Why The 2005 Pontiac Bonneville GXP Was The Final Model Ever Made
In the late 1950s, Pontiac introduced a then-new car model that would remain on the market in various forms for decades to come: the Bonneville. The very last iteration of this model first arrived in dealerships in 2004 as the Pontiac Bonneville GXP, with former Pontiac-GMC General Manager Lynn Myers saying at the time that the sedan would "set a high standard for the other GXP models to follow." Sadly, that wouldn't prove to be the case.
The 2004 Bonneville GXP, which had a hefty price tag of $36,000 (nearly $60,000 today, accounting for inflation), boasted the impressive performance-centric specs consumers expected from a GXP, including the first 32-valve V8 engine offered in a Pontiac vehicle. Joining that power plant was a four-speed automatic Hydra-Matic 4T80-E transmission and a "specially tuned exhaust system" that made its presence known via four chrome exhaust tips and a "distinctive Pontiac exhaust note," according to a press release from November 2003.
Despite its relation to the iconic Pontiac GTO (including its rare variants) and the automaker's high hopes for the model, the GXP option wasn't able to save Bonneville from a growing consumer disinterest in the model line as a whole, and the sports performance sedan received only one additional model-year release before Pontiac shuttered production entirely.
[Featured image by IFCAR via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public Domain]
The GXP didn't adequately boost Bonneville sales
Though Bonneville fans received an updated version of the GXP variant in the following year, General Motors' decision to end the model line's production entirely meant the 2005 Bonneville GXP was also the last of its kind. GM officially stopped building Bonneville vehicles by June 2005, only a few months after it confirmed news that the iconic model was on the chopping block. At the time, Pontiac fans were left wondering whether the Bonneville name would still live on in some fashion, yet more bad news followed only a few years later.
In 2009, General Motors was facing financial disaster amid the Great Recession, leading to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and massive company reorganization. As part of that latter effort, GM made the decision to discontinue the Pontiac brand entirely, a move made in part due to poor overall sales despite a modern portfolio that included at least one future classic.