[YSSMAN]

Hurm, I'm not sure if all of the ideas are quite "right."

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BUICK

The case for Buick is a fairly easy one given that we've seen a resurgence of sales and attention with their newer, better cars after GM began to finally fund things. The problem for Buick is that the brand identity has yet to be fully realized here in the US, one minute its a Lexus-fighter, the next its trying to strike low at Lincoln and Chrysler. Someone at GM needs to make a commitment, and to that extent, I'd vote to go after Lexus... Albeit "Hyundai Style," in a manner similar to the way they're running the Genesis and the Azera.

SAAB

Keep it. Its a fairly critical brand that still brings in a good number of sales and has a fairly hardcore and otherwise untapped fan base. The cars need to be injected with a bit more "enthusiasm" to be a really reasonable alternative to Acura and whenever it shows up, Alfa Romeo as well. Bring over the diesel options, and I think they could find a very special niche.

GMC

Kill it. I think that's unanimous.

HUMMER

Redundant, pointless, fans backfiring. Kill it.

SATURN

While the brand certainly is floundering in the market, we have to make a decision between giving Saturn or Pontiac the European models. On the one hand, I'd love to keep Saturn around as something that could bring an interesting fight to Scion and Nissan, or possibly be a more "upscale" small car company like MINI. The problem is, there are far too many negative associations with the brand to make it completely successful in every market. At this point in time, they end up loosing market share to in-house models that are better, and to that end, I think its time we let Saturn pass. Unless GM has a better plan for the brand, there isn't any reason to keep it.

PONTIAC

My vision for Pontiac is simple, make it the American arm of Opel/Holden, and that is that. Keep the cars small, sporty, and otherwise "completely different" than the Chevrolet offerings. Drive the sales home with the G3 (Astra), G4 (Zafira), G6 (Torana), G8 (Commodore), GT ST (Ute) and keep the Solstice around for a while longer.

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In the end, I'd prefer that we keep Chevrolet as a brand that offers just about everything (like Toyota), keep Pontiac in as a European-style performance brand, Saab to continue being a quirky test-bed (see Acura), and obviously Buick and Cadillac to cater to luxury fans with clearly different objectives. Kill the SUVs, limit the crossovers, and finally start funding the small-car programs.