BusinessReport.com

Position: General manager

Company: Gerry Lane Enterprises

What they do: Sell cars

Revenue: $208 million

Next Goals: Gearing up to take advantage of the recovery and attendant surge in business

How is it possible that the same automobile brand responsible for the muscular, beautiful GTOs and Firebirds of the late 1960s and early 1970s could come out with something as hideous as the Aztek, a Frankenstein’s monster of confused identity that debuted in 2001 and is regularly featured on lists of the ugliest cars of all time?

It’s a mystery, but it’s also a clear sign that Pontiac deserves to be put out of its misery—something GM plans to do with the 2010 model year. Eric Lane isn’t shedding too many tears. Sure it’s sad to see a once venerable brand hit the wall after 80-plus years [GM rolled out Pontiac in 1926], but you have to be practical, says Lane, the general manager for Gerry Lane Enterprises, which bought out Woodson-Smith Pontiac in 1999.

“You have to look each brand that goes away and say, ‘Is it a moneymaker or is it not?’” he says.

Ten years ago, Lane was selling 50 Pontiacs a month. Losing the brand at that time would have been a blow. Now he’s down to selling only eight or 10 a month—mostly the G8, the only Pontiac model that’s really doing anything. Pontiac has stopped paying its way.

In another couple of years, they’ll be gone, parked in automotive heaven alongside other departed titans: Oldsmobile, Studebaker, Nash, Packard, Hudson, Kaiser and on and on.

“We’re probably losing money on Pontiac right now,” Lane says. “It’s going to be a positive for us instead of a negative.”

So how did Pontiac become so leaky that GM scuttles it in order to keep from sinking the entire fleet? For starters, discontinuing the most popular models—Firebird, Grand Prix, Grand Am—probably wasn’t a smart move, Lane says.

“They just kept axing their good products,” he says. “Pontiac ran its course. It’s not going to hurt us whatsoever. We’re going to be just fine.”

Funny thing: The Aztek, despite its looks, is actually not a bad car.

“Ugliest car ever made,” Lane says. “What’s crazy is it was also the most comfortable car I’ve ever driven. I drove one for a demo, and I loved it. It was one of the greatest vehicles I ever drove.”