2009 Pontiac G3

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It’s official. Pontiac is getting its own version of the Chevy Aveo.
And it’s a little bit sad.

After the G6, the Solstice, the G8, Pontiac is getting a small and very mundane little hatchback.
As you know, I drove the Aveo a few weeks ago and found it to be an OK car. But nothing like a Pontiac should be.
No matter what, that car wasn’t really fun to drive.

I really don’t get what GM is trying to do here. If you want to sell more Aveos, sell more Aveos. They don’t need to sell it under 2 brands.
I’m not sure they can really afford the damage it does to the brand either.

Just when they were trying to convince us that Pontiac means sporty…

Conversation 13 comments

  1. This is brilliant. It works SO MUCH BETTER as a Pontiac design. The interior looks great, the exterior looks like a mini Vibe!!! I saw one driving down the highway today. I’d actually consider getting a G3!

  2. WTF is your problem GM?
    You wonder why people don’t
    take your brands seriously-you
    dilute them with POS rebadged
    product. This is absolutely
    unacceptable, shameful,
    and you’re basically throwing
    away all of Pontiac’s credibility
    as a “sport” brand that you
    *started to* regain with cars
    like the G8 and Solstice.
    If P-B-G dealers need a small
    car so bad-why not rebage this
    as a Geo? But honestly small
    (unsporty or unluxurious) cars
    are not their domain and have no
    business in their showrooms.
    Can’t say that I’m surprised though,
    this is typical GM.

  3. I wonder sometimes if marketing the same car under two sister brands (e.g. chevy & pontiac) is actually effective at increasing sales with the general population. With auto enthusiasts who check sites like this, we obviously know the cars are the same underneath with minor exterior changes.

    I remember years ago speaking with a non auto enthusiast friend of mine, trying to convince him that his father's mercury grand marquis was in fact the same as a ford crown vic, all to no avail of course. To him and his dad, mercury was a premier brand and there was no way their grand marquis was in any way similar to a crown vic. Interesting to say the least.

  4. “This is brilliant. It works SO MUCH BETTER as a Pontiac design. The interior looks great, the exterior looks like a mini Vibe!!! I saw one driving down the highway today. I’d actually consider getting a G3!”

    You are one of the idiots who would fall for GMs poor badge jobs then.

    This is a terrible little vehicle. Everyone who has ever driven one and written about it hated it.

  5. This is done to satisfy dealer demand and pressure to have a certain segment of car. Chev and Pontiac are sold at different dealership. The GM dealer network is a mess. Too many dealers with too much influence. GM’s hands a tied at overhauling the dealer network because of the huge liability they would be under to close down some dealerships.

  6. Terrible! This is why GM is going under and we taxpayers are going to bail them out. why build two identical cars to compete with one another within the same company!! you morons.

    Keep Chevy for every man. pontiac for a sporty crowd and caddy for the luxury crowd. dump buick.

  7. Ill never understand why they sell the same vehicle right next to each other under 2 brands. But hey, if it works, it works i guess.
    And they are both rebadged daewoos.

  8. Are they real functional vents in front of the side mirrors or are they just stick on. Im betting the latter.

  9. Despite the mediocre reviews, I rented an Aveo and it wasn’t bad. It rode comfortably, was super easy to park, was good on gas, and decent looking inside and out. Nothing exciting, just very basic transportation.

    That said, GM is wasting money by creating this “Economy Pontiac”. Money that could be spent on promoting and increasing Aveo sales.

  10. They have to obey your federal mafia and their laws. The federal mafia has CAFE laws and if GM does not obey, the federal mafia will bury them alive in one of their jails or kill them.

  11. They have been selling this as the Pontiac Wave in Canada for as long as we’ve had the Aveo. I think it looks better than the Aveo and looks no worse than a Vibe. I had an Aveo for two weeks as a rental and no, it was not the worst car ever. That would have to go to all the Taurus and Sable cars I have been stuck with over the years…

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