Local dealership will lose Pontiac
JANESVILLE — If Dick Stockwell knew last September what he learned Monday, he wouldn't have become a Pontiac dealer.
Sometime next year, Stockwell will lose the Pontiac brand of his Rock County Buick Pontiac GMC Honda dealership in Janesville.
General Motors announced Monday that it will eliminate Pontiac from its lineup and focus on Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. The move is part of the automaker's latest plan to restructure itself ahead of a June 1 deadline to get more government funding.
"They had a plan in December, a plan in February and now this plan in April," said Stockwell, whose family has owned the dealership for 70 years. "But this one's not likely to change."
Unfortunately for Stockwell, GM didn't have a plan when Rock County Buick Honda GMC bought the Pontiac line from Everhart-O'Leary Motors in September. Everhart-O'Leary closed its doors and sold its Mazda dealership to Gordie Boucher Ford-Lincoln-Mercury and its Volkswagen line to Frank Boucher Chrysler Dodge Jeep.
At the time, Stockwell said he planned to build a new Honda store on the former Everhart site on Milton Avenue. That plan is on hold because of the downturn in auto sales.
The consolidation of GM brands is known in industry circles as channeling, where a combination of several brands are sold and serviced at a single dealership.
GM pushed hard to have the Buick, Pontiac and GMC brands under one roof, and several dealers around the country stepped up by buying brand lines from competitors and building new "BPG" stores to sell the three.
"As a Pontiac dealer, it's hard to be happy with this decision," Stockwell said. "Last week, dumping Pontiac was just a concept. Before that, they were talking about cutting GMC."
Stockwell has been through industry turmoil before. He said he'll ride out the latest installment.
He even sold two Pontiacs on Monday.
Last fall's Pontiac sales were good, but the overall market has certainly softened, he said.
"Everything's been pretty slow, but April for us was a better month," he said. "I wouldn't say it was good; it was better."
Stockwell said it's unlikely he'll have to make any staff reductions with the eventual loss of Pontiac. In fact, his service and body departments have had more work since the Pontiac acquisition.
The next challenge for Stockwell and other dealers is GM's plan to slash its inventory of dealerships from 6,000 to 3,600 by the end of 2010. GM plans to review about 1,000 underperforming dealerships in May for the first round of closures.
"We'll just have to see how things go," Stockwell said.
May 17, 2009 at 2:25 p.m.
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now GM needs to get rid of GMC trucks and concentrate on chevy (for the normal everyday person), cadillac (for the rich), and buick (for the old). GMC trucks are clones to Chevy silverados. Saturn, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab, GMC, and of course Oldsmobile have to go, but I think they should have kept Pontiac (for the young and sporty crowd) since there are a few Pontiac cars out there that are worth buying.
May 16, 2009 at 12:41 a.m.
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Where are all the Ray O'Leary haters now? That man saw the writing on the wall and got out while he still could. Lucky guy.
May 1, 2009 at 1:15 p.m.
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I have had 2 Pontiacs over the years and have enjoyed them very much. There has been no problems at will with either of them and am sad they are no longer being made.
May 1, 2009 at 12:46 p.m.
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Pontiac rocks! :-) Very sad to see it going.
May 1, 2009 at 11:31 a.m.
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I've had 6 Grand Prix's and loved them all. I have not had any issues with them other than the normal wear and tear. I will be sad to see the Pontiacs go, but I hope this will help GM rebuild, restructure and they come out stronger for the decisions they are making.
May 1, 2009 at 11:04 a.m.
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well said billy
May 1, 2009 at 9:33 a.m.
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So much for building excitement. :(
May 1, 2009 at 9:04 a.m.
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mageechick -
No, you are wrong. It means with the acquisition of Pontiac at his dealership, Rock County now has probably twice as many customers that need work done. Mostly body work from accidents, oil changes, tires, accessories, etc. Overnight, Rock County inherited all of those former customers of Everhart-O'Leary. Get your facts straight and stop being so ignorant.
May 1, 2009 at 9:01 a.m.
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mageechick, your comment makes no sense. Pontiacs, as with all GM vehicles, share powertrains with other "platform-mates," (Pontiac Grand Prix=Buick Century=Buick Regal=Olds Intrigue=Chevy Impala, etc)
All of the GM cars of the same platform (the former example being the mid to late 90's W-Body,) are built on the same lines, with the same parts by the same people. To say that one brand is any better in terms of quality and reliability shows a complete ignorance of GM's production process.
That being said, Pontiacs tend to have a younger average buyer, and tend to be driven harder, and as such might not last quite as long.
I imagine that the increase in service business can be attributed to an influx of uninformed Pontiac owners who were not aware that any (decent) mechanic can fix any car, and believed that Pontiacs must be taken to Pontiac dealers for service.
May 1, 2009 at 8:46 a.m.
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Sto9ckwell states"In fact, his service and body departments have had more work since the Pontiac acquisition." This tells you that Pontiac is a crap vehicle. Good riddance to another piece of junk!
May 1, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
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Wish you would have thought differently huh? Good Luck in the future
Apr 30, 2009 at 11:59 p.m.
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Sad Pontiac is going bye bye but this couldnt had happened to a nicer guy. After the garbage I went through at Rock Co Buick/GMC/Honda with my 00 Sierra I had and the piss-poor attitudes the service people had, I'm laughing that GM did this to them.
Apr 30, 2009 at 11:54 p.m.
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janesvillian...
my2 cents:
1.Buick is the top quality car built and has topped Lexus.
2. They sell alot of Buicks in China.
3. Just about everything Pontiac had was a re-badged chevy. Even the new GTO and the G8 which are built in Australia by Holden and down under they are Chevy's. Rumor in the Corvette circles is that the Solstice/Sky could still be built and called a "stingray" since Chevy has had a concept named this using the Solstice.
And rooster, hang on to the T/A. I have been looking for one myself. I would like an 89, TTA. That will be a collector. Ironic that it had Buick power :)
Apr 30, 2009 at 9:27 p.m.
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If it's mint, why do you need parts?
Apr 30, 2009 at 9:13 p.m.
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my mint trans am should be worth something now, if a guy could ever get parts.
Apr 30, 2009 at 8:44 p.m.
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I find it bizarre that Pontiac is less viable than Buick, but I guess I agree that the division has "lost its way" as Henderson or somebody recently said. Whatever -- GM should have drastically cut nameplates (and dealers) a long time ago.
Apr 30, 2009 at 5:57 p.m.
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:(
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