[MrJamesMc]

If I owned GM, I would have one world line-up for each of my brands. I simply believe in a standardized world line-up. Please note that these pictures are to represent each model as they are now at this moment and are the best representation I could find.


Buick:

Buick currently sales their cars in China and N. America. The model line-up for N. America and China are entirely different. I believe they should be unified as one model line-up & Buick should spread their products to Europe and the Middle East. Buick would be a premium car brand one notch underneath Cadillac and their cars would clash with each other, but then again Cadillac is more sport oriented than Buick. I believe their line-up should look something like this:

Buick Excelle: (Currently only sold in China)

This would be a small compact premium sedan. With rising gas prices, more people will probably want smaller cars but not want to give up their creature comforts. It would compete with the Lexus IS and the Volvo S40, along with other small premium cars.

Buick LaCrosse: (This is the Chinese version, North America gets a lame one.)

This is a midsize front-wheel-drive luxury sedan that would compete with the Lexus ES350 Front-wheel drive, Toyota Avalon, Acura RL, Lincoln MKZ, Chrysler 300C, and Jaguar X-Type.

Buick Park Avenue: (Currently only sold in China)

This is a large rear-wheel drive luxury sedan that would compete with the Lexus LS460, BMW 7-series, Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8, and any other large luxury sedan.

Buick Enclave: (Currently only sold in North America)

This is a large crossover SUV. It currently competes with the Lexus RX330, Acura MDX, BMW X5, Mercedes M-Class, Toyota Highlander, and many other nicer midsize crossover SUVs.

Other Buick products would be a coupe version of the Park Avenue and perhaps a coupe roadster to draw attention.

Cadillac:

Cadillac currently sales their cars in every continent except Antarctica. They currently have specific cars for different markets such as the DTS sedan for N. America, the BLS sedan for Europe, Mexico, & S. Africa, and the SLS for China only. I believe they should have one standard line-up for every market they sale in much like BMW & Lexus do. Like they are now, Cadillac cars would be sport oriented, focusing on a harmonic blend of luxury & performance.



Cadillac BLS: (Currently only sold in Europe, South Africa, and Mexico.)

The Cadillac BLS comes in sedan & station wagon form. It would compete with the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4, Buick Excelle, Lexus IS, Infiniti G37, Acura TSX, and many other premium small sedan/wagons. It needs to be redesigned from what it is now into a rear-wheel drive car with lots of cabin technology.

Cadillac CTS: (Sold all over the world.)

This is a midsize Sedan that would compete with the Acura RL, Lexus GS450, Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5-Series, Infiniti M35, Audi A6, Buick Lacrosse, and Lexus ES350. I would also offer a Direct Injection 4.6L V8.

Cadillac SLS: (Currently only sold in China and U.A.E.

This would be a large luxury sedan to compete with the BMW 7-Series, Mercedes S-Class, Lexus LS460, Jaguar XJ, Audi A8, and other large luxury sedans. (We have a currently have a Cadillac STS, which is a shorter version of the SLS with a cheaper interior.)

Cadillac BRX: (Currently in development)

Midsize luxury crossover to compete with the Lexus RX330, Acura MDX & RDX, BMW X3, and other smaller luxury crossovers.

Cadillac SRX: (Currently sold all over the world)

Midsize luxury crossover to compete with BMW X5, Mercedes M-Class, Audi Q7, Acura MDX, Buick Enclave, Land Rover LR3/Discovery, Lexus GX470, and other midsize luxury SUVs. I think it needs to be redesigned even though the one they have now is nice, it’s been out since like 2004-2005ish.

Cadillac XLR: (Sold all over the world.)

Sport Coupe that competes with the Mercedes SL-Class, BMX 6-Series, Chevrolet Corvette, and other sport coupes. I would redesign it for this is also from the 2004-2005 area. (I hear they are working on an update actually.)

Cadillac Escalade: (Sold in N. America, Europe, and Asia.)

Large luxury SUV to compete with Mercedes GL-Class, Lexus LX570, Toyota Land Cruiser, Audi Q7, Land Rover Range Rover, and other large luxury SUVs.

