Pontiac (automobile)
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| Division of General Motors | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Fate | General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization |
| Founded | Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan, United States (1926) |
| Defunct | October 31, 2010 |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
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Key people
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Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen John Z. DeLorean |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Parent | General Motors |
| Website | pontiac.com |
Pontiac was a car brand that was owned, made, and sold by General Motors. Introduced as a companion make for GM's more expensive line of Oakland automobiles, Pontiac overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent brand entirely by 1933.
Sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico by GM, Pontiac was advertised as the performance division of General Motors from the 1960s onward.
Amid late 2000s financial problems and restructuring efforts, GM announced in 2008 it would follow the same path with Pontiac as it had with Oldsmobile in 2004 and discontinue manufacturing and marketing vehicles under that brand by the end of 2010. The last Pontiac badged cars were built in December 2009, with one final vehicle in January, 2010. Franchise agreements for Pontiac dealers expired October 31, 2010, leaving GM to focus on its four remaining North American brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.
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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