SUN SETS ON SUNFIRE!

By Rick KranzAutomotive News / January 24, 2005

DETROIT - General Motors will kill the Pontiac Sunfire in June, which could leave Pontiac without an entry-level car for two years or longer. Pontiac-GMC Marketing General Manager Jim Bunnell says there is no plan to replace the Sunfire. The automaker is looking at several options, including an import priced below the Vibe. "There is nothing planned in the foreseeable future, in the next 18 to 24 months" to replace the Sunfire, Bunnell says. "It will be some time after that if we were to figure out something that would make sense for us." He says GM is "just laying out options," including the possibility of an import. "We are going to look at the entire portfolio within GM," he says, "including our opportunities overseas." Pontiac has declined to sell a U.S. sister car to the Chevrolet Cobalt, which is built on the Delta front-drive, small-car architecture. It does sell a Cobalt sibling, the Pursuit, in Canada. The Sunfire uses the same platform as the old Chevrolet Cavalier. If GM adds a vehicle, Bunnell says, it would have to reflect the Pontiac brand in performance and content: "We are not interested in badge engineering." Bunnell says there is debate within GM as to whether Pontiac needs a vehicle priced below the Vibe. GM likely will weigh Vibe sales for 2005 and part of 2006 before deciding. Pontiac sold 58,894 Vibes in 2004, up 3.5 percent from 2003. That vehicle is assembled by NUMMI, a GM-Toyota partnership in Fremont, Calif. The base Vibe costs $17,690, including destination. Pontiac sold 36,095 Sunfires in 2004, a 17.2 percent drop from 2003. The base 2005 Sunfire coupe costs $11,460 including transportation. A Sunfire sedan is not offered.