Well lets shake things up. GM long term. We have Caddy going up against the big boys. Benz, Jag, BMW etc. Thats OK. We have Buick going up against Lexus, Infinity, Acura. Thats OK. It's the rest I get puzzeled about. We have Chevy Trucks, so why waste the money on GMC Trucks? Chevy is your Toyota/Honda competitor so why waste the money on Saturn? Pontiac is a so called performence division but is caught between Chevy and Buick so what is it really compeating against? Answer Chevy/Buick. Does GM need Pontiac? Chevy SS could take care of the affordable performence venue. Lutz wants Pontiac to be the American BMW. Bullbleep, thats Caddy's job. Why shouldn't GM dump GMC, Saturn and Pontiac and spend all that money improving Caddy, Buick, Chevy/Chevy Trucks. Or mabey keep Pontiac as the Acura, Infinity, Lexus challanger and dump Buick. Let er rip boys this could be fun.
GM LONG TERM
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
Joined
·
9,965 Posts
I agree to some extent.
I have always thought that GM should come out with a "standard" car, let's call it Chevrolet, and then you could get trim levels for the brands.
In other words, instead of having GT, SS, SE, SLT, etc...
You can get the new Chevy Impala in Pontiac trim (bigger engine, sporty appearance package, etc...) or Buick Trim (luxury interior, chrome trim), etc...
Chevrolet would remain the value option.
You could do this for all models.
Saturn is totally unnecessary in my book. Give Chevy more small cars (similar to their Canadian plan), and then Saturn is useless. GMC too. Either kill Chevy trucks, or kill GMC trucks. We don't need both.
I have always thought that GM should come out with a "standard" car, let's call it Chevrolet, and then you could get trim levels for the brands.
In other words, instead of having GT, SS, SE, SLT, etc...
You can get the new Chevy Impala in Pontiac trim (bigger engine, sporty appearance package, etc...) or Buick Trim (luxury interior, chrome trim), etc...
Chevrolet would remain the value option.
You could do this for all models.
Saturn is totally unnecessary in my book. Give Chevy more small cars (similar to their Canadian plan), and then Saturn is useless. GMC too. Either kill Chevy trucks, or kill GMC trucks. We don't need both.
Joined
·
1,481 Posts
I agree but Saturn attracts the imports so GM needs them and Pontiac well... I say slowly kill Saturn and have focus on chevy attracting imports instead. Pontiac i would like to see go as well but i don't think it will go so Pontiac can compete with Nissan. Mazda, Acura, and other sporty divisions. GMC well that nust go but if it's going to stay it, it has to have a complety different design (Exterior and interior) IT's look can be more beefy and ruggad looking than chevy. I mean just becuase they are built off of the same platform doesn't mean they can't have new designs. GM can do this here are some examples (XLR, Corvette) (Vue, equionix) (Malibu, G6 and 9-3)
Joined
·
23,308 Posts
that's what saturn was supposed to do... but no one can tell me its been successful. at first people bought saturns because they were different and because of that no-haggle experience everyone was raving about years back. i think chevrolet (minus the cavalier but plus the cobalt) has a decent import fighter portfolio... much better than saturn these days.
if pontiacs were what pontiac says they are they'd be useful for sure. buick has, in my books, made a case for itself as of late (with the rendezvous, rainier, and lacrosse). GMC or chevy trucks... i'd flip a dime. cadillac stays put, of course. as does chevrolet... jack of all trades, and doing a fine job at that lately. and hummer's off in the corner glaring at everyone, so they're fine.
Joined
·
12,770 Posts
Kill Saturn and GMC. Chevy's Cobalt is just as much of an "Import Fighter" as the ION, and the Aveo takes on low end imports. GMC's only claim to fame is that they "look better". Easy. Make Chevy trucks as attractive as GMCs. What's the problem. Toyota moved upmarket, so can Chevy.
Pontiac is a potential competitor for Honda and Acura, but the technology has to be there. No "value" engines or Chevy clones. Pontiac fits nicely in a performance niche, as long as the suits at GM don't try to do too much in the way of "volume sales".
Combining Buick and Pontiac dealers, that should account for enough volume, and unless it can be made really cool, kill the SV6 for duplication of Buick's Terazza.
Pontiac is a potential competitor for Honda and Acura, but the technology has to be there. No "value" engines or Chevy clones. Pontiac fits nicely in a performance niche, as long as the suits at GM don't try to do too much in the way of "volume sales".
Combining Buick and Pontiac dealers, that should account for enough volume, and unless it can be made really cool, kill the SV6 for duplication of Buick's Terazza.
Joined
·
283 Posts
I believe the market could be covered by:
Cadillac : High end luxury
Buick: Lexus fighter in a traditional American sort of way
Chevrolet: Full line of cars and trucks... SS for performance, LT for luxury, plus low end product to cover Saturn market.... go for 4 million instead of 3. Should be doable without GMC, Pontiac and Saturn leeching sales.
Cadillac : High end luxury
Buick: Lexus fighter in a traditional American sort of way
Chevrolet: Full line of cars and trucks... SS for performance, LT for luxury, plus low end product to cover Saturn market.... go for 4 million instead of 3. Should be doable without GMC, Pontiac and Saturn leeching sales.
Joined
·
5,117 Posts
Interesting topic as long as GMC, Pontiac attract buyers to GM then they serve a valuble and profitable purpose. I personally prefer Pontiac to Chevy and GMC to Chevy. What Yoblues is describing could be the Fording of GM. Ford is everything to Ford, Mercury what purpose does it serve? Yes they have a lux division but it needs a fix. As long as Pontiac and GMC have a loyal following GM should keep them. If GM was to be Chevy and Cadillac then total sales would suffer.
A better long term strategy is to have more unique looking cars on fewer platforms not just badge engineering. This is the approach I believe GM is following. small FWD car(Cobalt et al), small RWD car(Solstice et al), mid-size fwd car (G6 et al), large rwd car (CTS), mid size truck/SUV (Trailblazer, large truck/SUV(Tahoe), Corvette/XLR.
Have Chevy stay value (no SS), Pontiac as the performance division, Buick in affordable lux, Cadillac in the lux market.
It is interesting Toyota is expanding its divisions and some GM fans want fewer.
A better long term strategy is to have more unique looking cars on fewer platforms not just badge engineering. This is the approach I believe GM is following. small FWD car(Cobalt et al), small RWD car(Solstice et al), mid-size fwd car (G6 et al), large rwd car (CTS), mid size truck/SUV (Trailblazer, large truck/SUV(Tahoe), Corvette/XLR.
Have Chevy stay value (no SS), Pontiac as the performance division, Buick in affordable lux, Cadillac in the lux market.
It is interesting Toyota is expanding its divisions and some GM fans want fewer.
Joined
·
1,918 Posts
if you copy ford, there's no use for neither pontiac or buick: since when mercury sold well?
but, when you copy ford, remember that without their trucks, they would have been long gone.
so basically ford sells 3 cars and a minivan... if gm would make this move, they will lose everything with the exception of the trucks. you need separate weapons for all the foes...
but, when you copy ford, remember that without their trucks, they would have been long gone.
so basically ford sells 3 cars and a minivan... if gm would make this move, they will lose everything with the exception of the trucks. you need separate weapons for all the foes...
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
