Pontiac You Are Missed!

I was 10 years old when I saw my first 1967 Pontiac GTO at the US Embassy in Bonn, Germany, where I fell head over heels in love with the Pontiac Motor Division and to a lesser degree General Motors.

I watched in horror through the 80’s and 90’s as GM mismanaged my favorite brand  (Remember Ron Zarrella), yes by that time there was no longer a Pontiac Motor Division just the brand, Pontiac.

I had hope for Pontiac again in 2001 when Bob Lutz returned to GM; he was determined to see Pontiac become what it once had been, and I cheered his return, for me it was like Liberation Day in Paris. Bob Lutz brought interesting cars like the GTO, Solstice, and G8 into the Pontiac lineup. Bob Lutz did his best to brighten Pontiac’s future.

But then came April 27, 2009, when GM officially announced that Pontiac would be dropped and all its remaining models would be phased out by the end of 2010. I could not believe what I was hearing, and I felt betrayed by GM and still do to this very day when it comes to Pontiac.

In my mind, it should have been Buick that was dropped in North America, not Pontiac. Buick could have soldiered on in China to appease the Chinese buyers, but in North America, it should have been Pontiac that survived General Motors’ axe.

Have you noticed that when I was at GM, I rarely mentioned Buick in any way, shape, or form? To me the very name Buick carries the (Old Person’s) stigma and always will, I’d never be seen in one. I have to be honest with myself here, if GM didn’t have the 5^th Generation Camaro in its lineup, I most likely would have bought BMW. Why BMW? Well from my perspective BMWs share a lot of design traits with Pontiac, the twin kidney grille for instance and a sporty image. Plus as a boy growing up in Germany, I admired BMW as much as I did Pontiac.

So was Pontiac’s demise the only reason I left GM for BMW? God no, but it was a big part of it, I drank the GM Kool-Aid when it came to Pontiac and now like Pontiac itself the Kool-Aid was gone, and my eyes were finally wide open to the possibilities that BMW offered me.

The automotive world is a little less bright without Pontiac in it, and that saddens me, but I will do my best to make sure that never ever happens to BMW.

Now Here Is An Interesting Auto Logo

It's Pretty Huh? I Wonder What It means? :)

Can You Say BMW

As some of you know I've left GM to start work with BMW. My primary function is working in the FIZ bringing new and innovative vehicles and products to BMW and its customers.

I look forward to the challenges this new position and opportunity brings to me, and also to the smiles that I hope to bring to current and future BMW customers and fans.


Börger

Some Information On GM do Brasil

Brazil is the third-largest market for GM globally and the second largest for the Chevrolet brand.


GM is on track to complete $3 billion of investment in Brazil between 2008 and 2012.


GM has increased sales in Brazil by 50,000 vehicles per year over the past five years and posted record sales of 657,724 vehicles in 2010.


The São Caetano do Sul plant was GM’s first Brazilian plant, beginning production in October 1928. After implementing the third shift, the plant will be able to assemble 250,000 vehicles per year compared with 200,000 on two shifts currently.


GM has manufactured and sold vehicles under the Chevrolet brand for 85 years in Brazil.   GM do Brasil has three vehicle manufacturing plants, in São Caetano do Sul, São José dos Campos (both in the State of São Paulo), and Gravataí (State of Rio Grande do Sul). GM facilities in Brazil include a stamping plant in Mogi das Cruzes; a logistics center and warehouse in Sorocaba; proving grounds in Indaiatuba; a technical center in São Caetano do Sul (all in São Paulo) and a logistic hub at the SUAPE port (in Pernambuco). GM is building a new powertrain plant in Joinville, to be inaugurated in late 2012. GM do Brasil is one of the five GM global product development centers.

The Best Email I Ever Received AT GM - November 2001

Ron Zarrella has left General Motors and returns to Bausch & Lomb as their CEO ...

Leonard Nimoy (Spock) And His 1964 Buick Riviera

A lot of you know I am a big Star Trek fan. I have been since I first laid eyes on TV, so imagine how excited I was to find the following pictures of Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock on Star Trek) with his 1964 Buick Riviera. Hey Buick, how about a few Buick commercials featuring the famed actor in a Buick or two?


I hope you enjoy the pics, click on them to make them bigger ...

Wayne Carini Of Chasing Classic Cars

I recently met Wayne Carini, Ferrari expert and master restorer at his shop in Connecticut. Wayne is the Star of Chasing Classic Cars on HD Theater.

