GM shelves plan for US launch of Pontiac G8 ST.

Auto Business News-8 January 2009-GM shelves plan for US launch of Pontiac G8 ST(C)2009 ENPublishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk

Auto Business News - 08 January 2009(c)2005 - Electronic News Publishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk

General Motors Corporation (GM) (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has announced it will not be launching its Australian-built Pontiac G8 ST coupe utility vehicle in the US this year.

The planned autumn 2009 launch for the low-volume niche product has been cancelled as part of the struggling automaker's general cost reducing efforts. GM has no plans to build the car for another GM brand.

GM launched the Pontiac G8, which is a US-spec model of its GM Australian origin Holden Ute, in March 2008, but sales have been poorer than anticipated. Automotive News has quoted Russ Clark, executive director of product marketing for Pontiac, Buick and GMC, as saying 'We want everyone focused on the volume products and the long-term viability of the company. We and the dealers only have so many resources to promote our products. What we want to do with Pontiac is what we did with Buick, which went from having seven nameplates in 2005 to three now. We will be bringing the entries down in Pontiac.'

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