Reading Death Watch got me thinking that there has to be a better way to downsize than cutting brands. I was very bored, so now it's my "I'll save GM" time.

My proposal is to cut models, and combine brands into 4 distinct networks. NO stand alone franchises at all (at least on the coasts). Downsizing the dealer body could be problematic - maybe the best rated CS dealers get dibs on the new combined stores, and the others will be offered a profit-sharing plan in those stores? Not sure how that would work out though... GM also needs a much smaller lineup, with more differentiation, and less rebadges/overlap ==> less development costs, smaller distribution network, quicker updates. And who knows, eventually maybe they'll even turn a profit. Anyways - on to my grand plan:

Pontiac/Buick/GMC
PONTIAC: Solstice, Kappa G4, G6, G8/GTO?
Manual trannies across the board, more powerful then Chevy. Must improve interiors more then anybody, and pick a new design direction - please! GXP all around.
BUICK: Lacrosse, Lucerne, Zeta sedan, Enclave
Super quiet, powerful, a few exclusive gadgets and Enclave-level styling. Must handle reasonably well. Elegant and understated inside - using real wood and higher quality plastics. Large luxury Hybrid sedan.
GMC: Yukon, Sierra, smaller crossover
Luxury trucks that can also get dirty. No need for drastically different styling here - change front and back, bigger rims, slight HP boost over Chevy.
Gone: G5, Torrent, GP, Rainier, Rendezvous, Envoy, Canyon

Chevy/Hummer
CHEVROLET: Aveo, Cobalt, Malibu, RWD Impala, HHR, Vette, Camaro, Silverado, Equinox, Acadia, Tahoe, Colorado, Avalanche
Priority #1 - let the Camaro and Tahoe creators design everything. Hang the guy who penned the 'bu. Hot SS models where appropriate - less extreme then GXP, more luxurious. Introduce mainstream hybrids or diesels soon. LS7 Camaro for 20K.
HUMMER: H2, H3, H4
More power, don't cheap out on the H4
Gone: TB, Monte Carlo

Caddy/Saab <-- Your choice: Bold American styling or sleek Swedish design
CADDILAC: CTS, STS, XLR, Escalade, SRX, ULS
After seeing the CTS, Caddy is right on course. Spread the magic, keep it the brand edgy and hip.
SAAB: 9-3, smaller crossover, Saab Kappa?, Saab Lambda
All styled after the Aero-X. Nimble, dynamic, yet luxurious. Manual trannies/turbo engines is a must. AWD 9-3. Hybrid 9-3 AWD fits right in. Sport tuned SUVs - 9-7x proved that Saab styling looks very good on a truck, one of the best looking SUVs out there IMO. (Only the FX has it beat)
Gone: 9-5, 9-7x, future BLS, future small Caddy crossover

Saturn
SATURN: Ion replacement, Aura, Sky, Outlook, Vue
American Opel, looks good so far. Distance image from GM, at least in the short term. Could replace Toyota as the tree-huggers Hybrid of choice. Styling must be phenomenal. In my age group (22-26), Saturn is a joke - they really have to knock peoples' socks off to overcome the stigma of a cheap/disposable car as they move upmarket.

I may have forgotten a few things, but I think that if GM lineup looks like this ~CY2008, and their new offerings continue to impress, things should start looking up. The only "old GM" models by that time should be Colorado, XLR, Equinox, maybe a few others - the majority of vehicles will be Lutz's and should be very competitive. Let me know what you guys think.

 

Yea, they will most likely cut a car here or there......
Hypothetically, if that happened, I hope GM will allow the engineers to buddy up. Tacking the extras onto currect projects to make sure that they can increase the quality of mechanical designs (everything from the engine to the windshield wipers), instead of laying these guys off. If GM can keep their name out of the headlines for a while, marketing might just be able to convince us folks that "GM" means other than whole sale, Walmart quality vehicles.
As much as I try to, I haven't been able to change my mentality towards Ford. After the tire problems on the Explorers...and after the engine fires (as someone that understood the problem, I can deal with that....but to average Suzy Q, the thought that a vehicle that is turned OFF can catch fire, and burn down their house, is a this really really scary thought).
...And its hard for me to see passed passed these, and the many Ford problems and recalls...(even though it was a vehicl operator tire pressure issue, how long did it take for Ford to admit that there was something happening?)


