Pontiac

Pontiac is a marque of automobile produced by General Motors and sold in the United States from 1906 to the present. more...

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.

The Pontiac brand was introduced by General Motors in 1926 as the subsidiary to GM's Oakland Motor Car line. The Pontiac name had been used on by another manufacturer in 1906, but that company did not survive. 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' sales rose and Oakland's sales continued to decline, Pontiac became the only sudsidiary to survive its parent brand.

A Native American Headdress was used as a logo until 1956. The current Pontiac logo was originally meant to represent a Native American arrow-head. An alternate slang term for the marque among performance enthusiasts includes Poncho. Another slang term used in the early stages of brand was "Indian" due the subject matter of its logo.

Performance heritage

Since the 1957 introduction of the Bonneville, Pontiac marketing has emphasized performance; the division's slogan for many years was "We Build Excitment". For many years each GM division had its own market niche - Chevrolet was equated with value, Oldsmobile with technology, Buick was marketed affordable luxury, Cadillac as ultimate luxury and Pontiac embraced performance.

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