Pontiac Gets the Axe, GM Announces Updated Viability Plan
![Pontiac R.I.P. Pontiac Logo](https://www.driveline.blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/pontiac.jpg)
Pontiac R.I.P.
General Motors announced the details of its updated Viability Plan on Monday. In a statement announcing the news, GM said that this plan will “speed the reinvention of GM’s U.S. operations into a leaner, more customer-focused, and more cost-competitive automaker.” That reinvention has resulted in the elimination of the storied Pontiac nameplate, which will be phased out in 2010.
GM will move forward with only four core card brands in the U.S., including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. Saab, Hummer, and Saturn are also being shown the door, with the fate of all three slated to be sorted by the end of 2009.
Other aspects of the viability plan include a significant restructuring of GM’s dealer network, with the General going from 6,246 GM dealers in 2008 to an estimated 3,605 by the end of 2010.
“We are taking tough but necessary actions that are critical to GM’s long-term viability,” said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO. “Our responsibility is clear – to secure GM’s future – and we intend to succeed. At the same time, we also understand the impact these actions will have on our employees, dealers, unions, suppliers, shareholders, bondholders, and communities, and we will do whatever we can to mitigate the effects on the extended GM team.”