When the Pontiac introduced the Solstice in 2004, it hopes that the car would bring attention to the rest of its lineup. While the car was a big hit, it didn’t seem to generate much consumer interest in other Pontiac models, and now with its two year lifespan, the Solstice seems to have sluggish sales as well.

The sales of the Pontiac Solstice have been down 19 percent for the first half of 2007. Also, according to Autodata, sales of other Pontiac models are down 17 percent as compared to other GM brands which are down 9 percent.

On the other hand, the Saturn Sky, which is also built on GM’s Kappa platform like the Solstice, is flying sky high. GM only has about one month’s worth of the Sky available as buyers wait several weeks for their Sky to be delivered.

In a two month span, Pontiac’s 2,700 dealers sell one Solstice every two months. Saturn’s 440 dealers, however, pump out two units of the Sky every month. Not to mention GM produces fewer Sky models than the Solstice.

Spokesman Jim Hopson, of Pontiac, told the New York Times that Pontiac is not worried by inventory of the Solstice or by the sluggish sales. He says the decrease in the demand for the base Solstice is due to the introduction of the turbo-charged GXP model, which buyers favor more.

Pontiac plans to build 20,000 units of the Solstice this year but is on pace to sell only 18,000. Seems like its time to introudces the fixed-roof coupe version.

Source: The New York Times

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