The End Of Pontiac

Today General Motors announced that they will be discontinuing the Pontiac line next year as part of their plan to stave off bankruptcy.

"The objective here is not to just survive but to come up with an operating plan that will allow us to win," Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said Monday. The U.S. Treasury will extend an additional $11.6 billion to GM, in addition to $15.4 billion in existing loans. The government will forgive half the debt in exchange for equity in a restructured GM. Henderson said earlier this month the White House had demanded "faster, deeper" cost cutting. Under the latest viability plan, GM's fourth iteration, the company will idle one additional factory and look to eliminate 500 additional dealers. Other reductions will come sooner than initially planned. GM said it expects to further reduce salaried employee headcount as well, but did not specify a number. The company said it will focus on four core brands in the U.S. - Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC - as it looks to make fewer different models and focus on product development programs. Production of the Pontiac brand will end by next year. "You have a strategy that wins or you have to stop," Henderson said. "We didn't have a strategy that allowed us to win with the Pontiac brand."

The taxpayers will end up owning a good chunk of GM.

Wikipedia: "Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods."

The Freepers are having a field day.

RELATED: My first car was '73 Pontiac Lemans just like this one, so I'll always have a soft spot for the brand.