UPDATE 6/21!: GM Cutting Another Division?

[GMC-70]

I wonder if this has anything to do with all those people buying imports out there---naah couldn't be

Perhaps it's time for Americans to step up to the plate and help support their own. I still can't believe the # of people out there who just basically hand their hard earned cash to support another country's children and not their own.

Is it becuase GM makes 2nd rate cars---no!

Killing more brands is not the answer---it's got nothing to do with overlap and everything to do with competition---much of it unfair competition that is basically withering away the industrialization of the US.

[tripowergto]

I'd hate to see GMC go but if trucks continue to decline rapidly and Pontiac is "CAR" it seems wiser to me to keep Pontiac and slowly let GMC die off.

[Uzzy]

This is why GM should sell all of it's divisions under one roof. The weak will die off, the rebadges will wither away. The only reason many of GM's products exist is to satisfy dealers' cries for a little bit of every product.

[Exploder]

I wonder what could fall under a 'GM' badge?

[TJ95GAGT]

If GM was to kill off all of BPG, what would happen to those 1.2mil vehicle sales? What percentage of those sales would go to their GM sibling? They might be rebadges but people are buying them at a decent clip or at the very least their going to rentals, keeping the other brands out of the rental companies hands.

I know market share isn't king but killing off GMC or Pontiac is a sizable chunk of sales, considering they are still rebadges of NA products.

Can GM afford to kill off another brand, or BPG, isn't there massive payouts involved?

[K Dawg ONE]

At this point in the game, killing Buick woulod be suicide. We lost alot of faithful Olds buyers when they couldnt come get a new one...i fear the same if they axe buick....in ten years, when most of the traditional Buick drivers are, um, er, gone in the way of the Olds brand, then killing Buick will be ok, but, not now.
Putting money on it, Hummer gone...SAAB next (in NA anyways)

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by Exploder

I wonder what could fall under a 'GM' badge?

What do you mean? The only GM badged car to dat was the EV1. Are you suggesting GM start badging models as GM, or just lumping everything in together? I don't get your post.

[ekool]

I submitted this to Digg if anyone wants to digg it up as well.

http://digg.com/autos/GMI_Rumor_GM_C...other_Division

[Brglotus]

I would think GMC would go first, being comprised of all SUV's and trucks. I wonder how much GM would truly save with this though. I think GMC and Pontiac will both be cut (at least eventually). Saturn can grab the G8 from Pontiac and make a Sky Targa top. I would actually prefer them to cut Buick. It's only viable over in China now. Those customers can go to Saturn or Cadillac.

[TruckMan]

I am quickly losing my loyalty towards GM, and this might be the straw that breaks it for me. This is the worst news ever - choosing between GMC and Pontiac. Those are my two favorite GM brands. They (and Hummer) were the only brands that really stood out with any exciting or different styling. All the other brands are completely PLAIN and BORING - with only a few exceptions (CTS, Enclave, Sky).

I can see why Hummer might need to go, but the only thing wrong with GMC and Pontiac is sh!ty GM management and planning. It's a shame that their loyal consumers should have to suffer because of GM's horrible leadership.

The recent GTO, G3-G8, Aztek, Vibe, Torrent are all jokes of cars. Pontiac was doing great with the Bonneville, GP, GA, Montana, Firebird, and then we got 3rd rate jokes for cars. The best junk they could come up with came from other manufacturers.

GMC is the #4 truck seller in the country and, in my opinion, all look BETTER than their rebadge cousins.

Brands like Pontiac and GMC have powerful and rich histories that deserve to live, but they also deserve better than being ******* children. Which brand do you think has more loyal followers? Pontiac or Saturn? GM could sell 100,000 Firebirds next year if they brought one to market - but no, that would make too much sense!

Nobody stateside buys Buick except dead people. Sell it to the Chinese for a Billion $. Drop Saturn and give their boring jokes to Chevy with the other boring cars.

What the fnck are these guys thinking!

[FenwickHockey65]

^^ I'll remain loyal...But if there's any way to save GMC, they need to do it. I do not really want a Suburban, nor do I really want an Escalade.

[johnstarnes]

I vote to dump GMC and make Pontiac a viable and desirable name plate once again, with no more freakin' rebadges like the lame G-8 and G-3 and G-5.....and bring back venerable NAMES.

[tirediron]

Buick is useless, I like the idea of selling it to China. No one is buying the LaCrosse, which btw looks like a 97 Century, Lucerne is big and expensive, and not selling, the Enclave is great, but only accounts for a few sales a month because of too low production, and $700 lease payments. They killed Buick, in Michigan anyway, when they axed the Rendezvous.

Pontiac serves a huge purpose, not the RWD, muscle car purpose that most of the bloggers want, but it can and does play a big role in the 1st car for a kid, and gas mileage daily runner. GMC serves us well here as the truck/SUV brand, because believe it or not, some people just plain hate Chevy's.

[K-1]

Well, if everyone else is going to quarterback from their armchairs this morning, I guess I will too...

Sell HUMMER and SAAB. Kill Pontiac and GMC.

Your sales channels are then:
Chevrolet/Saturn
Buick/Cadillac

Chevy is the almost everything mainstream brand - the domestic Toyota, if you will.
Cars: Cobalt, Volt, Malibu, Camaro, Corvette
CUVs: Equinox (Malibu CUV, w/ CUT model) and Traverse (5, 7, 8 passenger w/ optional sliding doors)
Trucks: Silverado and Tahoe (w/ extended 8, 9 passenger version)

Saturn is the quirky Scion/Opel-esque brand - things non-mainstream. (hatchbacks, wagons, MPVs, mini-cars, no sedans)
Cars: Corsa and Astra
MPVs: Meriva and Zafira

Buick is the big/comfy/classy luxury brand - the DTS of Cadillacs, floaty suspensions, soft curves.
Cars: Allure and Invicta
CUVs: Enclave

Cadillac is the blingy/edgy luxury brand as it is now.
Cars: CTS, STS, ULS
CUVs: SRX

The factories are then:
Bowling Green (Y-body): Corvette
Detroit Hamtramck (Delta LWB, E-Flex): Cobalt, Volt
Lordstown (Delta SWB/LWB): Corsa, Meriva, Astra, Zafira
Fairfax (Theta/Epsilon): Malibu, Equinox
Lansing Delta Township (Lambda): Traverse, Enclave
Lansing Grand River (Sigma/Zeta): CTS, SRX, Lucerne
Oshawa (Sigma/Zeta): Camaro, STS, ULS, Invicta
Fort Wayne (GMT-900): Silverado, Tahoe
Arlington (GMT-900): Silverado

[osv_alero]

Interesting that some say they would just go to another company all together if GM sold or closed a brand. That is exactly what happened when Oldsmobile dissappeared.