I am forwarding an e-mail from a Pontiac list. I feel that most of us will find it to be interesting, especially the very last sentance. -- Mark Fearer vin 3072 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 19:00:44 -0600 From: Mark Potter <potter@xxxx> Reply-To: poncho@xxxx To: poncho@xxxx Subject: [poncho] Re: I guess it's true.... We had shorter life cycles for automobiles back in the 1950s and 1960s, but they were lengthened in the 1970s due to the high cost of developing all new models, not to mention increasing federal safety and emission control regulations. Also, the downsizings that came in the late 1970s through the mid-1980s were very expensive due to the wholesale switch to front-wheel-drive and need for new engines. I agree that GM kept a lot of old cars well beyond their useful life cycles. Examples included the 1968 Mako-Shark Corvette design that lasted all the way to 1982. Also the second-generation Firebird/Camaro that debuted in mid-1970 and lasted all the way to 1981 - but that design sold like hotcakes in its later years, particularly from 1976 to 1979 - so GM felt justified in keeping that F-body. Original plans called for the F-body to be replaced by the Vega-based Chevy Monza/Pontiac Sunbird for 1976, but the Camaro/Firebird sold so well in 1974-75 that the older design was continued as the last survivors of the original ponycars while the newer cars were intended as Mustang II-competitors, whose sales were well below expectations. The continued success of the "older" Firebird/Camaro design led Ford to bring back a "real" Mustang in 1979. In 1982, GM brought out its front-drive A-body intermediates (ie. Chevy Celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Olds Cutlass Ciera and Buick Century), which would last a whopping 15 model years or so - by which time only the Cutlass and Century remained. However, they did not sell as well as their older rear-drive G-body counterparts (which they were designed to ultimately replace - but would carry on all the way to 1987) including the Pontiac Grand Prix, LeMans (1978-81) and Bonneville (the mid-size Bonnie of 82-86). The older cars sold better as gasoline became cheaper again and demand for V8 engines (which the front-drive A-bodies didn't offer) rose. The G-body Cutlass Supreme coupe was at that time the best selling car in America all the way to the end. After that time, the GM-10 front-drive Cutlass Supreme sold only a fraction that the older rear-drive version had - one of many factors that eventually led to the announcement that Oldsmobile would be dropped. With that, the Cutlass Ciera became Olds' biggest seller and was hardly the car for the division to be chanting "This is not your father's Oldsmobile." - or should it be grandfathers. As we're now lamenting over the demise of Oldsmobile, it should be remembered that Pontiac nearly met a similar fate at GM back in the early 1980s after the recesssion and energy crisis drastically cut into sales of Firebird Trans Ams, along with the replacement of 400 cid V8s with turbo 301s in 1980-81, and the rest of the Poncho lineup wasn't setting the world afire - a far cry from the 1960s when Pontiac held its grip to third place. During that dismal early 1980s, Oldsmobile held its grip to third place and even came close to toppling Ford for second place and even Buick was way ahead of Pontiac. In 1983, for the first and only time ever, Mercury outsold Pontiac. That same year, Pontiac pinned its future hopes by introducing a slogan that would carry the division for the next few years - "We Build Excitement." That theme was later enhanced to "Driving Excitement." Pontiac's comeback began in 1984 with the reinstatement of the full-sized car thanks to the Canadian-built Parisienne (really a Chevy Caprice with a Pontiac grille, two-tone paint and different taillight lenses - for 1985-86, the Parisenne got 1981 Bonneville taillights and side trim), more horsepower for the Firebird Trans Am, the new 6000 wagon and increased production of the 6000 STE, and ... the introduction of the Fiero, which, more than any other factor, brought more showroom traffic into Pontiac dealerships than they had seen in years. Despite the Fiero's lack of power on first-year models, the carps about the Chevette/Citation suspension components and later, the well-publicized recalls, all of which led to its ultimate demise after 1988 - this car would sell well initially and draw in would-be buyers who ended up leaving the dealership in a new Firebird, Sunbird, Grand Prix or even a Parisienne Safari. Later, the Grand Am would further enhance the division's image and become Pontiac's hottest selling car, which it remains to this day. The important note was not so much the sales success of Pontiacs, but the marketing and imaging. The division did a tremendous job in the mid-1980s and later in promoting its products. By 1987, Pontiac overtook Olds for third place in domestic car sales and probably still holds that position to this day (very competitive with Toyota and Honda) - just like in the 1960s. Oldsmobile lacks any real marketing expertise and has become a non-mobile image-wise. If Olds had the leadership that Pontiac had in the mid-1980s, it probably wouldn't be on its deathbed. What Olds really needed was a marketer, or car-guy, such as Lee Iacocca or John Z. DeLorean. Mark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the poncho list, send mail to listar@xxxx with the text 'unsubscribe poncho' (no quotes) in the message body. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------