The biggest issue with Pontiac (and Saturn) was that they had almost nothing unique to their brands in the end. They competed with Chevy in most segments, with Saturn also competing with GMC in the CUV realm - slightly upmarket from the Chevy variants.

I don’t see this as changing their brand image much at all.

“ ... Regenerative brakes don’t yet provide a smooth transition to a complete stop. ... “

Exactly right - I always liked these and strongly considered one when I was ready to replace my 2001 Olds Aurora with the ShortStar 3.5L V6, which was very reliable for the six years I owned it.

“ .... car companies focused on raising prices... “

I have a funny story about something similar to that.

Very poor examples to prove your point - both the S(tupid)mart for 2 and Scion I(diot) Q(uotient) suck at being small cars, in the modern day presidential vernacular, BIGLY.

“ .... Chevy’s cheap ass leather wears out too quick.... “

3rd Gear: GM Is About to Overhaul Itself for Autonomous and Electric Vehicles 

No, it rides very smoothly while having very good handling traits.

Actually the LaCrosse handles pretty dammed good since they upgraded the suspension bits in the 2014 mid-cycle refresh.

Depends if it fell off a mountain or not.

“ ... infotainment sucking on the Buick...”

“ ... Those of you immediately turned off by the badge... “, while there may be some truth to that, it’s frankly pathetic that anyone would give a shit what someone else thinks about the brand of car they drive.

What part of crate motor don’t you understand?

I just don’t see the appeal - it looks for all the world like a Ford Flex without the swoopy styling!

Auto manufacturing plants (like most other manufacturing plants in any industry) have to utilized at a certain volume of units to be profitable.

Neutral: What Most Surprised You With Sales Reports?

As I replied above:

Um no, that’s totally incorrect - try looking at what reviewers say about Chevy’s interfaces (hint, they say it’s one of the best) versus, oh, I don’t know, Honda’s (hint, they say it’s one of the worst).