Other products Cadillac should introduce is a sport roadster about the size of a Saturn SKY or a BMW Z4. Also a super-exotic mid-engine that is hand built to go along with the SLR McClaren Mercedes and Lamborghini. It would draw positive media attention to the brand.

Chevrolet:



Chevrolet has been a global brand for some time. It has operations in every continent with the exception of Antarctica. They are an affordable car company offering reliable products.

Chevrolet Beat: (Currently a concept car.)

With fuel rising, more people would love to have a small car to run around town with. This would compete with the Smart Fortwo.

Chevrolet Aveo: (Sold globally.)

A little bigger than the Beat, the Aveo is a practical sedan or hatchback for up to five people. Competition includes the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, and Honda Fit. The Aveo needs help though, it needs a more cool look that doesn’t look like it’s trying, better safety ratings, and to be a top fuel economy performer.

Chevrolet Cobalt: (Only sold in N. America)

This is a compact sedan or coupe to compete with the Honda Civic, Nissan Versa, Toyota Corolla, and Ford Focus. It is in desperate need of a cooler looking redesign for the current body style is more than outdated. It needs some neat little techy goodies to lure in the kiddos like navigation screen and a sound upgrade.

Chevrolet Malibu: (Only sold in N. America.)

The Chevrolet Malibu is a good looking midsize family sedan. It has outscored the Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima in recent comparison tests and comes extremely close to out beating the Honda Accord that costs more. The Malibu is nice, but could use more cabin technology such as a navigation system, bluetooth, and also increased fuel economy. It runs up against the Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, would run up against the Ford Mondeo in other markets, and other midsize sedans.

Chevrolet Impala/Lumina: (Lumina only sold in Middle East.)

Our Impala is a front-wheel-drive car with nice looks, but nothing to grab attention. It does offer a 5.3L V8, but the front-wheel-drive handicaps the engine’s potential and the interior is nothing unique. In the Middle East Chevrolet sales a car called the Lumina (Pictured Above) that is rear-wheel-drive and has more aggressive looks. It would be a wonderful Impala in the U.S. and would do well as a Lumina in China.

Corvette: (Sold globally with the exception of China.)

It’s such a lovely car. Sale it everywhere.

Colorado: (Sold in N. America and the Middle East.)

The Colorado is old news now. It desperately needs a redesign with a more aggressive stance and a sportier interior.

Silverado: (Sold in N. America and the Middle East.)

GM should see what the Chinese think of it.

Avalanche: (N. America and the Middle East.)

GM should consider phasing it out if sales aren’t good. It’s not really a true pickup truck or SUV and seems like a trend that will fade away as gas prices soars.

Captiva: (Currently sold in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia as a Holden)

The Equinox is actually getting a redesign soon, but it would be better, in my opinion, that they just made the Equinox as the Captiva instead. Competitors include the Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, and other smaller SUVs.

Traverse: (Currently planned for N. America only.)

It looks to be a good competitor of the Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Nissan Pathfinder, and other various midsize SUVs.

Tahoe:

Suburban: (Currently sold mostly global with the exception of Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia.)

Uplander: (Currently this model shown is a Buick GL8 sold only in China.)

Well the Uplander we have in the United States has received little buying attention and terrible reviews. In China they have the Buick GL8 minivan with a luxurious interior and neat headlights. They should take that same minivan and slap a Chevy front clip on it and a few other bow-tie badges in place of the Buick badge. In N. America, minivans are perceived as a soccer mom car, so, unlike China, it would be unsuccessful to market it as a luxury MPV in the U.S. It, as a Chevy, would be for the N. American market as another minivan to compete with the rest.

 

[BrickTamland]

A Buick GL8 with Chevy badges slapped on it would be the same mediocre vehicle as the Uplander. Look at the A-pillar back - it's the same body that has been around for 11 years. It is extremely out of date, hence the poor reviews.

