DETROIT -- General Motors told dealers today it has decided to cancel a G8 sport truck that was scheduled to debut this fall.

The reason, in part, is GM's "continuing vehicle review" to make the company viable, said Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson. That includes turning Pontiac into a "niche brand" according to a plan GM presented to Congress late last year.

"With Pontiac being more focused on sporty, fun-to-drive cars, we took a long look at the ST and it didn't fit with what our future vision of Pontiac would be," Hopson said. "At that point, we decided to not proceed with this vehicle."

Pontiac launched the G8 sedan in March 2008. The vehicle is built off the rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform at GM's Australian unit, Holden.

When GM unveiled the G8 ST last spring at the New York auto show, no one at the company foresaw the national economic meltdown.

"The way the business is today, we want the dealers to focus on the great products we do have: the G6 sedan and the Vibe," Russ Clark, executive director of product marketing for Pontiac, Buick and GMC, said Monday during an interview with Automotive News.

"We want everyone focused on the volume products and the long-term viability of the company. We and the dealers only have so many resources to promote our products."

GM considers the G8 ST to be a low-volume niche product, and Clark said there are no plans to build it for another GM brand.

"What we want to do with Pontiac is what we did with Buick," Clark said. Buick went from having seven nameplates in 2005 to three now.

"We'll be bringing the entries down in Pontiac," Clark said. "It's six right now. It'll be less than six but more than one, so what it'll be ultimately? We're working on that now."