page_title: Pontiac
section_title: 2005–2010
hierarchical_section_title: Pontiac / History / 2005–2010
caption_attribution_description: 2009.5 Pontiac G6 photographed in Washington, D.C., USA.
context_page_description: Pontiac was a car brand 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. In the hierarchy of GM's five divisions, it slotted above Chevrolet, but below Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac.
  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 discontinued 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 on October 31, 2010, leaving GM to focus on its four remaining North American brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.
context_section_description: Pontiac went through a complete product revamping through this period. The Grand Am was replaced with the mid-size G6 in 2004. The Grand Am coupe was produced for the 2005 model year to fill the gap until the new G6 coupe and convertible became available for the 2006 model year. The Bonneville ended production in 2005 after nearly 50 years of production. Although it was not directly replaced, the RWD G8 introduced for the 2009 model year did fill some of the market void. The Solstice concept shown in 2002 was approved for production as a roadster (2006-2009) and, for a few months, a hard-top coupe (2009), which is considered to be quite rare, as a total of only 1,266 coupes made it off the assembly line in Wilmington, DE before it was shut down due to the demise of Pontiac. This is in stark contrast to the over 64,000 Solstice Convertibles that were manufactured on that same line. The controversial and slow-selling Aztek was finally phased out and replaced by the Torrent, which was identical to the Chevrolet Equinox. In 2005 the Sunfire was discontinued and replaced by the new Pontiac Pursuit (later named G5 for the American market). Initially, Pontiac did not plan on offering the G5 in the United States, however dealer pressure to fill the gap left by the discontinuation of the Sunfire caused Pontiac to introduce only the coupe variation into the U.S. The 4 door sedan was available in Canada as the Pursuit throughout the model run. The high-performance GXP trim was introduced in the Grand Prix line in 2005, adding GM's LS4 V8 engine that produced 303 horsepower and 323 lb. ft. of torque. This engine was built to give buyers a V8 sedan option until the all-new G8 arrived in 2008. In 2008, the Grand Prix ended production and the launch of the Australian-built RWD G8 commenced. The G8 gained positive reception for its high performance and low costs. Many noted the G8 as the poor man's BMW M5, due to similar performance at a much cheaper price. The G8 GXP was the most powerful production car Pontiac had ever built, and is widely regarded as the best driver's car ever to wear the Pontiac badge. The Holden Ute was scheduled to be launched as the G8 ST before it was cancelled in January 2009 due to GM's financial situation. It was later announced that the G8 may not see a second generation.Towards the end of the decade many rumors began spreading that Pontiac would become completely reliant on RWD. Reports ranged from a compact sedan based on the Alpha platform to a new RWD G6 for the 2013 model year. Many reports suggested that the Trans Am/Firebird would return after GM confirmed the rebirth of the Camaro, however, no reports confirmed this.
  On December 2, 2008, General Motors announced that it was considering eliminating numerous brands, including Pontiac, in order to appease Congress in hope of receiving a $25 billion loan. On February 17, 2009, GM proposed the elimination of its Saturn division, the sale of Saab, and either the sale or elimination of Hummer, depending on whether a buyer could be found quickly. GM clarified that Pontiac would have begun to focus on "niche" models aimed at the "youthful and sporty" segment, but did not provide specifics. Pontiac was to trim its number of models to four, although there was talk of retaining only one model. By April 2009 several automotive websites and business publications were reporting that GM was doing a study suggesting it might eliminate the brand altogether, along with sister truck brand GMC. On April 23 a report was published stating the company would be dropping the Pontiac brand while preserving the GMC truck line, and the Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick brands. The decision to eliminate Pontiac was made primarily due to the increasing threat of a bankruptcy filing if the June 1 deadline could not be met. On April 27, 2009, GM announced that Pontiac would be dropped and that all of its remaining models would be phased out by the end of 2010. Though both production and franchise agreements ended in 2010, Pontiac remains a registered and active trademark of GM.
  General
caption: The G6 was the last Pontiac manufactured by General Motors (2009.5 model shown)
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