To Save Pontiac

One of the big stories in Michigan is the demise of the 80 year old Pontiac brand of automobile. General Motors plans to phase it out by late 2010.

I have never owned a Pontiac but my father has owned a couple and they were nice cars. I certainly do not want to see them die out for several reasons, not of the least of which is it would be one more Michigan brand down the proverbial toilet.

A Pontiac dealer in Davison Michigan (a modest sized community just outside of Flint) named Jim Waldron has made GM an offer to purchase (video embedded at link) the brand and resume production of the Pontiac. If it was just him I would be skeptical that it was nothing more than a pipe dream, but he does have other investors interested as well. He would use abandoned plants to set and begin production.

GM says not so fast and Pontiac is not for sale and that the Government rescue plan includes the phasing out of Pontiac (video embedded at link). If the purchase plan is serious and the money is there why not? Some find it difficult to believe that the rescue plan would rather destroy a brand than save it through sales.

Perhaps the new bosses in Washington do not want a company that they are gaining control of to face private sector competition? Perhaps if he offered Obama a bunch of stock gratis he would get the brand name for free. Perhaps the UAW would rather see people unemployed than they have to deal with another manufacturer.

They may not place it in Michigan if they get it, unless they get a few incentives, but at least it would be American workers making American cars.