It's Official: Pontiac Torrent on Death Row

"Very little is changing in the near term," wrote Susan Docherty, GM North American vice president of Buick, Pontiac and GMC in the corporate GM FastLane blog this week. "Pontiac will continue to offer the G5, G6, G8, Solstice and Vibe, and we're adding the economical G3. Pontiac's top reason for purchase is 'fuel economy' and we won't disappoint, with four of our six entries getting over 32 miles per gallon on the highway.

"The Pontiac Torrent will be discontinued to enable the brand to focus on cars. But the good news is that a new, five-passenger crossover SUV entry will soon be found at GMC."

She added: "In the future, Pontiac will have fewer nameplates. Just how many and what they will look like is still under study."

GM on Tuesday reported that it sold just 987 Pontiac Torrents in February 2009 versus 2,207 in February 2008, a 55.3 percent decline.

Docherty's posting raised the ire of several bloggers who left comments on the GM FastLane blog. A key question raised by bloggers is, "Where is the Pontiac version of the Chevrolet Volt," given the fact that Docherty insists that Pontiac is all about fuel economy.

"GM is supposed to be getting lean and smart with laser-focused brands now that it is taking our tax money," wrote one blogger. "I resent paying for ambiguous brands like Pontiac and GMC."

Another wrote: "Being a past owner of many Pontiacs, I am fully disappointed. Where's the vision?"

As if anticipating those comments, Docherty ended her posting by saying: "Again, we know that we don't have all of the answers right now and that can be very uncomfortable, but we refuse to let media speculation and negativity make up our minds for us."

Inside Line says: Eighty-three-year-old Pontiac is not yet in the grave, insists GM. But questions remain about its long-term health. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent