GM To Kill Pontaic

From Peter Valdes-Dapena at CNNMoney:
General Motors is preparing to announce that the Pontiac car brand, once marketed as GM's "Excitement division," will be killed off, according to a source familiar with the decision.
An official announcement is expected Monday. GM spokesman Jim Hopson declined to comment on Pontiac's fate, saying the automaker has no announcements to make at this time.
In its most recent "viability plan" - which will be updated to reflect this new brand cut - Pontiac was not named as one of GM's four "core brands." Those are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. But Pontiac was also not to be killed or sold off, as were Saturn, Saab and Hummer. Instead Pontiac was to continue on as a "niche brand" focusing on just a few models. That was already a step down for Pontiac which in 2008 was the third-best selling brand behind Chevrolet and GMC. That year the brand sold more than Cadillac and twice as many vehicles as Buick. Cadillac is a high-profile - and high profit - luxury brand while Buick is a hugely popular brand in China and is seen as resurgent in the United States.
Responsibility for the death of American auto brands must be placed squarely at the feet of American car buyers.
The myth of foreign brand superiority is just that - a myth!
Foreign brands have been built on myth and snobbery.
Now, another one of America's great car brands faces extinction.
This abandonment of fine American products (by Americans themselves) is a national disgrace. And this may very well be remembered as the beginning of the end of any sense of pride in or commitment to our own country.
How sad!