 

[hrcslam]

This sounds like a viable line up. But, I would have to add Saturn in just as they are because they are the pinnacle of what I think a car company would and should be.

 

[Desert Rat]

Suburban: (Currently sold mostly global with the exception of Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia.)

Sold Global with the exception of 3/4 of the globe? LOL

I agree with most of your post, most makes sense, some I would see a different vehicle in it's place, but thats just personal preference and everyone on here could see something in that line up changed, and someone else could see something different again....

 

[camaro chris]

No Camaro?

 

[MrJamesMc]

A Buick GL8 with Chevy badges slapped on it would be the same mediocre vehicle as the Uplander. Look at the A-pillar back - it's the same body that has been around for 11 years. It is extremely out of date, hence the poor reviews.

I don't know if a GL8 would recieve horrible reviews, it has a swanky interior.
Besides, I said that each picture is the best current representation. The GL8 is subject for a redesign, and if I were GM, I would consider badge engineering it to be a Chevy in N. America at least.

This sounds like a viable line up. But, I would have to add Saturn in just as they are because they are the pinnacle of what I think a car company would and should be.

The reason there is no Saturn or Pontiac is because they don't sell there cars over seas like Chevrolet, Cadillac, & Buick. I am focusing on the global American brands from GM.

Sold Global with the exception of 3/4 of the globe? LOL

I agree with most of your post, most makes sense, some I would see a different vehicle in it's place, but thats just personal preference and everyone on here could see something in that line up changed, and someone else could see something different again....

Well, for the most part this list has pictures/names that best represent that space at this moment. For example, Equinox or Captiva? I decided to go with Captiva because it looks a little more SUV like, but maybe an Equinox is better.

No Camaro?

Maybe I forgot the Camaro because GM keeps pushing it back 100 years at a time.

 

[BigAls87Z28]

No Camaro means this list fails. 44520340324832 SUV's and Trucks, but no Camaro.

 

[FenwickHockey65]

Needs a Camaro.
And your idea for a Impala/Lumina wouldn't work...it would just be a G8 rebadge...not a good idea in this day and age.
But I do agree that the Captiva should be brought over and used in some application.

 

[CJ Thunder]

See problem with this thinking is the average American doesn't want to drive what the average Frenchmen or average Cambodian wants to drive. I am sure there can be overlap in some lineups but to have no exclusive vehicles for a country is udder ridiculousness.

 

[BrickTamland]

I don't know if a GL8 would recieve horrible reviews, it has a swanky interior.
Besides, I said that each picture is the best current representation. The GL8 is subject for a redesign, and if I were GM, I would consider badge engineering it to be a Chevy in N. America at least.

Ahh, that's good that a redesign is coming.

 

[mgescuro]

Interesting lineup, but you managed to axe out practically all C-class and lower cars. THis lineup would do well in America, but it would fail miserably outside the North American market.

 

[MrJamesMc]

No Camaro means this list fails. 44520340324832 SUV's and Trucks, but no Camaro.

And the Camaro will succeed as the premium coupe that Chevy is propping it up to be? Any Chevrolet purist would say what Chevrolet is doing to that nameplate, what was originally a working man's car is turning into young urban professional's next car that he cross-shops with a BMW 3-Series, is not the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Needs a Camaro.
And your idea for a Impala/Lumina wouldn't work...it would just be a G8 rebadge...not a good idea in this day and age.
But I do agree that the Captiva should be brought over and used in some application.

Well all the reason to rework that Lumina exterior and interior.

See problem with this thinking is the average American doesn't want to drive what the average Frenchmen or average Cambodian wants to drive. I am sure there can be overlap in some lineups but to have no exclusive vehicles for a country is udder ridiculousness.

Well of course you don't have to sell the Suburban in Europe, it is quite obvious they don't care much for that. Didn't take rocket science for me to figure that Europeans don't like big 4x4s. Also I believe you can at least have a niche market in N. America with small cars like the Beat.

Ahh, that's good that a redesign is coming.

Your sarcasm makes me laugh. See I can be sarcastic too!

