As the saying goes, “It’s all over but the crying.” Edmunds is reporting that its source inside General Motors has let slip that the Pontiac brand will officially be eliminated. The announcement is expected to be made next Monday as a part of a more thorough reorganization of the struggling automaker.

General Motors PR rep Tom Wilkinson told Edmunds that he could not share any information but that media should keep an eye on the company’s news website for updates.

Rumors have circulate since the initial stages of GM’s viability plan that both Pontiac and GMC would be cut and it looks like the Pontiac rumors may finally be true – despite GM’s continued insistence that the brand is safe.

Pontiac is well-known as the most exciting of GM’s brands with cars like the GTO, Firebird, Grand Prix (GTP) and now the G8 achieving iconic status.

The loss of the brand might be a necessary evil for General Motors but it could also come back to haunt them if another manufacturer purchased the name.

[Source: Edmunds.com]

Several major news outlets are reporting that General Motors is planning extended shutdowns of its U.S. plants this summer. The plants would be idled for as much as nine weeks from mid-May through July.

While it is common practice for plants to idle for a “summer break” during the sunny season, that period has traditionally only been two weeks and not the two months that General Motors is planning.

The move is considered a necessity as the struggling automaker suffered a sales decline of 49 percent in March and currently has a stockpile of vehicles that can last 122 days.

A representative of the United Auto Workers union told the Associated Press that plan managers will be meeting with the union today and tomorrow to discuss production changes and some plants.

There is no word on if the extended shutdowns would apply to GM’s other North American facilities.

[Source: Automotive News]

When General Motor’s first submitted it’s viability plan to the Obama Administration, Saab, Hummer and Saturn were put on notice, while other brands like Pontiac and GMC (as well as Chevy, Buick and Cadillac) were guaranteed to stay on.

There are no guarantees in an economy like this, however, and so both Pontiac and GMC may be on the chopping block after all – this according to a Bloomberg report that cites unnamed sources involved in GM’s talks with the Obama Administration’s automotive task force.

One source stated that while no decisions are final, if either one of the two are to survive the GMC brand is favored – which is expected as it is GM’s second best-selling brand after Chevrolet.

“We are continuing to assess our global operations, brand portfolio and nameplates, and will take further actions to more aggressively restructure our business,” said GM spokesperson Renee Rashid-Merem. “It’s premature to comment on what those actions could entail.”

The Pontiac brand emerged in in 1926 and posted its best U.S. sales year in 1978 with 896,980 units sold. Last year the brand sold just 267,348 vehicles, a decline of 25 percent over 2007,

GMC’s history dates back to 1902 when brothers Max and Morris Grabowsky sold their first vehicle. What then became the Rapid Motor Vehicle Co. was sold to GM in 1912 and in 1915 GMC produced its first light-duty pickup. GMC’s U.S. sales fell 26 percent last year to 376,996 units.

The Obama administration has given General Motors a June 1st deadline to come up with a viable plan to solve its financial woes or face bankruptcy.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Just ahead of the Obama Administration’s press conference today, some of the most important details are already out.

General Motors is to be given 60 more days to complete its restructuring plan, while Chrysler is being given just 30 days to finalize a partnership with Fiat.

This news comes as both fumbling U.S. automakers are set to fail to meet the March 31st restructuring deadline that the Bush administration gave as a qualification for the initial bailout funds.

Both automakers will be given additional funds to ride out the recession until the given deadlines. Chrysler requires $2 billion by tomorrow in order to avoid cash flow issues, while GM is looking at an additional $2 billion to keep itself afloat through April.

Both deadlines comes after the Obama administration’s Auto Task Force determined that the current restructuring efforts by both General Motors and Chrysler would not make either company viable even if the economy improved.

If the two American car manufacturers cannot meet the deadlines laid out by the Obama administration, the cash flow will be halted and the companies will be forced into bankruptcy.

[Source: Automotive News]

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will be stepping down as the head of the deeply troubled American auto giant by the end of the month – this according to several reports including CNBC and GMInsideNews.

Wagoner apparently did not come to the decision on his own and while he was not “forced” he was apparently asked to abdicate the General Motors throne by senior White House officials. GM’s Vice President, Fritz Henderson is expected to take over the helm of the company (We don’t envy him).

Wagoner took up the position of CFO at GM in 1992, becoming executive vice president in 1994. In 2000 he continued to move up the corporate ladder, taking a new position as president and chief operating officer, adding chairman to that long list of titles in 2003.

During Wagoner’s reign, GM’s shares have taken a catastrophic hit, dropping from a high of $60 to a low of $1.27 – a loss of roughly 98 percent.

[Source: GMinsideNews]

According to the reliable folks over at GMInsideNews, on Monday the Obama Administration will announce a bankruptcy deadline for both General Motors and Chrysler. 

It has been rumored that the government will release more details about its aid for the U.S. auto industry on Monday, but now it appears the announcement will include this strong-arm measure by the feds. The “brankruptcy deadline” will be a specific date by which both companies will have to have their finances in order. For General Motors this means a date by which it will have its ongoing issues with the United Auto Workers and bondholders resolved. If the companies cannot comply with the request of the Auto Task Force it will force both U.S. auto giants into a “pre-packaged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

[Source: GMInsideNews]

General Motors has announced that it is putting a hold on a plan to bring a new 4.5-liter V8 diesel engine to market. The new engine would have been used in the light-duty Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks and estimates have it rated at anywhere from the mid-20s to the high-20s in miles per gallon. This would even be a significant improvement over GM’s current Silverado and Sierra hybrids, which get 21 mpg city and 22 highway.

The move is just one of many tough choices GM has had to make to cut costs ahead of a U.S. government decision to see if the struggling automaker will get an additional $16.6 billion in bailout funds.

What makes this pill even harder to swallow is that the new engine is just a year away from being ready for production – which would take place at GM’s Tonawanda, N.Y. plant.

As for the engine itself, it has a unique cylinder head design that eliminates intake and exhaust manifolds. The lightweight block also has “advanced castings” for the crankshaft-bearing journals and oil system.

GM secured several new patents in the design of the 4.5-liter diesel engine and it apparently is both as smooth and as quiet as a gasoline engine. With most of the ground-work already complete, General Motors has stated that it would be willing to work with another company on bringing the new diesel V8 to market if there were any reasonable offers.

[Source: AutoNews]