[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by SierraGS

It amazes me how many GMI members do not understand GMC.

GMC contributes about $4,000,000,000 (billion) dollars in PROFIT to GM annually making it one of the most profitable brands GM has and on a profit to sales basis has to rival Cadillac and would not be surprised if GMC makes more money for GM than Cadillac does.

Why would you close your most profitable (per unit) volume brand that is your second best volume brand?

But this is GMC's current position. As the gas crunch and CAFE continue to squeeze GM, GMC will arguably count for less and less of GM's sales and may fall from the 2nd place position. What's more, GMC may be losing product in the near future anyway - which will assuredly affect their volume.

The fact is (as sad as it is) that CAFE and the continued shift from SUVs/trucks to passenger cars will make GMC less and less relevant as more money is pumped into GM's other passenger car divisions.

As I've stated elsewhere, GMC stands for SUVs/Trucks - and that's it. How do you convince people to consider a GMC when they are shifting away from such products in favor of more fuel efficient ones?

Originally Posted by SierraGS

You contradict yourself when you say it costs money to market "rebadged chevy trucks" then make a case to turn the Canyon into a Pontiac and spends millions to promote a vehicle GM now spends basically no marketing on,

No, it's not a contradiction, its a compromise. The good part about the Pontiac nameplate is that it isn't "locked into" an SUV/Truck image. Just like other mainstream brands, Pontiac could sell just about anything since it is a passenger car brand - unlike GMC. So if, AND ONLY IF, GMC were cancelled and what was left of BPG dealers started to moan and complain they didn't have a small pick up - the compromise would be to sell a small pick up under the Pontiac badge - just as they sell a sporty truck under the Nissan and Mazda nameplates (and VW will possibly sell one as well).

That's all it was - an idea of what could be done if necessary - not a directorate for the Canyon to move to Pontiac. On the contrary, if I were calling the shots, Pontiac would be teamed with Opel and Holden and would have a mix of RWD, FWD, and AWD products that would all be passenger cars and crossovers.

Originally Posted by SierraGS

then you say GMC should be a Medium/Heavy truck maker only obviously ignorant of the fact truck makers like Sterling spend money creating a line of "Sterling" pickups from Dodge Rams.

Actually I made this point in my post... the producdt is called the "Sterling Bullet" and it's essentially a Dodge Ram chasis that can be mated to a variety of products. But its only sold in heavy-duty guises. I've stated that GM could do this to compliment its move toward a Medium Duty/commerical division --- we agree on this.

Originally Posted by SierraGS

If GMC is a Medium/Heavy truck maker it is going to need GMC Canyon, Sierra, Savana, and Yukons to sell next to them for fleet sales to large customers for use by the customer's administrative and maintenance personnell - if you make a few thousand for them why not continue to sell hundreds of thousands to retail customers in Buick/Pontiac dealers?

Many of those fleet customers (outside of the medium/heavy duty ranks) can be serviced through Chevrolet's truck division, in my honest opinion. Those kinds of customers who purchase huge numbers of fleet products typically get serviced through GM corporate anyway (they have an entire division at GM Fleet that handles this) so it makes even less sense for them to sell them in a retail setting.

The difference in the end will be that as a Heavy/Medium duty/commercial only product, GMC will essentially become what is also claimes to be - Professional Grade - and GM will spend less on marketing/advertising and cut down the overlap. This saves GM money. Just like Freightliner, Sterling, and other truck brands, they will get marketed directly to those core commerical customers and not through expensive mass-market advetising campaigns. This itself is a savings and GM will reap bigger profits by shifting GMC's focus.

But again - this was only my opinion.

Originally Posted by SierraGS

You did redeem yourself with an excellent assessment of Buick, Pontiac and Saturn.

I'm glad we agree on someting at least my friend :-)

Originally Posted by SierraGS

Buick would start with a formal styled version of the Cruze...

I think we may see this sooner or later. GM has been hinting at a "Skylark" for GMC for some time. I think it may become a reality depending on how it is received by the press in China.