Pontiac

The history of the General Motors' Pontiac division starts as far back in 1908. That year, the Oakland Motor Company and the Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works Company merged to form the Oakland Car Company. The new company was poised to build the Cartercar when it was acquired by General Motors in 1909. GM originally intended for both of its new brands to sell cars; in 1932, it discontinued the Oakland brand.

In the early years, very little differentiated Pontiac from its Chevrolet sibling, with both offering (and competing) inexpensive to mid-priced coupes, sedans, and wagons. That changed in the '50s and '60s when Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen became the brand's general manager. Under his leadership, the Bonneville debuted and set the brand's current sporty reputation. Engineer and, later, automaker, John DeLorean also joined the division as well, further influencing its design direction.

The debut of the Pontiac Tempest and now famous GTO herald a change in American taste towards small, sporty, and powerful cars. Even the fuel crises in the Seventies did little to affect the brand's image.

Pontiac followed many of the current trends of its day with such vehicles as the fuel-efficient yet sporty Fiero and the Trans Sport minivan (now known as the Montana). In 2001, the brand unveiled the Aztek, one of the world's first crossovers. Unfortunately, reaction was so negative that it was forced to discontinue production in 2005.

In 2004, Pontiac debut the G6, the replacement of the Grand Am which was discontinued in 2005. GM, which had discontinued the Bonneville in 2005, revealed its and the Grand Prix replacement, the G8, at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show.