I had been telling my friends and family and anyone else who would listen, that I wanted to meet Wayne. I enjoy his expert advice on restoring and preparing cars for auction. Not that I have anything in the same ballpark as Wayne, he loves Ferrari’s the same way I love Pontiacs, we also both fell in love with our respective brands at a very young age.

It was great meeting him, and he even took the time to look at my 2011 Synergy Green Camaro SS. His comment was, “Boy GM must love all the people buying this new Camaro!”, and of course I agreed.

Here are a few pictures of that day, one I will remember fondly!


Don't forget you can click on any pic to make it bigger ...

Insane Interest In Me

There seems to be some insane interest in me, inside and outside of General Motors. Quite frankly I don't really understand it. I go to work, I do my job, and I do it well, as I would say most of you do too.



So why this crazy interest in me, is it the fact that I like my anonymity, I guard it, relish it, and drink it in? To me it's like riding in a 2011 Camaro SS with the windows tinted to a level 5. I can see out, but hardly anyone can see in, and really is there anything wrong with that?



So tell me, why do you want to know who I am and what I do? Give me a logical reason for telling you, if I like your reason, I may in fact "Kiss and Tell"! Many of you already know my first name and my middle name, all you need now is that critical last name, then the mystery is solved.

GM Divisions And Subsidiaries I Miss

As I got out of my 2011 Synergy Green Camaro SS a few days ago, I swung the door closed, and something was staring at me in the face, it was right on the door sill of my Camaro SS, the word CHEVROLET. Now I am a child of the 70s as some of you know, I wax nostalgic about things in my youth. I had an instant flashback to the door sill on my Dad’s 1972 Cadillac Coupe DeVille and the words that were on its door sill, BODY BY FISHER. I recalled how I actually missed seeing those words on GM cars. When you opened the door on any 70s models cars, Body by Fisher was there. It wasn’t just the 70s cars that had those words on the door sill, but as far as I know, 60s, 50’s and for all I know the 40s cars had it too. I’m only 42 so my history doesn’t go back to the 50s and 40s, so I am making some assumptions here. I can still see the words BODY BY FISHER on my 1969 Pontiac Custom-S when I miss seeing the Fisher coach on the door sill of my 2011 Camaro SS.

But this got me thinking about what other things I miss about GM that are not around anymore. I will give you my short list and perhaps that will jog your memory and you can let me know what you miss about GM that is no more. So here goes, here are the GM divisions and subsidiaries that are no longer around and I miss them. They are in no particular order.

1. Fisher Body

2. Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS)

3. Pontiac Motor Division (PMD)

4. General Motors Assembly Division (GMAD)

5. Delco Electronics Corporation

6. Hughes Electronics Corporation

7. Delphi (Auto Parts)

8. Detroit Diesel

9. Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) Train Engines

So that’s my short list, let me know what you miss about GM.

GM's North American Four Brand Strategy - My Thoughts

First, let me say this. I am not knocking why GM did what it did when it came to its Four Brand North American strategy. We all know that GM had to get lean and mean, and do it in quite a hurry. With that being said, could the North American Four Brand strategy that GM used have been executed differently and ultimately better than what we have today?



According to autoblog, GM has lost 71% of Saturn and 70% of Pontiac owners who traded their current Saturn/Pontiac cars in on other brands and did not stay within the GM family. In GM’s defense, I believe GM thought that Saturn owners would move to Buick and Pontiac owners would move to Chevrolet. Thinking since Saturn was starting to merge their design with Opel’s, that those same Saturn owners would see the same Opel design cues that were now being used with Buick. In the case of Pontiac, GM was criticized for years that Pontiacs were only Chevrolet clones with Pontiac grilles and tail lights. I think there were some assumptions made that Pontiac owners also thought this, and would move to Chevrolet en masse.



As I see it, Saturn owners see themselves as a Different Kind of Car owner, and would never see themselves as Buick owners. Pontiac owners are loyalist to the end, and feel that their brand is unlike anything else that was in GM. To this day, Pontiac owners are angry that their brand was tossed aside when in their eyes; it should have been Buick that was let go, since in North America, Pontiac outsold Buick 3 to 1.



I’ll get back to Buick and Pontiac in a moment, but let’s take a look at GM’s two truck brands shall we? As most of you know GM has Two Truck Brands, Chevrolet and GMC. When the U.S. Government (Feds) had their people in reviewing GM’s product line, the Feds, questioned GM about having 2 trucks brands, in particular they questioned the existence of the GMC brand. That’s when GM explained to the Feds that GMC made a lot of money for GM, because its customers were willing to pay a higher price point for a product that GMC owners saw as better than Chevrolet trucks. The Feds saw the logic in that and allowed GM to keep the GMC brand in the GM fold. GM kept Buick over Pontiac for one simple reason, it sold Buick in China and China is an emerging auto market where GM now sells more cars there, than it does in the USA. So when all was said and done, GM ended up with their current Four Brand North American strategy, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac.



