GM prepares to announce Pontiac closure next week

Jamie LaReau, Automotive News

General Motors may announce early next week that its Pontiac brand will be eliminated, said a source familiar with the company's plans. The announcement will be made as part of an updated viability plan to the U.S. auto task force, the source said.
A second source indicated earlier this week that GM was considering phasing out the brand instead of sticking with the current plan to have it continue as a niche marque.
GM, surviving with $15.4 billion in U.S. government loans, had planned to keep Pontiac along with mainstream brands Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac. Saturn, Hummer and Saab are up for sale.
Reports that GM is contemplating killing Pontiac surfaced today in Australia, where GM builds the Pontiac G8 sedan.

A niche marque with 1 car - the G8? Which is a rebadged Holden? Yeah, right! It's actually selling very well in this country and others, so fear of cutting the brand here, shouldn't hurt it. Paradoxically, it has a Chevrolet Corvette engine, so it can still be serviced by a Chev. dealer!

Man, GM are really so slow to do the obvious. They even just released a Pontiac version of the Chevrolet Aveo to compete with, making one more obvious rebadged product to go with the Cobalt/G5 and Malibu/G6.

Good grief, Charlie Brown!