Posted: Sep. 01, 2009 10:09 a.m.
Slow sales may have caused General Motors to shutter the Pontiac brand, but tepid consumer demand may not be a problem for too much longer.
Autoblog says, "if you want to buy a Pontiac, you'd better hurry up. The prices have been slashed, they're selling like hot cakes and [a GM spokesperson] is saying by tomorrow there will only be 16,000 to 17,000 left - and that's it."
The news comes after a tumultuous year for GM, which had to accept government funding and oversight, as well as bankruptcy restructuring. From some accounts, it appears that the restructuring worked -- GM is anticipating improving sales.
The Associates Press reports, "General Motors Co. Vice President Brent Dewar said GM is projecting U.S. sales of 10.5 million vehicles for 2009 and 12.5 million in 2010 as consumer confidence improves."
The projection comes after strong end-of-summer sales, thanks in large part to the government's Cash for Clunkers program. Bloomberg says, "The U.S. government's ‘cash for clunkers' program boosted purchases this month, [Dewar] said. Even with payback expected in September because the offer pulled some sales forward, GM expects continued improvement, Dewar said."
The AP reports that while Cash for Clunkers mainly helped sales of smaller cars, Dewar "said new product sales such as the Chevrolet Camaro muscle car and Equinox crossover vehicle are continuing to be strong even after the program ended."
As several GM brands wind down, the company is looking to maintain its customer base and reorganize its dealership network. Stand-alone GMC and Buick dealerships will be combined. Autoblog says, "This decision will affect around 3,000 dealerships that peddle/peddled Buick, GMC and/or Pontiac - they will be consolidated into 2,000 Buick-GMC dealers."
Also, current owners of discontinued brands will be courted to make sure their next purchase is from one of the remaining GM brands. AP reports, "GM is targeting 3 million ‘free agents' who drive vehicles from discontinued GM brands or models in an effort to keep them as customers. The company plans to approach them with targeted e-mails and other messages, learning from its experience phasing out the Oldsmobile brand."
If you're in the market for a new car, check out U.S. News' rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.
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