# Only 36 Percent Of Pontiac Owners Stay With GM



## Administrator (Mar 14, 2008)

Pontiac owners are abandoning the brand when it comes time to purchase their next vehicle, according to a report in Automotive News.

Pontiac's moderately priced sedans like the G6, Grand Prix and G8 were affordable transportation for many consumers. With those products gone, all that GMC-Buick dealers (who formerly carried Pontiac products) can offer are more expensive fare like the Buick Lacrosse, which starts at $26,000.

Pontiac customers who do stick with GM tend to gravitate towards Chevrolet, which offers larger, moderately priced sedans that are a familiar transition for Pontiac owners. GM has offered a $1,000 rebate to Pontiac owners as well as four free oil changes as an incentive to stay with the company. GM spokesperson Tom Henderson said that "the loyalty rates of Pontiac owners are in line with our expectations," but declined to give any data.

More: *Only 36 Percent Of Pontiac Owners Stay With GM* on AutoGuide.com


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

What did they expect, I guess? People who drive/own Pontiacs typically do because of their overall quality and reliability, not to mention their looks.

I MAY stick with GM on my next purchase, but I don't consider myself loyal anymore. I would prefer to buy something I can tune, for sure.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

NO, Pontiac owners are not abandoning GM, GM abandoned the owners. Its like being dumped by a significant other, how can you dump someone that has allready dumped you.

I'm GM to the bone but GM make some stupid decisions.


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

Look at the user name above me. That's how i feel.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

Poncho Dan said:


> I MAY stick with GM on my next purchase, but I don't consider myself loyal anymore. I would prefer to buy something I can tune, for sure.


:agree


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## BlackJackByte (Aug 31, 2009)

For performance what choices inside GM do we have anymore besides a Vette or Camaro? And yes, I was let way down by the new camaro. Corvettes are getting pricer too.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

I sure as hell wouldn't be caught dead driving a friggin Buick. What butt-ugly cars.


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## BlackJackByte (Aug 31, 2009)

Poncho Dan said:


> I sure as hell wouldn't be caught dead driving a friggin Buick. What butt-ugly cars.


That's wierd because that is my daily driver  30mpg, leather, more dependable than any other car you can name from GM. I expect an argument but the facts are there. Ugly cars, but superbly built for people that depend on them and have CASH to pay for them brand new. But agreed, ugly indeed.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Administrator said:


> GM spokesperson Tom Henderson said that "the loyalty rates of Pontiac owners *are in line with our expectations*," but declined to give any data.


Which means, "F*ck you, Pontiac owners, we could care less."

Pontiac had a larger market share here in the United States than Buick ever did. They would be stupid not to bring back the brand once they're caught up on their loans, but it'll probably never happen, despite the hope of my fellow Pontiac enthusiasts. GM hires people to come up with great ideas just so they know which direction is the right way to go, so they can do the exact opposite. 

Despite some of the great products they've made, GM is riddled with epic fail.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

Buick has a big market in Korea, thats my only guess thats why they kept them. I may be wrong but Buick has not came out with a car that was impressive since the GN. After that they went more toward the old folks mobile. Something that grandma and grandpa would drive.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

Buick is HUGE in China. Yes, communist red China. Let's cator to the one country left who could probably wipe us off the planet if they really wanted to. Nukes, a billion plus people, and Buicks......they got 'em....


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

dustyminpin said:


> Buick is HUGE in China. Yes, communist red China. Let's cator to the one country left who could probably wipe us off the planet if they really wanted to. Nukes, a billion plus people, and Buicks......they got 'em....


Yeah China, I don't know why I had Korea on my mind.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

At least we know where the priorities of American companies lay... same place as our govenment's. :lol:


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## BlackJackByte (Aug 31, 2009)

GM4life said:


> Buick has a big market in Korea, thats my only guess thats why they kept them. I may be wrong but Buick has not came out with a car that was impressive since the GN. After that they went more toward the old folks mobile. Something that grandma and grandpa would drive.


The main reason is *profitablity*. The average consumer of a buick is a "senior". A smaller than normal percentile actually aquire a loan for a Buick, and sticker price is more often paid. And with all the additional care pkgs. ie Ziebart, extended warranty, GoodYear tire care. Bottom line Grandpa has more money than us and they buy Buicks...why do you think we aren't their target market, just watch a commercial for one. Golfer Tiger Woods...Golf= Older average age sport, participants with higher incomes. On average elderly have less expenses, house is paid...kids are gone...retired..no daily commute..retirment. It's just plain economics. It's my understanding this is the same for Cadillac.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Pontiac G8 and G6 hardtop convertable are amazing cars for the price and there really don't have any competition. Not sure why GM didn't just rebadge them and keep them on their sales.

I'm really looking alot more at Ford now... the new SHO, Mustang, and Focus are really sharp cars. I even like the Fusion and Edge.

