Pontiac announced there will be 12 new or special-edition vehicles over the next 20 months, but Pontiac Trans Am won't be one of them. Pontiac had lobbied for a sibling vehicle to the Chevrolet Camaro, which is scheduled to arrive in February 2009.

The Trans Am won't go into production because is too expensive to built: "It would cost $200 million to bring out the vehicle," said Lynn Thompson, owner of Thompson Motor Sales in Springfield, Mo.

Pontiac will remain a car-only brand for the foreseeable future, dealers were told. But because of new legislation requiring vehicles to reach a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2020, Pontiac might not end up as GM's performance division, dealers said they were told.

"The plan is being tweaked because of the gas situation," Thompson said. "I hope they don't give up on performance because they don't have to. You can use four-cylinder engines to achieve incredible power."

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