GM, I'm begging you, I am down on my knees: Don't kill the Pontiac.

[Mike 03]

Please go back to making Trans Ams...

Kill all the brands you want, just not the Pontiac....

[hippywife]

1. I'm with you on that.

I've owned three Grand Am. One used and two new. They were all great, reliable cars. I would love a hybrid one.

I do not, however, know what they were thinking with the Aztek. Totally out of character with their usual body styles.

:hi:

[Jamastiene]

2. OMG, I agree!

I had no idea. Are they thinking about doing away with the Pontiacs? OMG, that would be an atrocity. Can't they get rid of something else like those newish box shaped atrocities?

[DainBramaged]

5. It is a possibility.

Saturn, Saab and Hummer will go first. Between the three of them there are less than a thousand dealerships across the country. GMC and Pontiac may go second round. It will be Chevy, Buick, Cadillac in the end.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. Saturns and Saabs do not suck, unlike Pontiacs and Hummers

[DainBramaged]

11. Hummers, let the owners wallow in shame debt, Pontiac's, no

great stuff coming out of there for the first time in 25 years. New G8, new Holden ElCamino like pickup, A better G6 was on the horizon. Now possibly dead.

[lizziegrace]

3. I agree

I looked for a used Grand Prix when I bought my car. My first car was a 1969 Pontiac Catalina.

[crimsonblue]

4. They should axe all car models that don't make money...

irregardless of make or brand.

[DainBramaged]

6. That's ALL of the econoboxes, ALL of them. From ALL of the manufacturers.

[crimsonblue]

7. that's not true

The Big 3 make good money off their entry sedans, because they sell so many in bulk to rental agencies, governements, and private companies. What we don't need is 8 different flavors of entry car. The companies need to consolidate their product line so that they aren't selling the same thing twice.

[DainBramaged]

8. NO they do not, fleet sales are no profit sales

and THAT is why the big three have virtually eliminated fleet sales to rental agencies in the past two year. Entry sedans are just that, entry sedans. The Profit is in the options and in SUVs and loaded trucks. Ask a dealer to order you a base sedan. Your wait will be intolerable. It may not even be built. being (connected) to GM, I know. And a few dealerships I know have left fleet sales because they make NO money delivering fleet, not worth the time. You can't make money selling volume if there is no money to be made at any quantity.

Big 3 Production Cuts Mean Higher Prices For Rental Cars


As the nation's Big Three auto makers remake themselves into smaller, leaner companies, the rental car business is suffering collateral damage.

All three have cut production this year to bring supply in line with lower demand for their products, and further cuts are inevitable next year. They're also trying to wean themselves from rebates and other incentives to bring sales prices closer to the sticker.

That means fewer cars available for low-profit bulk sales to rental companies, and some industry analysts and rental company officials say that already has led to price increases at the airport service counter.

"I think they're going to have increased costs, which they will have to try to pass on," said Michael Millman, an analyst who follows the car rental business for Soleil Securities.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) (GM), the nation's largest auto maker, said last week its sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers in October were down by 10, 000 vehicles compared to the same month last year. Company officials have predicted a reduction of 80,000 to 90,000 for the full calendar year, with the decline continuing into next year.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) (F) won't give specific fleet sales numbers until later in the year, but said they are up 9 percent in 2006 mainly to the phase-out of the Taurus model, which in its final year of production was sold primarily to rental companies. Ford expects fleet sales to drop next year without 175,000 Taurus models on the market.

DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE:DCX) (DCX) Chrysler Group also won't give out fleet numbers but said it had reduced them in October in line with a strategy to focus more on retail sales.

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/2346373

[Tom Kitten]

9. My first car was a FIrebird

my 30th birthday present, a 1974 Firebird Espirit...Dad has owned eight of them, still has a 1979 Trans Am classic with the chicken on the roof...Repair works sucks nowadays, nobody seems to be able to stop the leaks, oil or water.

[Mollis]

12. Agreed. I have a Pontiac

and I love it. It is so reliable. And beautiful. I just love it.

[rockymountaindem]

13. I know. Pontiac and Saab are the only brands they have that look cool from top to bottom

Getting rid of them would make them significantly less hip.