Interesting lineup, but you managed to axe out practically all C-class and lower cars. THis lineup would do well in America, but it would fail miserably outside the North American market.

No, it would do quite fine actually.

 

[BrickTamland]

Your sarcasm makes me laugh. See I can be sarcastic too!

I wasn't being sarcastic. I was just applauding that the GL8 is getting redesigned.

 

[CJ Thunder]

Well of course you don't have to sell the Suburban in Europe, it is quite obvious they don't care much for that. Didn't take rocket science for me to figure that Europeans don't like big 4x4s. Also I believe you can at least have a niche market in N. America with small cars like the Beat.

But some people need AWD and a Ford Transit like body or UTE or something else all together.

Unless your a worldwide niche brand/genre (ex. Smart or Sports cars) you can't only have one lineup.

 

[t-rex]

No, it would do quite fine actually.

How so? I think you seriously misunderstand the buying habits of customers outside of the United States.

Probably 75% of the world's cars are C-segment (Cobalt, Corolla) and smaller. Larger cars are popular in a handful of (admittedly large) markets like North America, Australia, and the Middle East.

And there's also the issue of taste. What on Earth made GM think Europeans would buy something as outlandishly styled as Cadillac is a mystery. Yeah GM fans love to hear the news blurbs like — Cadillac sales up 70% in 2007. That means they sold 170 instead of 100 cars...

Buicks will never in a million years sell in any numbers outside of China, North America, and maybe Taiwan or a few other Asian markets where they go for this sort of "soft luxury" theme.

Cadillacs are apparently unsalable outside the US. Well, South Africans seem to have taken a liking to the BLS, but that's a fluke. GM only built a little over 2,000 BLS's last year. Cadillac will never sell anywhere outside the US in any serious numbers. Not with the current crop at least.

Pontiacs will never sell anywhere but the US and Canada. GM seriously need to phase the brand out and let the G8 be its swansong so it can die a dignified death instead of the last Poncho rolling off an assembly line being a G6, or worse yet, a G5.

GMC is a N/A and Middle-East brand only.

Hummer is far too in-your-face, brash, and thirsty to have appeal anywhere outside the Middle East.

So that leaves Chevrolet. In Latin America, the Chevrolet brand consists entirely of various Opel, Daewoo, and Suzuki designs. The only US products seen there are Trailblazers in the ANDEAN markets, and the strange Brazilian S-10 and Blazer, both of which are being replaced by a GM-Brazil-developed replacement. And the reason there's hardly any US designs is that Latin Americans only buy small cars. Although big SUV's do well in markets like Ecuador and Venezuela.

The Malibu's a nice car. Only this size/price segment only exists in North America and Australia. It's why you can't buy a Camry in most parts of the world. It's just an oddball segment outside of countries like the US, New Zealand, and Taiwan. Hardly global. European marques are moving their D-class sedans up to the premium category, following the Passat's route.

If you have a Chevrolet dealership outside the US with a lineup looking anything like what you've suggested, you'll see a car company doing little, if any, business. Brazilians don't want Traverses. Europeans don't want Malibus. Australians don't want any of it.

Just as in the past, US designs will only find ready customers in markets like Venezuela and the Middle East.

While I'd like to see Cadillac and Hummer do well globally, the reality is they'll likely never grow any past low-volume niche status.

Americans simply can't, or by my contention — won't, understand foreign markets.

I enjoyed reading your post and it's apparent you put some thought into it. But global tastes are simply too varied to have a one-size-fits-all product line. Part of the reason companies like Fiat and Peugeot aren't growing is because they fail to design separate products for markets where customers don't care for their products. And the reason companies like Toyota are so successful, is because they design specific products for specific regions. Check out Toyota's USA, Ecuador, Germany, South Africa, Australia, and Malaysia websites and you'll be surprised at how much the model mix changes from region to region. Try Nissan's sites globally and you'll see even less commonality than Toyota.

 

[Bravada]

What on Earth made GM think Europeans would buy something as outlandishly styled as Cadillac is a mystery.

