Pontiac

Pontiac is a marque of automobile produced by General Motors and sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1926 to the present. 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.

After the introduction of the Bonneville in 1957, Pontiac's next success was the introduction of its Wide-Track suspension layout in 1959. The wide-track layout gave the car a broader stance, by increasing the width between the wheels, and claimed greater stability and increased traction.

The Pontiac GTO was introduced in 1964 by Pontiac's John DeLorean as an option package on the LeMans/Tempest (GM A-body) car. It was the first intermediate GM vehicle to be powered by the Pontiac division's 389 in³ V8. By being the first brand to feature a large engine in an intermediate car, Pontiac is often credited with launching the muscle car era. Throughout the 1960s, GTOs were well known for their combination of stunning looks and incredible performance.