UPDATE 6/21!: GM Cutting Another Division?

[ARCANGEL]

KILL GMC its the logical choice, GMC has vehicles that in 5 years will be worthless!! Pontiac still has cars and can be modified to a few cars. Buick has serious cache in china and will here again soon!!

[Bvonscott]

THEY BETTER NOT KILL GMC. I love my GMC. They are practically the first truck company. Kill buick or pontiac if you have to.

[DuSpinnst]

Originally Posted by TriShield

One of the root problems of GM is the sheer amount of brands it has, five too many.

If GM gets real about the reality of their place in the market and are serious about staying out of bankruptcy they will CUT ALL THREE BRANDS ASAP.

None of them do anything that Chevrolet and Cadillac aren't already doing or can't do better and none of them have any real goodwill or equity left in the marketplace.

The worst part? GM killed them (and itself) with decades of mismanagement, fundamental misunderstandings of each brand's place and heritage, failure to do them justice, and the crappy cars that were the result.

GM MUST allocate all of it's resources to it's core business which is the Chevrolet brand and Cadillac for luxury.

That's fine, but two brands are too small. Cadillac is flashy luxury something that Buick and Saab are not. Saturn is basically the channel for GM European cars. So keeping those 5 brands automatically makes sense.

[TriShield]

Originally Posted by steinravnik

Makes sense to give Saturn to the BPG sales channel, this will hopefully give Saturn more sales and fill a void left by the elimination of a brand.

Another huge problem for GM is the sheer amount of dealerships they have. The number must be cut drastically one way or another.

[TriShield]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

That's fine, but two brands are too small. Cadillac is flashy luxury something that Buick and Saab are not. Saturn is basically the channel for GM European cars. So keeping those 5 brands automatically makes sense.

Except that reality of GM's marketshare slide, zero profit and tanking sales at those brands mean they don't make any sense.

Saturn is a failed brand and experiment that's gotta go and will eventually go the way of Oldsmobile one way or another.

[DuSpinnst]

Originally Posted by TriShield

Another huge problem for GM is the sheer amount of dealerships they have. The number must be cut drastically one way or another.

Easy to say, difficult to do.

Dealers have the law on their side. Also you usually hand them over to the imports. Do you really want most of the old GM dealers becoming Hyundai dealers?

[steinravnik]

Originally Posted by plane

Rearranging the deck chairs on the.......

Nevermind.

What's that old quote about the health of GM, so is the health of the U.S.? What you said I feel sometimes about the U.S. economy.

[DuSpinnst]

Originally Posted by TriShield

Except that reality of GM's marketshare slide, zero profit and tanking sales at those brands mean they don't make any sense.

Saturn is a failed brand and experiment that's gotta go and will eventually go the way of Oldsmobile one way or another.

Globally Saab is competitive even with the crappy line-up. Buick knocks them dead in China. Saturn should change its name to Opel, and pass its self off as German.

[boston boy]

I say GMC
Not by choice. I loved driving the all wheel steering.

[TriShield]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

Easy to say, difficult to do.

Dealers have the law on their side. Also you usually hand them over to the imports. Do you really want most of the old GM dealers becoming Hyundai dealers?

How can GM afford to continue to support them and all these old dead brands? Where is that money going to come from? Consumers aren't buying these cars, GM is bleeding out money in the US.

This type of management and emotional attatchment to brands has driven the company into a full-fledged CRISIS.

[steinravnik]

Originally Posted by JSWZ28

Everyone knew in the back of their mind this was comming. Which brand would be the easiest... GMC of course, just as the post states. Who needs the Sierra, Yukon, Envoy, Cannyon, Acadia?

I only have one request (okay, maybe two) GM. If you kill GMC, Drop the current Silverado sheet metal and use the Sierra's. The odd buldges all over the Silverado are a little much. The Sierra is tough yet elegant!

Two: make Pontiac a niche brand and offer a small number of performance vehicles. Kill all versions of every model except for the GXP models. Forget the stripped down base model, if I want one of those I will get a less equipped Chevy.

Soltice GXP Coupe/Convert
G5 GXP (Colbalt SS Supercharged)
G6 GXP Coupe/Sedan/Convert
G8 GXP Coupe/Sedan
GTO (Corvette based Coupe)

Notice there is no Vibe, G3, G8 ST, Torrent, or Firebird. You can adjust trim levels to meet different tastes, but make all care PERFORMANCE based GXPs.

Placing Saturn with Pontiac and Buick is a great idea. Saturn=Entry level, the NEW Buick=Mid Lux level, and Pontiac=Performace options!

Maybe GM could go one further and rename Saturn OLDSMOBILE!!! Talk about name recongnition and brining an identity to a brand that has none.

And with the Traverse coming out, that can replace the Acadia.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by Bvonscott

THEY BETTER NOT KILL GMC. I love my GMC. They are practically the first truck company. Kill buick or pontiac if you have to.

Silverado, I can live with. I actually like the HD's hood better, especially the Duramax/Allison badge on the hood. I'd prefer a Sierra...but...
But I absolutely cannot picture me driving a Suburban LTZ or an Escalade ESV. Both very nice cars, but neither have the feeling of a GMC. I really don't know what it is, I have driven a Trailblazer, and it's nowhere close to my Envoy, even though they're the same car. The Envoy just feels nicer and more upscale.
Hell, if GMC made cars, I would've bought the GMC-branded Malibu over the Chevy.

[zete]

It's not like this has to be complicated. GM has to have their dealers split up as follows:

• Chevrolet Pontiac GMC
• Cadillac Buick
• Saab Saturn/Opel

I would make GMC an option package on the Chevrolet trucks: The Professional Grade package, which gives all kinds of gadgets and luxury amenities for the trucks that some buyers will want, complete with GMC badging to differentiate it. The exteriors would be pretty identical, though unique interiors could be created. It'd be a "badge" in the sense that "SS" is a badge at Chevrolet.

Pontiac would be a niche player with a few interesting models that are shared globally, such as the Solstice, G8, G6, G4 -- all RWD/AWD. They'd cater to a different clientele than would Chevrolet vehicles, which I'd leave FWD/AWD. Keeping them as niche vehicles means that dealers can get nice markups on them while Chevrolet remains their bread and butter. Pontiac's can work as niche cars especially if they're simply rebadged Holdens.

Cadillac and Buick should be sold together, with Buick being versions of cars that are more "American Luxury" as opposed to Cadillac that is "Ultimate Luxury". Buick only needs 4 or 5 vehicles that meet the needs of individuals who don't want a Cadillac but want a luxury car. All of Buick's lineup would be shared with China, with North America offering bonus sales numbers to China's sales of Buicks.

I'd rename Saturn to Opel and simply sell them as imports. No GM badging, nothing. Push their Europeaness and move the iron that way. That way you'd have Opels as the entry level cars and the Saabs as the high end imports, much as Toyota has Toyota and Lexus.

I never have understood why GM doesn't let their dealers sell different vehicles. I can understand not having a PBG dealership sell a Cadillac, but it's silly that Pontiac, GMC and Chevrolet aren't sold together.

[spykebn]

How is GM going to afford to shut down GMC?

[Rex Raider]

I've said it before: Just make one brand, and have "option" packges for it.

Come out with a car, call it ALPHA.
then it comes win 3 trim levels:
Cost cutting "base" trim: Call it the Alpha-Chevy
All-Luxury "high" mode: Call it the Alpha-Buick
All-Sport "performance" Call it the Alpha-Pontiac.

etc... Instead of GT, GTP, , LE, SE, etc.... just call them the brand names.