General Motors US division Pontiac have axed plans to sell the Holden Commodore Ute in the USA. The car was to have been marketed as the Pontiac G8 ST but according to Pontiac spokespersin Jim Hopson the Aussie sourced V8 no longer fits the companies new direction.
“With Pontiac being more focused on sporty, fun-to-drive cars, we took a long look at the ST and it didn’t fit with what our future vision of Pontiac would be,“ Hopson said. “At that point, we decided to not proceed with this vehicle.“
According to Holden the decision will not have any effect on continued sale of the G8 sedan in the US. However several US based media outlets have claimed that Pontiac will eventually become a one or two model niche marque and it remains to be seen whether there will be any room for the Aussie built Commodore.
The G8 is manufactured at Holden’s Elizabeth plant in South Australia and any cutback in overseas sales won’t bode well for its workers.
The only good news from the decision is that at least the attractive lines of the original wont have to be further butchered by the General’s US design team.