Pontiac's Renaissance: A Breath Of New Life

Pontiac is striving to get back its standing as the third best-selling American car brand. To make this happen, the automaker has designed several strategies and platforms to strengthen its workflow, production and service.

It can be recalled that GM has previously invested in a disastrous money-saving program. Unfortunately, said program made Pontiac's quality sank. In fact, its highly-regarded reputation was besmirched. Its excellence in manufacturing Pontiac Grand Prix performance parts has vanished. Pontiac GTO parts as well as that of Bonneville disappeared in time.

To recover from the tragedies, the car maker launched the high-performance Pontiac G6 GXP. Said model is a coupe which is powered by a 3.9-liter, 270-horsepower V-6. However, during the first quarter of this year, it was reported that the Pontiac yielded 81,554, which is 11.9 percent lesser than its previous year's figures.

To keep the life breathing, the automaker launched several Pontiac models. The new lineup includes the intermediate G6 and Solstice roadster, which made it big in the automotive market. Pontiac G6 yielded a total of 36,858 sales in the first quarter of this year. The result was a soaring increase of 78 percent. Solstice roadster units, on one hand, were sold out. The success of Pontiac was attributed to the forceful program of readjusting prices to reach out different types of demographics.

According to Dennis Maraone, Pontiac's product director, “Our average buyer is still in the mid-40s range, and we definitely skew to more youthful intenders, and the sportier enthusiasts out there.”

Jim Hopson, Pontiac spokesman added, “We're not claiming victory (despite the success of the G6 and the Solstice). But we are really undergoing a renaissance at Pontiac of both style and performance. We've at least established the general direction in which we want to succeed. And we're getting the kind of feedback from our customers that give us a feeling we are headed in the right direction.”

Joe Ratzkin is an avid fan of anything automotive. This 34-year old bachelor wanted to be a mechanic when he was a kid but changed his mind and became a freelance writer and researcher instead. He is currently based in Chicago, Illinois.