealers expired on October 31, 2010, leaving GM to focus on its four remaining North American brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.[12]

  1. ^ a b Hamer, Tony; Hamer, Michele (May 18, 2018). "The Life and Death of Pontiac". LiveAbout. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference kimes1996 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Niedermeyer, Paul (March 13, 2010). "An Illustrated History Of Pontiac: Part I – 1926 To 1970". The Truth About Cars. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  4. ^ Peek, Jeff (April 11, 2019). "Fitzpatrick and Kaufman's 10 best Pontiac ads". Hagerty. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  5. ^ "A Tribute to the Best of Pontiac". Car and Driver. July 13, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  6. ^ Gunnell, John (2012). Standard Catalog of Pontiac, 1926-2002. Penguin. ISBN 9781440232404. Retrieved March 5, 2023. 1984 was a banner year for Pontiac and the division took a major step up, as the performance division of General Motors.
  7. ^ Young, Anthony (2000). Camaro. MBI Publishing. p. 42. ISBN 9780760307830. Retrieved March 5, 2023. That was a good decision by GM, because Pontiac was very much the performance division at General Motors.
  8. ^ "The New Pontiac Bonneville (advertisement)". Ebony. Vol. 42, no. 1. November 1986. p. 43. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  9. ^ Kirshenbaum, Richard (2011). Madboy: Beyond Mad Men: Tales from the Mad, Mad World of Advertising. Open Road Media. ISBN 9781453211410. Retrieved March 5, 2023. The national theme for the Pontiac dealers was "We build excitement"
  10. ^ https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-obama-announces-auto-industry-shakeup
  11. ^ Streeter, Mercedes (October 17, 2022). "The Last Pontiac Ever Built Ended Up In A Museum. And By Museum I Mean An Insurance Auction". The Autopian. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  12. ^ "Why Did GM Discontinue Pontiac?". gmauthority.com. Retrieved January 16, 2023.