True. Too bad not as obvious for GM.

PS. We'd take an SLS gladly. What, GM doesn't offer one? We got the BLS because Europeans "like small cars". Yeah, sure. Like the S-Klasse. GM, when a European has no better idea and wants a Cadillac, he/she wants it big, luxurious, comfy, classy and American, not a Saab in strange packaging. Yes, GM really doesn't understand global markets, but in different ways than it might seem.

Buicks will never in a million years sell in any numbers outside of China, North America, and maybe Taiwan or a few other Asian markets where they go for this sort of "soft luxury" theme.

Not true. If they looked like the Chinese Buick Park Avenue, they would easily outsell Cadillacs fewfold in Europe. The ParkAve takes after the A6, which is the gold standard now in the executive class. Make a smaller one, let it even be FWD (after all, what is an A6?) and you've got a lineup ready to kill. A premium compact wouldn't hurt either.

Pontiacs will never sell anywhere but the US and Canada.

Not true. Sports/performance brands ALWAYS sell - almost always, but anyway. If not for the unlikely MG rebirth, MG Rover would've gone belly up 5 years earlier. I believe Pontiac has a lot of potential globally, perhaps the most of all North American brands. I could expand on that forever - and I will, once anybody disagrees.

GMC is a N/A and Middle-East brand only.

With the current offering - perhaps. But if it was turned into a true truck/off-road/4x4 specialist brand, I would see bright future ahead of it globally. Ford (Thai) Ranger, Nissan Navara or the Mitsubishi L200 are gaining in popularity around Europe (the Isuzu Rodeo not so much, given that there are about 1.5 Isuzu dealers left Europewide), and I believe people would much more like the thought of owning a "genuine professional-grade GMC" than something that bears the same bowtie as the lowly Matiz/Spark.

The Malibu's a nice car. Only this size/price segment only exists in North America and Australia.

Pardon me? The large family car segment is the second/third largest segment in European countries (depending on country). Passats, Mondeos, Lagunas, 407s, Avenses and Honda Accords rule the roads around here. That said, Malibu being a nice car, it is easily outclassed by most of the European competition here. And its not only because they've got navigation. They've got rear armrests.

Hummer is far too in-your-face, brash, and thirsty to have appeal anywhere outside the Middle East.

Yet when you make a far-too-rich-teenager-cool-list, it comes up in the first place. It's a gimmicky brand with a worldwide gimmicky appeal. You need gazillions to own one and to fill it up, but it's not like gazillionaires only live in the Middle East. Just as if you'd say Smart or MINI have no appeal outside of Europe.

See problem with this thinking is the average American doesn't want to drive what the average Frenchmen or average Cambodian wants to drive.

Perhaps, but vehicles are not bought by statistical averages or other mediocrities , but by actual people. French people would gladly drive huge American cruisers if they could afford the fuel and had the room to park them. Perhaps less people in the USA (relatively) buy small cars than in Europe, but they still want a decent small car. If crap sells better in the US, it is only because there is less choice.

Bottom line - everybody wants a good car, and GM better focus on making the best cars in all particular classes rather than developing a slew of midsize cars that essentially fulfill the same purpose and are all quite mediocre.

 

[MrJamesMc]

Then how does Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Acura do it so well?
Even the N. American Honda Accord is the Japanese Honda Inspire, they seem to get a good use out of all their body styles. The Acura TSX is a Honda Accord in Japan & Europe, so they are smart for making big bucks off what is simply an Accord in those markets and then, from what I can tell, our Accord, Japan's Inspire, seems to be marketed as a premium sedan too, so they are probably making good money off their home market with that. Mercedes & BMW may have smaller cars offered in other countries, but they are considering bringing those over to the states due to increasing fuel prices, so that's where we have our BLS replacement, Aveo redesign, Excelle, and Beat come into play here. I highly doubt a European would buy a Cadillac B-Class type car since Cadillac is aspiring to play with Bentley again, so that would throw off their point. Also I thought people on here would just understand the big SUVs where mostly intended for where they are at, I wasn't expecting everyone to jump on my back about that, holy crap. Why would a Malibu do terrible? Doesn't Opel have the hideous Vectra? Is the Malibu too smooth and long for Europe? I guess. I also thought, since Buick doesn't really have a reputation, why not enter it in at least the Middle East? Why would it do terribly there? They buy H2s, so why not Park Avenues? This all is just a "what if" thing, I'm not market planner for GM or whatever.

