the downfall of the gto was the fact that THEY NEVER PLANNED TO HAVE IT AFTER 06 they brought it over for the last three years of that generation Holden, and the new one was never planned to be developed for American standards

they imported all the gto's that they planned on, and stopped when they planned on, just because they stopped doesnt mean it was a downfall

Cars like the GTO is what Pontiac should have been making since the 80's, a sportsmans car. Had GM kept up with the times and not taken its eyes off teh ball, they could have transformed the brand into something like a low-end BMW, Audi, Infiniti brand.

Oh well.

Pontiac wasnt killed because of its lack of sales, as it was teh 2nd best selling division in GM outside of Chevy. Pontiac had a very small following and a very low return rate for customers. Pontiac was a door out of GM, not a doorway in.

Pontiac was planned to die in 2012-13, but with Chap 11, it was pushed foward.

Pontiac's sales kept dropping off at a rate much faster then the rest of the brands, and this had started many years before.
Once Pontiac got rid of the notion of a full line brand, loss of minivans, loss of its 3 major sedans, etc etc.
GM made several missteps with Pontiac, but in the end it had decent cars to the very end, cars that people begged for GM to make.
They made them, no one wanted them, and less and less every year.

To be honest, they should have killed Pontiac in the mid 80's.
Now with Pontiac and Saturn gone, Chevy has a lot more room to spread its wings...