Quote:
Originally Posted by likearock00
I hear what you're saying, but GMC is the least of GM's problem. They don't have any exclusive products, nor do they have any individual dealerships. It's really a cheap divison as far as overhead. Pontiac and Buick are the two divisions that actually require work on GM's part.
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Understood, but I believe that moving forward, GMC will become less and less relevant for the forseeable future. And Pontiac and Buick - which no doubt have their own problems - will be looked to share a greater and greater role in the BPG channel set up. Even if GM pays very little to produce GMC products, they still spend money in marketing/advertising/differentiate sheetmetal/etc.
That saved money could be used on other products, but also to advertise on existing/future Pontiac/Buick products.
For example (and it's an incredibly simplistic example), GM said that they wouldn't use money to promote the G5 through television commericals - only online or lumped in with other Pontiac products. So the Pontiac advertising budget has very little money for the G5. Now we all recognize that the G5 is a bit of a letdown as a product and is nothing more than a Cobalt rebadge - but with fuel prices so high, the G5 should be touted as a fuel-sipping product that could drive BPG sales.
However, no money was budgeted for this. But if they had more money for marketing....? Maybe it would be selling better, get more attention, etc. Regardless, it has been a missed opportunity for GM to get more traffic in BPG showrooms.
We all know that GM has already started to push for BPG consolidation. And shifting the focus from retail to commerical sales in the description above could help alleviate any kind of law suits from exitign BPG dealers, while allowing GM to focus their monies in other directions.
The GM brass has to start to think about these things and make the tough decisions...but that's just me.