Which GM Brand(s) Do You Think Should Get The Chop?

[vette61]

keep chevrolet and cadillac. thats all gm needs

[96_impala_ss]

Originally Posted by GMC-70

None of the brands needs to go---just adjust the business to be flexible with the ups and downs of the market.

If for example GMC were to get the axe would those 500,000 or so buyers all just shop at another GM division? Not likely--I say 1/4 of them deflect just like they did with Oldsmobile (only Olds lost more).

Cutting brands is just not the magic pill that so many people think--scale them down if needed (Pontiac does not need an Aveo clone) and increase the sales channels.

All of the GM brands have recognition and all have a place in the market--just not all an be full-line brands at this time.

Exactly. You Kill GMC, you lose sales. You Kill Pontiac, you lose sales. You Kill Buick (in the U.S.) you lose sales. You cant win here. Thats the problem. It was dumb to kill Oldsmobile, but it was also dumb to sell the Alero and the Grand Am at the same dealer with no differences but the grille. Killing off brands is not the answer (unless its Saturn and its renamed Opel) what GM needs to do is stop the rebadges. Like you said NO Pontiac G2/Aveo. Leave it to Chevy. The Torrent was a good riddance. Ive only seen 1 on the road. But dodo head Lutz gave it to GMC. If it didnt sell with Pontiac, what makes em think its going to sell with GMC??

This would be what I would do:
Chevy: Fix Aveo's flaws, redesign Cobalt, leave the trucks how they are with no major redesigns, but improvements to them like the 6 speed auto tranny in ALL trims.
Pontiac: G5 goes as it is useless. If the GTO comes back make it to American Tastes and import same design to Australia. Not the other way around. Or if they bring back the Monaro dont sell it as GTO. That was like selling the Toyota Sprinter as Chevy Nova. BAD CHOICE. Even if the Monaro was RWD.
Buick: No more jack off cars. No more comment on Buick.
GMC: Produce less of them. Most people buy the Chevy counterpart. GMC variants should be on a order basis with a couple on the lot for those that dont care about the options. Basically GMC becomes like Scion but Trucks where you can customize the truck anyway you want, and Chevy is the workhorse.
Cadillac: Leave as is
Saturn: Drop Saturn, becomes Opel. Saturn has mixed feelings. Most people remember it for the Plastic Cars. You want to have Euro feel and distance the brand from its American counterparts?? use the Opel badge. Everyone knows Opel is European. They look at Saturn and beleive the Astra and new Vue is still Plastic.
Saab: As long as Ford keeps Volvo, GM keeps Saab. Make Saab a Volvo competitor. Analyze Volvo Cars and sales and make a competitor that will outsell Volvo.
Hummer: Sell it back to American General. Their problem. GM has enough SUVs and Trucks as it is and doesnt need anymore, specially the stigma that Hummer has. Jeep competitor??? Make GMC into that.

[CHASLS2]

Chop eveything but the Vette.

[327]

If they kill GMC, they kill pontiac too, theyre all rebadges of Chevy cars

If I would be looking for a new pickup in a couple years, and if I wanted new and couldnt get a GMC. I would buy a RAM!! ( if thats even still around)

I think it would make more sense to sell of whats left of saab, kill pontiac and put that pontiac G8 in as the new Chevy impala!!

Then along with the different look of Sierras now, put in the 4 wheel steering and all the other High tech crap. Or at least fold the Sierras in with Chevy and make it a W/T or fancy trim of the silverado

[TimR]

Just looking at May 2008 sales, it seems most opinons here are going against the sale numbers. Things change fast and profit per vehicle/overall $$$ is not listed but none the less the numbers sold are:

Chevy 167,202

GMC 30,724

Pontiac 27,966

Saturn 18,099

Caddy 13,348

Buick 11,033

Hummer 1,843

Link for the numbers: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/03/b...falls-edition/

[redfox]

I think all GM needs is Chevrolet - Buick - Cadilac - and Corvette.

[PontiacPIMP]

It would be interest to see if they can revamp Hummer. Wouldn't it be great publicity if they can turn Hummer into the most fuel efficient trucks? However, this is easier said than done. I'm leaning towards, ditching Hummer completely.

GMC, is also interesting. I too believe their versions of trucks looks alot better than Chevy, with exception to the current Tahoe/Yukon. I prefer the body color D pillar of the Tahoe and grille. On the other hand, the Yukon Denali is a much cheaper Escalade. I like the idea of sending Denali's to Chevy dealerships and killing off GMC.

