Pontiac

Pontiac is a marque of automobile produced by General Motors and sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1926 to the present. more...

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In the GM brand lineup, Pontiac is a mid-level brand featuring a more sporting, performance-driving experience for a reasonable price, and a youthful feel to its advertising. Pontiac was originally a luxury brand, but their product line was reformed by GM to accompany "sportier" vehicles, to compete with the flood of Japanese imports, and it has stayed in that market niche ever since.

The Pontiac brand was introduced by General Motors in 1926 as the 'companion' marque to GM's Oakland Motor Car line. The Pontiac name was first used in 1906 by the Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works and linked to Chief Pontiac who led an unsuccessful uprising against the British shortly after the French and Indian War. The Oakland Motor Company and Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works Company decided to merge together in November 1908 under the name of the Oakland Motor Car Company. The operations of both companies were joined together in Pontiac, Michigan to build the Cartercar. Oakland was purchased by General Motors in 1909. The first General Motors Pontiac was conceived as an affordable six cylinder that was intended to compete with more inexpensive four cylinder models. Within months of its introduction, Pontiac outsold Oakland. As Pontiac's sales rose and Oakland's sales began to decline, Pontiac became the only 'companion' marque to survive its 'parent'.

A Native American Headdress was used as a logo until 1956. The current Pontiac logo represents a Native American arrowhead. An alternate slang term for the marque among performance enthusiasts is Poncho. Another slang term used in the early stages of brand was "Indian" due to the subject matter of its logo.

GM leads all other automakers in Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index (TQI).

Middle years

For an extended period of time, prewar through the early 1950s, the Pontiac was a quiet and solid car, but not especially powerful. A flathead (side-valve) straight eight offered both the quietest and smoothest possible operation, with an appropriately soft suspension and quiet muffler offering the feeling of luxury without the expense. These combinations proved attractive to the vehicle's target market - a reserved lower middle class that was not especially interested in performance or handling and was seeking good value and a roomy vehicle in a step up from the entry-level Chevrolet. This fit well within parent GM's strategy of passing an increasingly prosperous customer up through the various divisions. Straight 8's are slightly less expensive to produce than the V8's that were growing in popularity, but they were also heavier and longer than a V8. Also, the long crankshaft suffered from excessive flex, which resticted straight 8's to relatively low compression and modest RPM's. In this application the inexpensive (but poorly-breathing) flat-head valves were not a liability. When Pontiac decided it needed to compete in the performance market, it made the neccesary change to a V8 with overhead valves.

Read more at Wikipedia.org