GM CEO still blunt over Pontiac G8
June 17, 2009 by George Skentzos
The fate of the Commodore-based Pontiac G8 seems to be a rather touchy subject for General Motors CEO, Fritz Henderson, who is still reluctant to elaborate on the reasoning behind the car’s impending withdrawal from US sale.
Mr Henderson participated in yet another web chat yesterday on the company’s FastLane Blog – this time exclusively with members of the motoring media – and again did not provide a completely convincing rationale for scrapping the model along with Pontiac.
While other questions even attracted a friendly personal greeting from Mr Henderson, in regards to the Pontiac G8 he could not have been more blunt or evasive – even ignoring the majority of the question.
From Greg Migliore–AutoWeek
Does the Pontiac G8 have any kind of future within General Motors as a re-badged model? What kinds of changes would need to be made to the car for it to be sold under another brand?Fritz Henderson: I am not a fan of rebadging.
This response is in stark contrast to the tone carried by Mr Henderson previously throughout the session.
Fritz Henderson: Bernard, welcome and good to hear from you. got any good cartoons of me? re channelling resources, 100 per cent of our product, technology and marketing spend will now be focussed behind the four core brands and 34 nameplates. Each one needs to be a hit and that is our challenge/commitment.
my best to james!
It is certainly disappointing that Mr Henderson would not provide a valid response, however it is likely the G8’s fate had been sealed even before Pontiac’s demise.
Earlier reports predating any pending closure of Pontiac were already predicting that the G8 would not carry over to the next-generation model, citing limited corporate resources and fear of rising fuel-economy standards as the main motives.
With Pontiac to be phased out by 2010, this would seemingly provide a convenient opportunity for GM to cull the less-than-frugal sedan as the company shifts toward a greener image.
Print it: 
Here’s to hoping they rebadge it as a Chevy. At least they haven’t said a definate no yet.
Holden should offer the SS, SS-V, SV6 etc Commodores with no rear spoiler as a No Cost Option. It looks so much better IMO.
He said he is not a fan of re-badging……Holden would not be here if they felt the same way!!!!
Lol ‘not a fan of rebadging’, given the current GMC range thats a total load.
Rebadging in my opinion is only really taboo when its
A: a poor model (which the G8 isn’t) or
B: A car already available in that market.
If it was called the impala and was actually marketed properly I’m sure it’d be a greater success than it was under the Pontiac banner.
There is a simple reason why they don’t want to continue the Pontiac G8 under another brand: the car isn’t built there.
GM is already closing down 11+ factories, and the PR spin from the UAW and others regarding GM importing a large car from overseas while at the same time closing local large car production lines (albeit front wheel drive large cars) and tax payer funds would be too much.
I’m not really a fan of rebadging either, but he is the head of GM, they live off rebadging. As Smoking R32 has stated it should be alright if the car isn’t a duplicate of another vehicle in the same market.
isnt the aveo in USA a rebadge?
i just think GM doesnt want a new impala
chevy aveo is a daewoo kalos
they also have at least 2 yrs supply of Aveos sitting out in fields in the US
don’t take anything Henderson says seriously
he’ll be gone soon and he’s really just a temporary fall guy before the Obama administration steps up
What the Hell would Fritz know? He’s just a Wagoner-clone temporary stooge there for only as long as it takes the slow-learning US taxpayers to find out that they’re onto a loser. The G8 would be at about 279 on his list of things to do today, which would start with “check with HR to ensure my name is still on the payroll.”
People, lets not forget that the g8s didn’t sell well to begin with, so why on earth would they bother with them again?!
Politically correct at present for them to try and save American jobs and not ours. Simple as that.
Not much being said, there is however some USA sites reporting that the G8 could still be a chance as a police car in the states. This is old news, but dont write it 100% yet. You never know.
And YES, I think it would be crazy, the G8 failed at the retail level, so why would GM even consider it as a fleet seller(LOWWWW MARGIN)…hold on, this is GM…
Forget it Max, Why would the UAW allow a Government owned car company to buy IMPORTED police cars at the expense of American jobs? This is Fantasyland stuff.
Captain, I agree with you 100%, more to the point as a fleet priced vehicle to the various police departments its only going to end up losing money. But this is GM we are talking about, Holden is bleeding with the G8 production slash, they need to make them..bad.
This is GM, same old mistakes…get my drift :(
I reckon the Carbon Motors E7 will most likely be the next police car.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/0.....red-e7-po/
I pity the fool who can’t figure out it’s because GM knows it’s putting Holden on the chopping block shortly!
I’m not a big fan of rebadging and I guess he’s not either. There are reasons for this and I agree one of this is that the car is simply not built there. Even if it’s not confirmed yet, quite sad about it. Pontiac G8 looks great :(
So Fritz doen not like rebaging. Hmmmmm. Lets look at Government Motors and see:
GMC Canyon = Chevy Colorado
GMC Sierra = Chevy Silverado
Pontiac G5 = Chevy Cobalt
Pontiac Torrent = Chevy Equinox
Pontiac Vibe = Toyota Matrix
Saturn Aura = Malibu
These are just the ones I can remember. GM have already said that there will be a rationalisation of cars but that badge engineering will INCREASE. Another case of the right and left hands not talking.
Mr T, despite all the glare coming off your bling – you can see the facts perfectly. Holden will be sold off before the end of the year. Anyone that thinks otherwise should just quit their jibber jabber!
Just a little TV review of the G8 GXP. Its a good watch.
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/.....index.html
I read in todays paper here in the states that the law enforcement agencies here in the States have asked GM to reconsider importing this as a Police car. GM will do doubt decline. The Law agencies here were quoting numbers of around the 25′000 mark per year. Now that Ford have announced the Crown Victoria is being phased out the Cops are asking what the alternatives will be.
Millatime, what makes you think GM will sell Holden? Makes no sense to me. Every single article I have read over the past 9 days here (and there are a lot of them) bar none talk about Holden being one of the jewles in the GM crown.
I wonder who in the US actually knows what the plan is for GM in the future, because the more articles I read that Henderson has spoken about “new GM” have all been hypocritical of each other when it comes to the G8. One minute its being kept and rebadged to a Chevy, the next it will be imported as a new police vehicle, today it isn’t rebadged, tomorrow who knows what the story is going to be?
Here’s some news for you Fritz, the Commodore is already sold around the world under about 5 different marques. Is it really going to matter if its sold in the US as a Pontiac, Chevy, Holden, Buick, Cadillac or Daewoo?
The whole idea of making a car in SouthAustralia, then fitting a USA made imported engine, fitting the whole lot together and exporting it to N/America seems real strange and expensive to me.
Just built the whole car [under licenses, lol] in USA, i think as soon as things improve they can start selling again, not as a Pontiac but as a Chev and/or similar.
“Made In USA” [Engineered in Australia!]
Cheers
F-0