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Pontiac Montana
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The Pontiac Montana is a minivan from the Pontiac division of General Motors. During the 1997-1998 model years, it was known as the Pontiac Trans Sport Montana that used the "Trans Sport" moniker. It was discontinued after the 2006 model year in the United States because of slow sales, but will continue to be sold in Canada until the 2009 model year and Mexico. Since their introduction, the Pontiac minivans have been General Motors' best-selling minivans in Canada.
Montana nameplate was used as a trim level of the Pontiac Trans Sport van from 1997 to 1998, but dropped the Trans Sport name for 1999 (2000 in Canada).
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The Pontiac Montana is a minivan from the Pontiac division of General Motors. During the 1997-1998 model years, it was known as the Pontiac Trans Sport Montana that used the "Trans Sport" moniker. It was discontinued after the 2006 model year in the United States because of slow sales, but will continue to be sold in Canada until the 2009 model year and Mexico. Since their introduction, the Pontiac minivans have been General Motors' best-selling minivans in Canada.
First generation (1998-2005)
The Montana nameplate was used as a trim level of the Pontiac Trans Sport van from 1997 to 1998, but dropped the Trans Sport name for 1999 (2000 in Canada). This generation was related to the previous generation Buick GL8, the Chevrolet Venture, the Oldsmobile Silhouette, the Vauxhall Sintra, and the Opel Sintra. The Opel and Vauxhall were only sold in Europe, although made in the same factory in the USA as the others. Chevrolet also introduced a nearly identical twin to Pontiac save for its badging for European consumption, named the Chevrolet Trans Sport. Both of the Buick GL8 minivans were only sold in China. The 2000-2005 GL8 is a similar version of the first-generation Pontiac Montana, and the 2005+ GL8 is similar to the Pontiac Montana SV6. The Pontiac Montana came in both short and long wheelbase models. The Pontiac Montana was one of the few minivans which provided seating for eight.
There was also the Montana Thunder which was the most up-level model of the Montana. Introduced in 2002, the Montana Thunder featured special "Thunder" badging, Thunder-specific 16" chrome 5-spoke rims, upgraded ride and handling package, and a special spoiler on the back of the roof rack. Inside, the Montana Thunder had special two-tone black and grey leather seating, and a perforated leather-wrapped steering wheel. The Montana Thunder was produced in 2002 and 2003, but for 2004 and 2005 it was made an optional package on Montana GTs called the "Chrome-Sport" package. Only the "Thunder" badges were discontinued. Despite the Pontiac Montana's redesign in 2005, Pontiac continued to sell the original body style for the 2005 model year for fleet use. The last Montana rolled off the production line on March 31, 2004 as a 2005 model.
Safety criticism
A crash test video of the 1997 Trans Sport/Montana has received some criticism due to extreme damage to the vehicle in the crash test. The minivan received a "Poor" rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Some comments made by the IIHS after the first test in 1997 were:
- Major Collapse of the occupant compartment left little survival space for the driver.
- Extreme steering wheel movement snapped the dummy's head backward.
- The unnatural position of the dummy's left foot indicates that an occupant's left leg would have been seriously injured in a real-world crash of this severity.
- The forces on the left lower leg were so high that the dummy's metal foot broke off at the ankle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the van 4 stars for driver protection and 3 stars for passenger protection in the frontal impact test. In the side impact test, it received 5 stars for front passenger protection, and 5 stars rear passenger protection.
However, the safety issues of the Montana were addressed with the newer Montana SV6, which earned the highest rating of "Good" given by the Insurance Institute in the frontal offset crash test.
Second generation (2005-2009)
For the 2005 model year, the Montana was updated to have a less aerodynamic design, like an SUV, resulting in its new name, Montana SV6. The 2005 Montana SV6 used a 3.5 L High Value 3500 LX9 V6 that generated and . For 2006, a 3.9 L LZ9 V6, with 240 hp (179 kW) and 240 ft·lbf (332 Nm) torque, was added as an option. For 2007, the 3.5 L V6 was dropped, leaving the 3.9 L as the base engine. Consequently, the optional AWD system was also dropped, since it could not handle the torque of the 3.9 L engine. A flex-fuel version of the 3.9 L V6 also became available for 2007, but was only available in Canada for the SV6.
Similar to the Chevrolet Uplander, Saturn Relay, and Buick Terraza, it was the third costliest of its cousins and starting at US$24,840. In the United States, only the long-wheelbase version was sold, while it continues to be sold in Canada alongside the short-wheelbase version (which crossed over to the second generation for the 2006 model year).
In Mexico, the Montana is continuing until the 2009 model year, with the 3.9L V6 as the only engine option. General Motors de Mexico market it as the Pontiac Montana SV6, and it is almost identical to the discontinued North American version, but not the Canadian-specification model.
Prices are $20,455 for the regular-wheelbase model, and $23,333 for the long-wheelbase version.
Discontinuation
On November 21, 2005, GM announced that it would close the Doraville, Georgia assembly plant, which produced the SV6, in 2008. However, several months later, GM announced that the SV6 would be discontinued after 2006 in the US market due to poor sales. Production for both Canada and Mexico still continues, due to better sales in those two countries. The last SV6 in the United States of America rolled off the assembly line on July 7, 2006. Production ended for Canada and Mexico with the 2009 model year based on the brand's withdrawal from the light truck market and General Motors closing the Doraville, Georgia plant on 26 September 2008. The last vehicle was a Canadian Version of a 2009 Pontiac Montana SV6 Short-Wheel-Base in Liquid Silver Metallic.
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