The Pontiac G6 was a mid-size car produced by General Motors under the Pontiac brand, a car brand owned, made, and sold by GM, used to partner with the more expensive line of automobiles. First introduced for the 2005 model year, the car was designed to replace the Grand Am, a mid-size car that was iconic of the time period.
Built on a GM Epsilon platform, shared with the Chevrolet Malibu, a mid-size car that was produced between 1964-1983 nad since 1997, and the Saab 9-3, a compact executive car, the Pontiac G6 featured a remote start system, control ABS, electronic stability control, automatic headlights, and a panoramic sunroof.
Despite these high-tech features, somehow, the Pontiac G6 model failed - miserable. Was it due to the bankruptcy of Pontiac, or for other reasons? Let's see if it was one of the 10 cars that killed off Pontiac, or if it was considered one of the 90s muscle cars that were actually pretty good.
With such cool features and timeless design, let's see why the Pontiac G6 took a turn for the worst after 2010...
GM Announces Discontinuation
In 2009, General Motors announced that they were going to discontinue their brand by the end of the next year, in 2010. Since that year, many people have thought about the real reason behind the cessation of the beloved G6, especially considering the fact that the same brand has continued to market new cars and the fact they have been around for over 8 decades.
Two Main Reasons For Discontinuation
Despite discussions over the years of why the Pontiac G6 has been no longer produced, there are two main reasons, or two main explanations, for why the G6 has been out of production. Let's check it out.
First, the main reason why a company would stop selling a particular model or product is due to the lack of money - and GM is no different. Pontiac had been unprofitable and lacking a huge profit margin for the few years before the discontinuation announcement. This loss of money put GM in a position that made them question their financial stability - a question that would foreshadow the bankruptcy that happened just years later in 2009.
Second, Pontiac was selling Chevrolet vehicles at a lower market price than the company itself was selling them, undermining the Chevrolet brand and causing a loss for their own brand, simultaneously.
Bankruptcy Issues
Pontiac became a popular brand in the United States and Canada, serving as a sister brand to Chevrolet and the performance division of General Motors, and giving a low-budget vehicle to those in Canada.
However, despite these popular sentiments, General Motors announced plans to discontinue Pontiac in early 2009. Why do you ask? Well, due to restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings, signaling a huge red flag for the General Motors company as a whole. They had to choose which model to single out - and they chose Pontiac. Instead, they wanted to focus on their "core" group of cars - those of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC, leaving Pontiac out to dry.
The Last Pontiac
The total number of Pontaic GTs manufactured in 2009, the infamous year of bankruptcy, was 87,171. The last GTs were made in late 2009 as part of a fleet order, with these being some of the last produced United-States built Pontiac cars ever to be made.
However, the lone G6 was manufactured and produced in January of 2010 when GM restarted the Orion Assembly line in order to produce one final G6 as last hoorah.
Recalls
Not only was Pontiac doomed by GM's bankruptcy, but there were 3 recalls issued for the 2010 Pontiac G6.
First, the initial issue had to do with the steering, where a joint bearing could fail prematurely and cause an unintended separation of the u-joint, resulting in a complete and total loss of steering control.
Second, the next recall involved the service brakes. Increased resistance in the Body Control Module connection could cause an increase or change in voltage in the Brake Apply Sensor circuit, causing either the brake light to illuminate unintentionally, the brake light being lit up without the brake pedal being pushed, difficulty engaging the cruise control if desired, moving the gear shifter out of park, and the lack of ability to control traction control, electronic stability control, and panic assist braking.
The last recall involves the power train, with the shift lever and the actual position of the transmission gear not lining up correctly due to an issue with the gear position indicator. This would mean that the driver could not move the shift out of the park position.
Not only was the Pontiac G6 doomed by bankruptcy, but the model that emerged from this tumultuous time was an unsafe and unremarkable ride.