• Detroit Free-Press, Wednesday, January 7, 2009 11:15 AM

General Motors told its dealers yesterday that Pontiac G8 Sport Truck, the car-pickup slated to hit the market later this year, is kaput. Its design recalled the Chevrolet El Camino, which GM killed in 1988 after tighter fuel rules for cars made small pickups more competitive.

Susan Docherty, Buick-Pontiac-GMC vp, notes that GM's long-term viability plan given to Congress calls for the Pontiac brand to become more focused. "It needs to be about youthful, sporty passenger cars," Docherty tells Tim Higgens. "When we took a look at that vehicle as an entry, the G8 Sport Truck, it didn't necessarily fit the youthful, sporty, exciting part."

Mike Levine, editor of pickuptrucks.com, says the vehicle would have been "unique," but that he didn't think annual sales would have topped 5,000. "It was a very polarizing truck," he says. "You either loved it or hated it."

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