Say goodbye to Saturn and Pontiac

On September 30, 2009, Penske terminated its discussions with General Motors Company ("GM") to acquire the Saturn brand. The tentative agreement was for GM to continue to produce the Saturn line until 2011; after that time, an undisclosed third company would assume production responsibilities. Penske's decision to back out of the sale came after this undisclosed company's board rejected plans to take over production of the Saturn line. The undisclosed company was later reported to be Renault. Subsequently, GM stated they will shut down the brand and dealers will have to shut down by October 2010. Saturn owners will still be able to take their cars to Saturn dealerships for service until closure in 2010, after which point Saturn vehicles will be serviced at other GM dealerships.

On December 2, 2008, General Motors announced that it was considering eliminating numerous brands, including Pontiac, in order to appease Congress in hope of receiving a 25 billion dollar bailout. On February 17, 2009, GM originally proposed the elimination of its Saturn division, the sale of Saab, and either the sale or elimination of Hummer, depending on whether a buyer could be found quickly. In the original plan GM also clarified that Pontiac would have begun to focus on "niche" models aimed at the "youthful and sporty" segment, but did not provide specifics. Pontiac was to trim its number of models to four, although there was talk of retaining only one model. By April 2009 several automotive websites and business publications were reporting that GM was doing a study suggesting it might eliminate the brand altogether, along with sister truck brand GMC. On April 23 a report was published stating the company would be dropping the Pontiac brand while preserving the GMC truck line, as well as the Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick brands. The decision to eliminate Pontiac was made primarily due to the increasing threat of a bankruptcy filing if the June 1 deadline could not be met.

On April 27, 2009, GM officially announced that Pontiac will be dropped and that all of its remaining models will be phased out by the end of 2010.

General Motors will cut an additional 7,000 to 8,000 factory jobs in the United States and shed 2,600 dealers by 2010 under a revised business plan developed with the Obama administration. GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson said the Pontiac brand would be closed by 2010, calling it an “extremely personal decision.” In addition to speeding up decisions on Saturn, Saab and Hummer, GM will be left with four brands – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

Pontiac will become the second brand General Motors has eliminated in six years. Oldsmobile met the same fate in 2004 after being more slowly phased out over four years. Pontiac also becomes the eighth North American automobile brand since 1989 to be phased out, after Merkur, Passport, Asüna, Geo, Eagle, Plymouth, and Oldsmobile.

In early May, 2009, Jim Waldron, a Davison, Michigan Pontiac dealer, announced that he was interested in purchasing the Pontiac brand and logos, and had found financing to purchase them as well as some soon-to-be shuttered GM plants in order to build cars. Initially, GM said that, unlike Saturn, the brand was not for sale. But that statement was made before the official GM bankruptcy. As of mid June, Waldron indicated that GM has softened this stance, and that talks with GM relating to the purchase of the brand are continuing.