What does GM have???? Camaro and Vette, where is the middle ground?

For $1000 and 0% financing, I'd consider staying with GM


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## Gotagoat (Jan 6, 2006)

I intend to keep the GTO forever but if I were to replace it now, it would be with a 2011 Mustang GT. Not as unique as the GTO but a lot of bang for the buck and, from what I read, a great gear box.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

BlackJackByte said:


> The main reason is *profitablity*. The average consumer of a buick is a "senior". A smaller than normal percentile actually aquire a loan for a Buick, and sticker price is more often paid. And with all the additional care pkgs. ie Ziebart, extended warranty, GoodYear tire care. Bottom line Grandpa has more money than us and they buy Buicks...why do you think we aren't their target market, just watch a commercial for one. Golfer Tiger Woods...Golf= Older average age sport, participants with higher incomes. On average elderly have less expenses, house is paid...kids are gone...retired..no daily commute..retirment. It's just plain economics. It's my understanding this is the same for Cadillac.


:agree
Good point.


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## Lautinjr (Mar 27, 2010)

jpalamar said:


> Pontiac G8 and G6 hardtop convertable are amazing cars for the price and there really don't have any competition. Not sure why GM didn't just rebadge them and keep them on their sales.
> 
> I'm really looking alot more at Ford now... the new SHO, Mustang, and Focus are really sharp cars. I even like the Fusion and Edge.
> 
> ...


It's just typical GM when they start to get a car or line up right they find a reason to kill it.


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## Gunslinger (Jan 5, 2010)

Yeah the G8 was the only thing that really sparked my interest in the GM line after the GTO. The Camaro is ok,Im not really into the styling of the body though. The Vette is expensive and kind of like driving your wiener around town. Yeah Pontiac died because of Buicks Asian market popularity. I've always said they should either rebadge the G8 and restyle it and call it a Grand National, with a supercharged 427 preferably but definitly at least a turbo v6. If the new Mustang can get 305 out of their v6, GM should be able to pull 400 from a turbo v6 these days. Like This-->http://jalopnik.com/5213150/buick-regal-gnx-it-could-be-a-possiblityin-china


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

jpalamar said:


> I'm really looking alot more at Ford now... Focus... .


It'll be 4 years next month that I've had the Goat. She's been in the shop for more things then I'd care to admit, but one bonus to that was getting to drive a bunch of different rental cars on GM's dime. 

I drove a Dodge Caliber, really liked it, nice little car-thingy. I drove a Dodge Charger V6, worse POS-floating down the road like the yacht it was-garbage car I'd ever driven. I drove a Chevy Cobalt, nice little car, nothing great, about what you'd expect. I drove a Ford Taurus (right after they killed the 500 name and went back to Taurus), it was alright. 

And last, I drove a Ford Focus, and let me tell you, if the Goat and my Old Lady's Z71 were paid for and I wanted a badass daily driver to get to work so I could soup the hell out of the Goat and make her a Garage Queen, the Focus would be the car (and I hate Fords). I was so impressed with the peppiness of the playful V6, the sunroof, the fancy interior with the satellite radio, the Blue Tooth, the wi-fi internet hot spot, and awesome gas mileage. Hell, I think it even had voice control crap on it but I never got that far into it.

The Impala is butt ugly and in SS trim, who the hell wants a transversely mounted front wheel drive V8 (if they even still make it). The Cobalt is a Cobalt, I don't care what anybody says. The Vette is great if you don't have kids or pets and live in a climate where you can drive it year round (and are rich). The Camaro is O.K., but I think they need to kill the 1SS and offer the 2SS for the 1SS money and take the damn cylinder deactivation crap out of the auto tranny and put the same engine in both the manny and auto cars. The only thing left is the Malibu......sigh. I guess if the price was right I'd consider an LTZ or SS......sigh........ Oh crap, let's not forget the South Korean made Aveo.....


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

^ wait til you see the new Focus. They are bringing a versiion of the RS that is in Europe. One of the best cars I've ever driven was the SVT Focus in the states and the RS in Europe. Not the fastest, but was a blast to drive.


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## mcwheels (May 24, 2010)

That's a crazy stat, but it may play into the demographics of Pontiac owners. The sunfire for example is a smaller car, and I know alot of kids who want to tune them but are disappointed with the # of parts they find for the J-body. I wonder if the same is the case for other Pontiacs


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

mcwheels said:


> That's a crazy stat, but it may play into the demographics of Pontiac owners. The sunfire for example is a smaller car, and I know alot of kids who want to tune them but are disappointed with the # of parts they find for the J-body. I wonder if the same is the case for other Pontiacs


For the V6 G8 it is. No body has cracked the ECM yet, well in a way someone has but not the big name tuners like EFILive and HPTuners. The V6 seem to be a small market so its not a priority.


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