 

[t-rex]

Not true. Sports/performance brands ALWAYS sell - almost always, but anyway. If not for the unlikely MG rebirth, MG Rover would've gone belly up 5 years earlier. I believe Pontiac has a lot of potential globally, perhaps the most of all North American brands. I could expand on that forever - and I will, once anybody disagrees.

Really?? Hmmm. So you think the Pontiac brand would be welcomed in Europe? I've long had this vision of a range of small GM-designed, sporty-themed Protons complemented by larger Krappa/Alpha-based "Pontioldens", forming a global Pontiac brand. Sort of a GM SEAT! I thought it was folly. But if Europeans would go for such a scheme, I may just have to rejig my "Global Project"!

With the current offering - perhaps. But if it was turned into a true truck/off-road/4x4 specialist brand, I would see bright future ahead of it globally. Ford (Thai) Ranger, Nissan Navara or the Mitsubishi L200 are gaining in popularity around Europe (the Isuzu Rodeo not so much, given that there are about 1.5 Isuzu dealers left Europewide), and I believe people would much more like the thought of owning a "genuine professional-grade GMC" than something that bears the same bowtie as the lowly Matiz/Spark.

True, but wouldn't these be just as well served by Chevrolet? I mean until a few short years ago, GMC only existed in the US for marketing and dealer reasons.

Pardon me? The large family car segment is the second/third largest segment in European countries (depending on country). Passats, Mondeos, Lagunas, 407s, Avenses and Honda Accords rule the roads around here. That said, Malibu being a nice car, it is easily outclassed by most of the European competition here. And its not only because they've got navigation. They've got rear armrests.

Yes, but like you pointed out, the D-segment in Europe is moving to a sort of premium class of car. Family-value-oriented products like Camry, Altima, and Malibu are sort of misfits in Europe: too big to be mainstream, too cheaply finished and equipped to be premium products. Not that nobody would buy them, but a Malibu would face an almost Sisyphus-like battle against Mondeo-Passat-Laguna...

Yet when you make a far-too-rich-teenager-cool-list, it comes up in the first place. It's a gimmicky brand with a worldwide gimmicky appeal. You need gazillions to own one and to fill it up, but it's not like gazillionaires only live in the Middle East. Just as if you'd say Smart or MINI have no appeal outside of Europe.

Yeah, but I was politely suggesting that Middle Easterners are the only ones with as much bad taste as Americans...

I'm not saying his lineup wouldn't sell at all outside North America. But it's certain not a formula for conquering the globe.

Chevrolet's European/South African lineup would best be:

Car: Beat, Spark, Aveo, Delta II Optra/Lacetti, Alpha/Kappa sedan
MPV: Rezzo replacement (Brazilian Journey concept?)
Crossover/SUV: Captiva, maybe a larger, LWB Theta-II model or BOF SUV
Pickup: Next-gen Colorado

Chevrolet Brazil/Argentina, with its Euro preference could consist of:

Car: Celta, cheapie Sub-Gamma 4dr sdn, Corsa, Vectra (Astra), Omega (Holden)
MPV: Meriva, Zafira
Crossover: Antara, larger BOF SUV
Pickup: Montana, next-gen Colorado, Silverado
Van: Combo, Movano

But that's just my guess...

