Pontiac
 |
|
| Division of General Motors | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Fate | General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization |
| Successor |
Chevrolet Buick GMC |
| Founded | Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan, United States (1926) |
| Defunct | October 31, 2010 |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
|
Key people
|
Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen John Z. DeLorean |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Parent | General Motors |
| Website | www |
Pontiac was a brand of automobiles manufactured and sold by General Motors (GM); though production ended in 2010, Pontiac remains a registered and active trademark of GM. The Pontiac automobile brand was established in 1926 as a companion make for GM's more expensive line of Oakland automobiles.
The Pontiac cars overtook its Oakland parent in popularity and supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933. Pontiac became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by GM. Pontiac was advertised as the performance division of General Motors for many years, while specializing in mainstream vehicles. Pontiac was relatively more popular in Canada, where for much of its history it was marketed as a low-priced vehicle.
In late 2008 and early 2009, amid financial problems and restructuring efforts, GM announced it would discontinue manufacturing and marketing vehicles under the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010 and focus on four core brands in North America: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. The last Pontiac badged cars were built in December 2009, with one final vehicle built in January, 2010. Franchise agreements for Pontiac dealers expired October 31, 2010.
The Pontiac brand was introduced by General Motors in 1926 as the companion marque to GM's Oakland division, and shared the GM A platform. It was named after the famous Ottawa chief who had also given his name to the city of Pontiac, Michigan where the car was produced. Within months of its introduction, Pontiac was outselling Oakland, which was essentially a 1920s Chevrolet with a six-cylinder engine installed. Body styles offered included a sedan with both two and four doors, Landau Coupe, with the Sport Phaeton, Sport Landau Sedan, Sport Cabriolet and Sport Roadster. As a result of Pontiac's rising sales, versus Oakland's declining sales, Pontiac became the only companion marque to survive its parent, with Oakland ceasing production in 1932. It was also manufactured from knock-down kits at GM's short-lived Japanese factory at Osaka Assembly in Osaka, Japan from 1927-1941.
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Wikipedia