GM Dealerships Slashed; Pontiac Gone by 2010

MORE: Complete GM Press Conference-Video
MORE: Click Here CNN's "What Killed Pontiac."

Washington DC April 28, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported that General Motors, speeding up its overhaul in a bid to survive, plans to shed half of its 6,200 U.S. dealerships by 2014 and phase out its Pontiac brand by next year.

Automotive News reports that GM's dealership reduction, from 6,246 at the end of last year, marks a sharper decline than forecast on Feb. 17, when the count was projected to fall by 34 percent.

"The objective here is not to survive; the objective is to develop an operating plan that allows us to win," said CEO Fritz Henderson, who took over from the ousted Rick Wagoner a month ago when the U.S. auto task force rejected GM's Feb. 17 plan as too tame.

The automaker will continue to invest in four core U.S. brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. The company also said that it is accelerating plans to spin off, sell or close Hummer, Saturn and Saab. GM forecasts production of 3.7 million vehicles in 2014.

The automaker expects to offer 34 U.S. nameplates in 2010, down from 48 last year. From 2010 through 2014, only one nameplate will be added.