I think there could have been a better ways to streamline the old GM into the new GM and keep the maximum amount of customers in its customer base.



If I got to make the choices and the cuts to make the new GM viable, I would have put forth two plans, the first would be as follows, and please hear me out.



Plan 1:

1. I would have shuttered Buick in North America, and Pontiac would have gotten a stay of execution. I would have transformed Pontiac into the Holden Special vehicles (HSV) of North America where Pontiac would get two or three halo cars. I think this would have kept Pontiac buyers in the GM family.

2. Buick would remain a Chinese only brand, because in China, Buick is held in high regard.

3. There would only be one truck brand, and unlike the Feds who wanted to dismantle GMC, I would only keep the GMC brand, and shut down Chevy trucks in North America. My reason for keeping GMC over Chevy trucks is that a GMC truck could be offered to any GM dealership no matter what other GM brands that dealership sold.

4. Both Chevrolet and Cadillac stay and are sold as Global brands.

So in the end under Plan 1, there would be Chevrolet (cars), Pontiac, GMC Truck, and Cadillac. Buick would only be sold in China using Opel & GM Korea clones. Chevy trucks would be sold worldwide except in North America.



Plan 2:

1. Buick and Pontiac shuttered in North America

2. Chevy Truck Shuttered in North America.

3. Selected Holden models sold as Chevrolets along with mainstream North American Chevrolet models.

4. Opel sold in North America.

So under plan 2, there would be Chevrolet (with certain Holden models sold as Chevys), GMC Truck, Opel and Cadillac. Buick would only be sold in China using Opel & GM Korea clones. Chevy trucks would be sold worldwide except in North America.



What do you think of these two plans? At present GM’s North American Four Brand strategy is working and Buick is seeing buyers it hasn’t seen in years, but do these new buyers negate the Saturn and Pontiac buyers who have left the GM family? Let me know your thoughts.



I thank you for your time …



Börger

A Few Of My Favorite GM Cars

              1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype

                  The 1967 Pontiac GTO

2011 Holden VE II Ute SV6

2011 Opel Insignia OPC

2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS

                                  1969 Pontiac Custom-S

Greetings - A Little About Me

First and foremost, I grew up as a child of two worlds. I was born in Europe (Germany) and was raised in the United States, not just any state though, but the Great State of Texas. That one sentence sets the stage for all that has happened in my life since. I was born in 1969 as the son of a US diplomat, so I was always surrounded by Cadillac limousines and those Cadillacs were my first introduction to General Motors and I have had a love affair with GM ever since.

In the 70’s growing up in Texas, Pontiacs and Chevy pickup trucks were just damn cool; however I was hooked on Pontiac back in Germany. We had a US Marine that was assigned as my father’s aide who had the military ship his 1967 Pontiac GTO to Germany. I was always hanging around that marine and asking questions about the car, what kind of engine, what type of transmission, etc.  He would ask my parents if it was OK to take me on rides on occasion, thinking back now, he was using me as his personal translator to pick up girls, but hey that’s OK because I got to ride in the GTO after all.

Back in the US as a teenager I use to spend summers in Florida with my cousins. Next door to them was a doctor, whose wife was trading in her 1969 Pontiac Custom-S on a new 1983 Pontiac. I wanted that car so badly, I could taste it, so I convinced my uncle to help me buy it, I used all the money I had made that summer and my uncle lent me the rest. In Florida at that time you could get a driver’s license at 14. Needless to say, when I returned to Texas, my parents were not happy with me, my uncle or the Pontiac.

I finished high school two years early and entered college at 16, Ohio State University to be exact. This wasn't the only college or university I attended, but it was my first. You never forget your first, am I right? This college choice also got me closer to the GM Mecca of Detroit.  After college I returned to Plano, Texas and immediately applied to GM’s Arlington, Texas Assembly plant. I applied on a Friday, and got a phone call for an interview the next Monday, who says GM can’t make quick decisions?

So my history with GM goes something like this:

GMAD Arlington Assembly Plant

Chevrolet-Pontiac-GM Canada (CPC)

Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac (BOC)

Lansing Automotive Division (LAD) Wilmington Assembly Plant

Saturn Corporation

GM Europe

Opel

GMIO