[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by Alan47717

I know the G8 became the SS eventually, but like the 6th gen, I don't think GM made much an effort telling anyone about it. I saw one at a dealership once and had to take a couple of double takes to realize what I was looking at. It is possible to take the sleeper look too far.

The Vibe was also a unique (and very successful) Pontiac model. I owned two of them and while I wasn't crazy about the Toyota/Pontiac hybrid aspect, they were very good cars. The styling had just been refreshed and unless Toyota coincidentally wanted out of the partnership, killing Pontiac also a successful model with no GM equivalent.

Someone else has written that many GMC buyers don't consider Chevy as a second purchase choice. Now that's advertising.

Actually, it kinda was tied to advertizing / marketing. At about this time GMC was heavy into the “Professional Grade” marketing campaign. A lot of people who had never purchased a GM vehicle, many with a negative perception of Chevrolet as a brand were fine with going into a GMC dealership to see what this “Professional Grade” hoopla was all about. The Denali trim was also top of line and a high percentage of GMC vehicles were driving off the lots with Denali trim.