Then there is Buick. Buick has nothing going for it, other than the Enclave. Therefore, the Enclave can get Cadillac signs inserted onto the grille and become an SRX. Making it much easier to fade into black.

[jdlover7]

im very suprised to see people talk of cutting chevy...and replace it with gmc?
one big problem...gmc dosent make cars, in case you guys forgot.

pontiac has too much good in it with the g8 and i wouldnt be suprised if they got another good boost from somone else foreign, like opel or somthin.

hummer is only making gas gusselers, but a wrangler fighter H4 with a 4 cyl would no doubt save them.

[mystikranger]

GM only needs Chevy, Caddy, and Buick.

Trash the rest, save the money, easier to manage.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by slade'man

It is an unfair to compare the Suburb to the Denali XL. A comparison between the Suburb and Yukon XL would make more sense. And it seems the buying public picked the face of the Tahoe and Suburban over GMC's SUV offerings. GMC "feeling" more upscale than the Chevys, I think you may be stretching it quite a bit with that. Other than the Denali line they are basically the exact same inside.

No, it's not unfair. That's an LTZ model Suburban, which many people have already likened to the Denali.
And have you ever actually driven a GMC? IMO, it definitely does feel more upscale than a Chevy. Even little things like chrome rings around the A/C ducts, chrome around the gauges, things not found on a Chevy, give it more of a luxury feel.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by bballer113

This makes alot of sense to me, but does it make too much sense for GM to actually do it.

It should make sense to a lot of people. My solution fixes a lot of problems. Instead of producing GMT-900s for both Chevy and GMC, you'd only have to produce the regular make-out (I don't know if they still use this term anymore, but at Norwood, it meant the production figures) for Chevy, and then the special-ordered GMCs. That solves the full size truck overproduction problem. I could live with having to wait two weeks or so for my GMC. Or, if you absolutely needed a new vehicle, you could buy one of the few models on the lot for people to look at and test drive.
Plus, giving GMC special options and packages would differentiate it from Chevy.
It all works out in the end. If GM has any sense, this is what they'll do. You keep thousands of loyal GMC customers, you save money on production, and GMC truly becomes worthy of the "Professional Grade" moniker.

EDIT: Reading over the last few pages, I've decided that a select few probably aren't going to have enough sense to see how logical this plan is. Christ, if they had their way, there wouldn't be anything left of GM but maybe two cars, a compact and a subcompact.

[FenwickHockey65]

GM wouldn't really even have to sell off Hummer if they didn't need the cash. The H3 and H3T can easily be distributed to GMC and Chevy in some way or form. Even the proposed H4 can be given to GMC as a Wrangler competitor. Again, special order only.
I can see great things for GMC using my idea.
Anybody know how to contact GM management and submit a resume?

[Xenon]

The only reason I say kill GMC is because GM sold off their medium/heavy duty equipment operations. Without that I don't think that GMC will have as high sales numbers as they usually have.
With High gas prices and the fact that they probably wont come down makes a hard case to actually keep trying to sell trucks/SUVs en masse.

[rrwWasHere]

Heres my plan:
CHEVY: be what they are now, just minus the SUVs, trucks, and Aveo
GMC: sell the Yukon (and XL), Sierra, Canyon, Chevy Avalanche and Hummer Hx
CADILLAC: stay about the same, RWD cars and ritzy SUVs
SATURN: compact and subcompact cars only (make Vue next equinox, like KSR says)
SAAB: remain as is, selling FWD and AWD cars (and 9-4x)
PONTIAC: RWD cars only. just dont run 'em on gas (hybrids, biodiesel, etc.)

Get rid of: Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, Colorado, Outlook, Aura, Vibe, G5, Torrent, Aveo, H2, H3, and Buick as a whole (sad to say, but it serves no real purpose in the US that Chevy or Cadillac cant fill. Sell it in China, and send it out with a bang with an Enclave Super)

[breaker104]

Originally Posted by Penthos

Its funny in the Buick thread a couple weeks ago I mentioned that GM should kill GMC. I own a GMC and think the GMC looks 10x better than the Chevy but I feel it would make the best business sense to kill GMC.

You can always go to your neighborhood "Truck shop" and get the grille swap like those guys with escalade swaps and such...