 

[t-rex]

Then how does Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Acura do it so well?
Even the N. American Honda Accord is the Japanese Honda Inspire, they seem to get a good use out of all their body styles. The Acura TSX is a Honda Accord in Japan & Europe, so they are smart for making big bucks off what is simply an Accord in those markets and then, from what I can tell, our Accord, Japan's Inspire, seems to be marketed as a premium sedan too, so they are probably making good money off their home market with that. Mercedes & BMW may have smaller cars offered in other countries, but they are considering bringing those over to the states due to increasing fuel prices, so that's where we have our BLS replacement, Aveo redesign, Excelle, and Beat come into play here. I highly doubt a European would buy a Cadillac B-Class type car since Cadillac is aspiring to play with Bentley again, so that would throw off their point. Also I thought people on here would just understand the big SUVs where mostly intended for where they are at, I wasn't expecting everyone to jump on my back about that, holy crap. Why would a Malibu do terrible? Doesn't Opel have the hideous Vectra? Is the Malibu too smooth and long for Europe? I guess. I also thought, since Buick doesn't really have a reputation, why not enter it in at least the Middle East? Why would it do terribly there? They buy H2s, so why not Park Avenues? This all is just a "what if" thing, I'm not market planner for GM or whatever.

Sorry if I came across "jumping on your back"! It wasn't my intention! You make a lot of valid points, and as I noted earlier, you seem to have put a lot of thinking into it.

But when talking of "globally" it's important to take into consideration all major global markets, not just North America, Europe, and Japan. Those are saturated markets, and almost all the world's growth is in developing regions such as Russia, China, India, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

After much studying, I've broken the globe into several global regions, based on either buyers' tastes, or trade blocs that prevent imports and would require a manufacturer to set up either an assembly or manufacturing operation.

North America
—USA and Canada; same products, but with emphasis on smaller cars in Canada
—Mexico; mixture of European-based small cars and larger US trucks

South America
—Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela; cheap small cars, esp Korean, and large-ish SUV's
—Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay; European small cars and BOF trucks
—Chile; kind of a free-for-all; Chileans seemingly buy just about anything

Europe
—Western Europe (I include Iceland, Poland, Czech Republic, etc. here)
—Eastern Europe (poorer nations) & Russia; mostly small cheap cars

Middle East & Africa
— Arabia; larger, more expensive cars in most markets
— Iran; limited to locally-produced cars, Kia, Nissan, Peugeot, and a few others
— Egypt; limited to locally-assembled cars; no seeming preference for any nationality
— South Africa; very similar to Europe but emphasis on entry-level cars and popularity of BOF pickups
— Rest of Africa; very small in numbers; Peugeot and VW own Nigeria; French cars do well in West and North Africa; the Japanese own East Africa

Asia & Oceania
— China
— Japan; very few imports; mostly strange boxy-type wagons and MPVs
— Taiwan; mostly local brands, Ford, Mitsubishi, Toyota; C- and D/E-class sedans dominate
— Korea; few imports
— India; mostly home-grown stuff; cheap small cars dominate
— ASEAN (Malaysia, Indonesia, etc); very diverse markets; B-/C-class sedans, luxo Euro brands, and SUVs/MPVs/pickups do strongest.
—Oz/New Zealand; C-/D-class sedans, SUVs, and Pickups dominate

 

[MrJamesMc]

Sorry if I came across "jumping on your back"! It wasn't my intention! You make a lot of valid points, and as I noted earlier, you seem to have put a lot of thinking into it.

No, it was almost everyone bickering at me about the big SUVs. To clear things up, I meant for those to be for the markets they are already in. I personally don't like Hummer that much, and I can't see them becoming a useful brand. GMC doesn't have a point, but I was once in love with the GMC Yukon Denali and still fancy the Sierra Denali, but due to gas prices, I don't consider seeing myself in any of those in the future. So those two brands I question if they are valid for the GM line.

I would still have Saturn, I didn't include it because they are all rebadged Opels, that's what I would make it. European flair. Also I am not saying that these models, the ones you see in the pictures are THE ONES, i am saying these pictures represent the best match out of the cars CURRENTLY sold or in concept form. I would have a redesigned Cobalt if I was GM, but since there is none, that is the picture I had to use. So if you see a car and think "that won't sell in Europe, it's outdated!" Well, I know, but that's the best they have now.