Pontiac (automobile)
Discontinued automobile brand owned by General Motors / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
Company type | Brand (1926–1931) [1] Division (1931–2010)[2] |
---|---|
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 1926; 98 years ago (1926)[1] |
Founder | General Motors |
Defunct | October 31, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-10-31) |
Fate | Closed upon General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization |
Headquarters | Detroit, 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 |
Products | Automobiles |
Parent | Oakland Motor Car (1925–1931) General Motors (1931–2010) [2] |
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 and restructuring efforts, GM announced during the 2008 financial crash that it would discontinue the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010. The last Pontiac-badged cars were built in December 2009; the final Pontiac was a white G6 that was assembled in January 2010.[10] 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.[11]