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Tags:
NASCAR
Today GM formally announced, what had been rumored for days, that the Pontiac division has been scheduled for execution. No more GTO or Trans-Am, some of the historic Pontiac models that GM developed to satisfy the US thirst for performance. I would have much rather seen them killing Buick instead. Oldsmobile is already gone, and HUMMER, Saturn, and Saab will be sold or killed so they'll be left with Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, GMC. Not sure if it will be enough cutting with auto sales at historic lows and their new break-even will be 10 million vehicles annually - that will be very difficult to achieve unless the economy turns around in a big way, and that might take many years. I suspect Chevy will have a much smaller footprint in NASCAR for the near future, and eventually maybe none at all.
Chrysler has been making progress in staying away from bankruptcy. Daimler was able to dump their 20% share, they are making progress with the Canadian unions, and if they can get a deal with Fiat done, they may be eligible for another $500M from the government so they can keep paying bills. I still don't think these efforts will succeed in avoiding bankruptcy but they sure are trying hard. I'm predicting that 2010 will be the last year for Dodge in all motorsports.
Changes are definitely coming to NASCAR over the next few years.
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