LeNeve says Pontiac & Buick are NOT on the chopping block...

No plans to phase out any brands, GM's vp of sales and marketing says
Posted Date: 3/24/05

DETROIT -- General Motors reasserted on Thursday it has no intention of eliminating any of its brands in the future.

Mark LaNeve, vice president of sales and marketing for GM, told Automotive News the automaker is investing heavily in all eight brands. Phasing out a particular division is not under consideration.

"We have no plans, or even discussions, of killing any brands," LaNeve said, "We're investing more heavily than ever in product and marketing programs."

On Wednesday, GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz told a Morgan Stanley Automotive conference in New York if one of GM's "troubled brands" fails to turn around, "then we'd have to take a look at a phase-out," Lutz said.

Published reports linked Pontiac and Buick to Lutz's comments.

LaNeve reemphasized in a message to dealers Thursday that both brands are safe.

LaNeve also said GM is managing Buick, Pontiac and GMC as one channel and providing those divisions with a product portfolio "to service that channel and to focus" the lineup.

That represents a key difference from Oldsmobile, which GM killed last year, he said.

"These portfolios we're going to deliver we don't have to deliver an A to Z portfolio for those three brands," he said. "We can tighten and focus them. I'd rather have four or five great Pontiacs or Buicks than eight undistinguishable products. That business model makes a lot of sense."

Source: Autoweek (http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=102052)


And on another "As the world turns..."

GM could always kill-off Saab.

It turns out that they probably do have some people that know what they are doing. :)

That certainly contradicts what Bob Lutz said yesterday.

What in God's name is going on at GM? The left hand doesn't seem like it knows what the right one is doing. Are things really in this much disarray inside the walls of the RenCen???

It turns out that they probably do have some people that know what they are doing. :)

The left hand does one thing while the right hand does another? With a company the size of GM, the likelihood is not impossible.

The left hand does one thing while the right hand does another? With a company the size of GM, the likelihood is not impossible.
but thats stupid, unprofessional and flat out the wrong way to do business.

He said exactly what I would have said, if I was still deciding what brand to whack. Like he ever would have come out and said, "Now nobody get excited, because we haven't decided which one of you two is the one to go"

He could just be the company mouthpiece trying to settle things down for a little bit.

These portfolios we're going to deliver we don't have to deliver an A to Z portfolio for those three brands," he said. "We can tighten and focus them. I'd rather have four or five great Pontiacs or Buicks than eight undistinguishable products. That business model makes a lot of sense.

Well, we've heard that one before. I seem to recall a couple of years back GM was saying how they were going to reduce the number of models and overlap, and then what do we get? 6 TrailBlazer clones, 4 minivan siblings, 3 Equinoxes.

BTW, what's with Saturn being the golden child? Comparing their models, Ion is far less desirable than Cobalt; and Vue is less than Equinox (aside from the Honda V6). Yet GM wants to catapult them above Chevrolet in the brand hierarchy. Why not keep them as the entry-level division and fight Scion and other econoboxes?

BTW, what's with Saturn being the golden child? Comparing their models, Ion is far less desirable than Cobalt; and Vue is less than Equinox (aside from the Honda V6). Yet GM wants to catapult them above Chevrolet in the brand hierarchy. Why not keep them as the entry-level division and fight Scion and other econoboxes?

It's not about current models.

GM is capatalizing on Saturn's "foreign brand" reputation.

It's not about current models.

GM is capatalizing on Saturn's "foreign brand" reputation.

Exactly. A lot of people have no idea that Saturn is an American, let alone General Motors Brand. Oddly enough this is probably a good thing as for years the buying public has had the notion that anything domestic is trash shoved down their throat. While the imports are solid cars, current domestics for the last 10 years IMHO have improved greatly and are on par with their Japanese and Korean counterparts.

Saturn being shrouded as a unique company might be a good thing for it.

That certainly contradicts what Bob Lutz said yesterday.

What in God's name is going on at GM? The left hand doesn't seem like it knows what the right one is doing. Are things really in this much disarray inside the walls of the RenCen???

Lutz said "Lutz also said the company could "phase out" brands such as Pontiac and Buick if they fail to improve sales. "I hope we don't have to do that," he said. "What we've got to do is keep the brands we've got." "

thats if a few years from now the companies arent improving and continue on a downward spiral. Not that they are currently planning on doing it. He's saying its a "if all else fails" type of thing

It's not about current models.

Oh, I understand that. But you have to start from where you are, and right now Saturn isn't anywhere. Why not give their future bright stars, Sky and Aura, to Chevrolet? I can guarantee you that Chevrolet dealers could move far more of both, and at the same time it would go a long way towards rebuilding the Chevrolet brand (a brand with history, a brand with value, a brand worth investing in). If I was in charge of Chevrolet, I'd be right pissed that Saturn is getting a sexy new roadster and a state of the art sedan, while Chevy is forced to soldier on with no low-price convertible a second-tier mid sized sedan.

but thats stupid, unprofessional and flat out the wrong way to do business.

Of course it is. I wasn't saying it was right.

Come on now, does anyone believe that the sales guy would be the first to know if brands were getting the axe?

In any other industry he'd be the last to know. :D

He's just doing patch work after Lutz slipped yesterday.

That certainly contradicts what Bob Lutz said yesterday.

What in God's name is going on at GM? The left hand doesn't seem like it knows what the right one is doing. Are things really in this much disarray inside the walls of the RenCen???


Bob Lutz has been known to shoot from the hip from time to time.

He said exactly what I would have said, if I was still deciding what brand to whack. Like he ever would have come out and said, "Now nobody get excited, because we haven't decided which one of you two is the one to go"

He could just be the company mouthpiece trying to settle things down for a little bit.


:rolleyes:

You are both correct.

Exactly. A lot of people have no idea that Saturn is an American, let alone General Motors Brand. Oddly enough this is probably a good thing as for years the buying public has had the notion that anything domestic is trash shoved down their throat. While the imports are solid cars, current domestics for the last 10 years IMHO have improved greatly and are on par with their Japanese and Korean counterparts.

Saturn being shrouded as a unique company might be a good thing for it.
That's partly because the salesmen will lie to people and tell them it is not part of GM.