^ EXACTLY ^ As for the calls to eliminate Pontiac & Buick, GM obviously believes that their plan will work or they wouldn't be willing to invest billions over the next several years to try to revitalize them. And I would say that they are definately NOT thinking with their emotions. If it doesn't work then I'm sure they'll turn Buick into a Chinese only division & close Pontiac. But until we see if it works or not, lets try to hold off on the shut 'em down NOW rhetoric.

 

Buick won't be an "only Chinese" division. However, it will become a "Chinese-American" division.

If you like what Buick-China is doing, you will like what Buick in North America will be in 2010+.

By the way, last time I checked. Chevy was still wondering where their Kappa is.

I'm happy to say....it's not on the horizon. Kappa is Pontiac DNA through and through. Keep it that way!

 

Pontiac is still second only to Chevy in car sales, as far as I know. Definitely moves more metal than Saturn. By your argument, shouldn't Pontiac be getting the investment that's going into Saturn?

I still don't think any division needs to go. A great M/T editorial (they're rare) noted after Old's demise that GM could cut as many brands as it wanted, but it still would be left with the same core corporate promblems.

I think a global GM should be able to come up with a more creative solution for Pontiac. Neither selling rebadged Chevy's nor shuttering the brand helps anything. Both result in money and market opportunities lost.

 

And I knew someone would bring that up without actually looking at the numbers. This one is a question of momentum and which division is going in the right direction.

Yes, Pontiac is second and Saturn is third. The latest year to date production numbers that I can find has Pontiac ahead of Saturn. By 50K units.

However, Saturn is up 21% from last year and Pontiac is down 14%. (Remember that momentum and direction thing?)

The only divisions that have larger percentage losses from last year? Buick at almost 28% and Hummer at just over 17%.

GMC and Saturn are the only ones that have an increase over last year to this date.

Chevy has sold six times as many cars year to date when compared to Pontiac. I ask again, why is the tail wagging the dog when it comes to new models? How is that good for business as a whole?

 

Well, unless Lutz decides to make a statement to inform the public as to GM's reasons why they're trying to turn them around the only way we're going to understand it is when someone writes a book about it. Which likely won't be coming out for years yet, say about 2020. By then their strategy will have either worked or not. However it's for sure that they've got a good business case for it or there's no way in hell that they'd be doing it. They're capitalists after all, so their decisions are all about generating profit. If investing billions in 2 failing divisions was a guaranteed money loser do you really think they'd do it? If they did that the board of directors would string them up & leave them dangling outside the corporate HQ as an example of what NOT to do!

 

I don't understand the way GM works, and never will.

I'd be curious to see how Buick/Pontiac sells in the Pacific Northwest / Seattle market. I think the last time I saw a Buick SUV was a few years ago, and it was a Rendevous. H-I-D-E-O-U-S.

I like the Lumina SS moreso than the G8 from a styling perspective. I wonder what it's like quality-wise, and what its safety ratings are?

 

It's one of the cars Chevrolet doesn't want. The idea was bounced around and they would have one forthcoming (as Solstice & Sky demand levels out) if they had really wanted one.

Apparently you can't shove a vehicle on a division if they don't want it. Just ask Buick.

 

That's good, we don't need 5 versions of essentially the same car being sold in North America. I don't think every division needs, or should get a variant of every platform in the GM stable. We have to have some degree of exclusivity for the brands when it comes to particular models.

Although, I think the Kappa Nomad concept was different enough from the Solstice to be OK as a variant. Another convertible would have been overkill.