GM to keep all eight of its nameplates; Pontiac, Buick will become more focused...

[CADILLACSIXTEEN]

Brands Intact
GM to keep all eight of its nameplates; Pontiac, Buick will become more focused, CEO Wagoner says

WILMINGTON, Del. -- General Motors will keep all eight of its vehicle brands, CEO Rick Wagoner said this week, but will refine the products that some of those brands offer to improve marketing focus.

"All brands are not created equal," Wagoner said during a press briefing after GM's annual shareholders' meeting here. "We can turn that to our advantage."

Wagoner was asked about the status of the Pontiac and Buick brands. Last year, Bob Lutz, GM's vice chairman of global product development, called the brands "damaged."

On Tuesday, Wagoner said: "The Pontiac and Buick brands, some of you have written about what the future of those brands might be, and we'll probably have fewer models under each brand and make them more focused brands."

Automotive News recently reported that Pontiac eventually may get only rear-wheel-drive cars, losing small, front-wheel-drive cars and all trucks. That plan is expected to take about five years to carry out.

GMC will offer only trucks, Lutz said in a recent interview, and Buick will be stocked with a midluxury line of cars.

Wagoner said that GM is moving aggressively to align Pontiac, Buick and GMC into a single distribution channel. Channeling the brands would allow dealers to sell higher volumes and be more profitable.

Wagoner said channeling also helps GM improve the brands.

[Butz]

Yet, there's the Enclave and Acadia issue!
Then Buick and Pontiac, both might get a LWB Zeta..

[paul8488]

In the end, it's almost like the PBG dealerships will be one brand, but have three names. Works for me. There's too much goodwill associated with all three names to ditch them, but in the end, GM would be much more streamlined if they treated PBG as one brand.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by Butz

Yet, there's the Enclave and Acadia issue!
Then Buick and Pontiac, both might get a LWB Zeta..

I dunno about you... but I can see a plus to this, as long as the Pontiac version is an out and out sports sedan, and the Buick sticks to its affordable luxury gameplan. Same with the Acadia and Enclave... I'd like to see the Enclave be a soft, comfy, classy ride, and the GMC geared more towards young families and people with some mild off-road and towing/hauling ambitions.

[Ty_99]

wow, with all the speculation of Buick and Pontiac, I am surprised this thread slipped under the radar today. Guess that is what happens when GM lets the Silverado get caught without any camo.

I believe this is a great plan and something that needs to be done to make GM better in the future. All three brands have a clear and concise vision to them, now just make each brand work its magic and keep them spot on to their vision and as one greater division will come success

[asim]

Originally Posted by Ty_99

wow, with all the speculation of Buick and Pontiac, I am surprised this thread slipped under the radar today. Guess that is what happens when GM lets the Silverado get caught without any camo.

I believe this is a great plan and something that needs to be done to make GM better in the future. All three brands have a clear and concise vision to them, now just make each brand work its magic and keep them spot on to their vision and as one greater division will come success

Yeah the Silverado stole the show today, and at least for toimorrow too.

[cfch3399]

When will they stop quoting the "damaged brand" line? It's getting old and continuously overinterpreted.
GMC- trucks, Buick- weird crossovers and large luxuriouos sedans, Pontiac sports cars in all sizes. Shouldn't be too hard, if only GM would see it that way. Make the GP SC the base model, drop the 4 cylinder and base V6 G6s and give Saturn a 4 cylinder Aura, supercharge the Torrent.

[Butz]

Originally Posted by paul8488

I dunno about you... but I can see a plus to this, as long as the Pontiac version is an out and out sports sedan, and the Buick sticks to its affordable luxury gameplan. Same with the Acadia and Enclave... I'd like to see the Enclave be a soft, comfy, classy ride, and the GMC geared more towards young families and people with some mild off-road and towing/hauling ambitions.

IMO, Buick should get the LWB Zeta and Pontiac should get the SWB Zeta.
I wonder if they can build a Zeta Crossover to replace the Acadia in the future.

[Bravada]

Originally Posted by Butz

IMO, Buick should get the LWB Zeta and Pontiac should get the SWB Zeta.

I just wanted to say that

I also believe BPGs should be able to sell Chevies in the end (this would require some model trimming too).

[61695]

Whatever they do GM needs to get back in the RWD car biz asap.

[airglow]

Originally Posted by 61695

Whatever they do GM needs to get back in the RWD car biz asap.

I disagree strongly. The success of the Caliber proves once and for all that the 300 is selling well mostly because of it’s styling, not because it’s RWD. The Caliber is selling like crazy, and it's FWD only and has gotten lukewarm to poor reviews. I wonder how the auto magazines and web sites are going to rationalize the great sales numbers for the Caliber with their poor reviews of it.

Bring back the Grand Am name for the G6, lengthen that stubby trunk on it, and add some cladding. Pontiac is about loud, obnoxious, in you face American performance. NOT, understated Honda/BMW quiet performance.

[Bravada]

I agree with your disagreeing, i.e. RWD won't automatically mean solving all problems and selling tons of high-margin cars, as well as a lot can be achieved with FWD. But I also believe RWD played a major role in 300's succcess. It had this claim to being "different" and "better". As concerns styling, this would mean that Malibu should sell like crazy (well, it does, but it seems that not necessairly to retail customers), as they share the appeal of a brick. Many people bought the Chrysler because that was the only "truly American" car in this price bracket that offered RWD and wasn't either severly outdated or a rental.

[airglow]

Originally Posted by Bravada

I agree with your disagreeing, i.e. RWD won't automatically mean solving all problems and selling tons of high-margin cars, as well as a lot can be achieved with FWD. But I also believe RWD played a major role in 300's succcess. It had this claim to being "different" and "better". As concerns styling, this would mean that Malibu should sell like crazy (well, it does, but it seems that not necessairly to retail customers), as they share the appeal of a brick. Many people bought the Chrysler because that was the only "truly American" car in this price bracket that offered RWD and wasn't either severly outdated or a rental.

You apparently don't travel much if you think the 300 is not "a rental". Check the Thrifty lot at any major airport; the 300's will be lined up as far as the eye can see. That said, as a frequent traveler I’m convinced 90% of Sonata’s are being sold to rental car companies. It appears as if every major rental lot has a large fleet of Sonata’s just waiting to destroy the resale value of a generally well reviewed car.

How do you explain the success (admittedly only an initial success) of the Caliber?? The reviews have been far from glowing, it is FWD only, and they can't make them fast enough.

[Bravada]

I am not saying it does not SELL to rental companies. I am saying it does not LOOK like a rental car. GM or Ford big cars have been so devoid of style for many years now that they look like ready-made rentals - they don't seem to even try to appeal to a retail buyers styling-wise. Same can be of course said of the new Sonata, which is the ultimate blandmobile, and actually of many other Asian cars. The 300C simply stood out in the crowd, and RWD helped it with that.

[steverino]

Isn't this old news? I thought GMI'ers were talking about this last week.