Archive for the ‘G3’ Category

In an effort to keep the wheels of (re)invention rolling, General Motors has released plans for a "72-Hour Sale", which starts today and runs through July 6. By our calculations, that's considerably longer than 72 hours, but we're going to give GM the benefit of the doubt and assume they mean business hours. Besides, calling it a "144-Hour Sale" wouldn't be quite as catchy.

To drive home the "72" theme, GM is offering shoppers a shot at 0% financing for up to 72 months (see what they did there?). There are two small caveats: to get that deal, you'll need to be a "well-qualified buyer" (i.e. meet certain credit requirements), and you'll need...

Some times I like to get lost in numbers. For example, just a few weeks ago I posted a story on the 20 Best Selling Vehicles in May. Now it's time for a different take. Call it schadenfreude, that funny German word used to describe the enjoyment one gets from an other's misfortune.

While browsing through an issue of Automotive News (you can get an online subscription, you know), I came across a chart often placed near the back of the issues. The chart is titled "Inventory - U.S. Car and Light Truck." Simple enough. The column I looked through was "Days supply - May 1, 2009." The figures list how many days, at the current sales rate, it...

So, Pontiac is dead. GM pulled the plug this morning and vehicles will stop hitting showrooms by 2010.

It's no mystery why it failed. Pontiac's struggled for an image since it transformed itself from a Grandma car in the 1950s to an enthusiast's dream in the Sixties with the introduction of the GTO. From then on, it lost its way as GM tried to graft on mass-market cars around the likes of the GTO, the Firebird, the Fiero and the Solstice. Adding trucks and minivans didn't work; neither did a last-ditch attempt to turn Pontiac into a Scion clone.

GM tried in vain to make Pontiac relevant, and in truth, it might have been on the cusp of...