I think that standalone dealers should been kept. If we through all of GMs cars under one roof, and John Smith walks into the dealer, if he gets treated badly by the sellsman he will think that all dealers that sell Chevy, GMC, Pontiac (or whatever brands were at the specific dealership), were bad dealers. Also, if he had a problem with his Pontiac, he would remember all the other brands, and associate them as being bad brands also..

My main issue is dealer mentality.

GM, if at all possible needs to put the dealers on a leash. That is what delayed the sells of the GTO REMEMBER! The dealers saw that the people that wanted first dibs on them, would pay many thousands over the MSRP...as if GM doesn't inflate MSPRs for the dealers to make a profit...those huge markups drove everybody away. How long did it take for the GTO sells to recover? How many months? Tell me!

Now, GM is on the verge of releasing one of their, soon to be, best selling cars of all time....and you know who is gonna screw it up?........DEALERS

 

I was just talking to my roommate about people's bad experiences at a GM dealer. He used to sell Hondas and when people drove up in a GM they often had a story to share about their lousy dealer experiences. However, by that point I figure they had to be in the service dept enough times with car problems that they probably weren't going to buy GM again anyway. In fact, the dealer I bought my car from was terrible - old service department, obnoxious techs, and after bringing my car in for the 3rd time to get the same problem fixed, they wouldn't even give me a loaner! Lucky for me, I found a very competent dealer nearby. Any of you domestic salesmen on here ever get these sob stories about Toy/Hon/Nis?

 

I kid you not, I got a call from Toyota saying they'd pay me a $100 bucks to sit down and talk to them about my dealer experience (My mom works for Toyota so I was disqualified). All of my experiences have been great with this dealer; although I have heard a rumor about a Toyota dealer on the other side of town that is lousy.

 

I'd give GMC a GMT-355 or 360 pickup but it would be a lot different than the Colorado. More like a Dodge M80 or Hummer H3T type of vehicle. Entry level for that brand, Something under $30,000. I'd also keep either the TB or Envoy and Caddy could use the BRX.

Other than that it looks like a good plan to me.

 

That's what I was getting at - to consolidate the dealer body, some stores are obviously going to have to close. Expand the good succesful ones, the dealers with the highest Customer Satisfaction scores who have a modern facility in a good location, and close the other bad ones if possible. I bet even if all the sup-par dealers are closed, there will still be more than enough good ones to serve demand. Unfortunately, closing these would probably be the biggest obstacle.

I'm really not sure what kind of buyout packages dealers get, but I was thinking - what if GM tries a new strategy. Lets say there is a Buick dealer in rural NY with bad CS scores, and a highly-rated Pont/GMC dealer right off the GWB. GM offers Buick a choice. Either remain open and keep squeaking by worried bout the future, or... rescind their dealer contract in exchange for a stake in the resulting Pont/Buick/GMC franchise. The 'good' dealer will remain in control of their operations, but the bought-out Buick dealer will receive a fair share of the income. (10-15%?) The ousted dealers would be free to open a non-GM dealership at their location (likely making more profit) and still receive constant income from the new combo-store. To accomplish this, GM would give money to the 'good' owners in order to expand and renovate the new dealership. The owners would have to share some of the costs, but they are also getting a free product line in addition to an expanded showroom to accomodate Buick. In exchange for this help, the combo-store would have to pay the ex-Buick guy his stake of the profits. Maybe GM could take advantage of this down time to properly train the sales/service people to make sure that a the good dealer becomes exceptional.

The good dealer is getting a shiny new facility and more product variation at minimal cost to himself. The addition of the Buick line along with a modernized store should help draw more business, and increase profits to more then offset the payout. The bad dealer would likely be getting an income similar to what he was making selling Buicks for doing nothing, plus - he is free to do whatever he wants with his property. GM will spend maybe a mil or two on construction and the result will be a more competitive, more profitable dealer which represents GM's models in a much better light. Sales will likely be greater then the 2 seperate dealers combined. Why doesn't GM do this? This seems like a win-win-win situation to me, am I missing something here guys?

 

I floated this idea by my old Bus. Strategy prof and he wrote me that it might be possible, but he can't say without more concrete figures. The question is how badly does GM want to downsize and improve their dealer body? And how much would it currently cost them to buy out a medium size single brand dealership?

Sorry guys, I think I made it too long for anybody to actually read. But if anybody is able to get through my epic please tell me what you think. Especially if you can answer any of the above questions.