October 16th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Keeping an old brand viable is sometimes no more difficult than packaging. Here, a specialized Willys Jeep Wrangler, which according to a Chrysler LLC release dates from 2004. Basically, it’s a Wrangler, but it comes specially packaged, with a Willys decal, and Army paint colors and tires. The Willys package was about paint, styling and [...]
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Tags: Cars

A BrandlandUSA reader laments the missed opportunity in Pontiac: It may be that Pontiac is gone and erased from the accounting books of GM, and it may be that the heritage of Pontiac lives in the memoirs of Americana – but the fact of the matter remains that Pontiac outsold Lincoln, Mercury, Dodge, Chrysler, and [...]
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Tags: Cars

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. – I recently attended the NHRA Winter Nationals and noticed that the most popular body for those outrageous funny cars seemed to be Pontiac. So when I asked another spectator why, he simply said “they have the best aero-dynamics.” My horse sense told me this was likely to be true. Wow! I [...]
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Tags: Cars
September 6th, 2009 · 1 Comment

We came across the below statistics from the website www.gm-volt.com. It turns out that the dead brands of General Motors accounted for one in six sales at the ailing U.S. automaker. Writes their editorial: Looking ahead, GM has a couple big issues. For starters, Pontiac sold 30,000 odd cars last month, which leaves them with [...]
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Tags: Cars

General Motors thinks it has killed off the Pontiac. And what a brilliant move that is. Let’s see, you need to sell MORE cars cause your company is broke, and you cut out yet one more product line? And then cut out even more dealers? Thankfully, though, the brand will hang on with collector clubs. [...]
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Tags: News

DETROIT – Not that I really like Pontiacs these days. They’ve not been interesting for a long time. But now, there are serious discussions that GM will announce that Pontiac will be shut down as a brand. Frankly, it doesn’t make sense. If Pontiac sales stink, then so do Buick. And for that matter all [...]
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Tags: Cars

DETROIT – No brand is safe now and General Motors (NYSE: GM) is indeed in a mess. All the brands are damaged. It should not be this way. All of them lost sight of what their mission was in GM. You cannot have multiple platforms which cost you money and then give every car to [...]
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Tags: Cars

We have been thinking not only of what happened to Saab, but then what to do about Saab. We haven’t gotten far, we admit. And then we found this great response in the alternative weekly The Hook in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was a response to Courtney Stuart’s article on the future of the Saab, Hummer [...]
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Tags: Cars
February 25th, 2009 · 1 Comment

We read a great post on General Motors, and their brand and intellectual property portfolio. The Truth about Cars website interviewed Paul Earle of Chicago-based River West Brands, a company that revives defunct brand names to get his take. Earle’s answer is not killing off brands, but trying to manage each bit of intellectual property [...]
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Tags: Cars · Deathwatch
February 19th, 2009 · 1 Comment

DETROIT – Recent press reports indicate that Saturn might completely disappear as part of a new General Motors, and Pontiac might be a sub-brand sold at other dealers. Who knows what will happen to Saab, but whatever will happen, Saab, Hummer and Saturn are all for sale, perhaps free if you just pick up the [...]
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Tags: Cars