The firebird thread was getting big so I am moving this side of it here.

So what do you think? I think money is tight, they are taking alot of hits on the balance sheet, not so much in the wallet but money has to be tight. A few years ago we were all throwing Buick under the bus, a decent Lucrene and Enclave have Buick out of the fire even though they only sell three vehicles. Buick seems to have a purpose. Now Pontiac's line up is looking limp and theres not much in the pipeline besides the ST and talk of the next solstice being corvette derived. Those are both niche cars that will only account for small percentage of sales, Where's the Beef? Pontiac was supposed to be RWD performance, now thats dead.

Some of us on here think they should be Scion like, give them a decent box off the HHR, a nice Astra rebadge, Vibe, Solstice, and a competitive G6 on the same size but upgraded epsilion platform. Move the G8 to Buick, maybe the torrent too as a Rendvous replacement.

What division(s) should go if any? What about Saab? What are they good for besides slick folding cup holders? Does GM really have the resources to handle all these divisions? What if Holden or the China arm falter and great overseas sales slump? For U.S. operations I'd like to more dealership combinations, Saturn/Hummer/Cadilliac for example.

 

its too late now.

should have really pushed a good buick rear wheel car to compete with the town car years ago, buick line has loyal customers.

damage is done either way...****it, just go file chapter 11. uaw killed them

 

Are we talking about in the US market or the world market?

Because either way either GMC or Hummer could go, if not both.

And Pontiac, Buick, Saturn and Saab, could lose three of four in the US. But of course Buick is popular in China and Saab in europe, blah blah blah.

Although part of the problem is that they seem to want to build individual brand identity while ensuring that Chevy always has a clone of all of that brand's products.

 

sell saab. but its too intertwined too.

for pontiac...just sell sporty versions of what they have (g5s should be GT and GXP coupes only stuff like that)

 

I say pare things down to Cadillac and Chevrolet.

 

Kill Saab in US. Kill Saturn. No boring/simple rebadged cars at Pontiac. No more than three Buicks in the US.

 

I don't think they necessarily have too many divisions, I just think that they have historically lacked enough differences from one division to the next to be worth while.

They're getting better these days. Less parts bin sharing (or at least less that the consumer can spot) and more of a significant difference in the way one car rides and drives and is built to the next despite them being on the same platform.

But in the past they just had too many sets of twins or even triplets. It's like they were hoping to just fool people into buying more of the same thing by giving them more names selling the same product.

There are still some issues these days, though... like GMC is a truck/SUV division. "We are professional grade". Okie Dokie well why does GMC even exist when I can buy everything they sell in identical format from Chevrolet?

I know the Denali line has some unique features but that's the exception... not to mention the Denali 1/2-ton SUVs are still just less flashy Cadillacs for the most part.

 

I'm talking US divisions, the outside divisions seem to be doing fine, should they have problems the money could dry up fast. As for dropping GMC, thats about the last brand B-P-G dealers would let go, those are the highest profit per unit that they sell. It just seems GM cant keep all the divisions firing on all cylinders, they are overstretched. They sell twice as many models in the U.S. as toyota.

As for the UAW killing GM, it took a team effort, management put out crappy cars for 3 decades, its amazing that GM is still alive. Patroitism or what ever you call buying your homer brands is the only reason they are still here. GMAC helped too. I say sell saab. Continue to focus on the core brands. The Solstice was a homerun, not the grandslam Pontiac needed, the G8 is mearly a double. I say sell saab.

 

That's why Toyota has alot of loyal customers. They really don't have all that many models, but what they do is focus on that one model so much that perfect it and profit off of loyal customers.

~Instead of giving a large variety of choices, they build a small decent fleet.

 

If you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

I voted Pontiac because after all these years they're still trying to figure out what "it" even is, much less do anything about it.

 

They don't need Saab domestically, but they do need Saab in Europe.

 

Yes. Instead of making a stunning vehicle for all its divisions, why not just make one stunning vehicle and profit from economies of scale?

 

That would be my inclination as well.

 

Question is, how much market would GM lose by dropping divisions.
Their wide appeal is their main strongpoint.
Many of their buyers are polarized, will buy Pontiac/GMC, not Chevy/Cadillac...and vis' versa.
Only if they revamped current product to reflect ones dropped could they hope to maintain market share.
But I still don't see it.
Many people that shop imports, will only shop Saturn...etc.
Brand loyalty is a hard matter to do away with.

 

The number of brands is manageable, but GM has to clarify their identities and stick to their guns.

BAD:
We've heard messages about Pontiac being the "American BMW," but cars like the G6 and G5 don't lend anything to that.

GOOD:
Saturn is an example of doing things the right way and their lineup seems consistently stylish and Euro-inspired.

BAD:
Buick is in the same boat as Pontiac, but has the "old man car" baggage. It should be an aspirational, step-up brand from Pontiac. The cars should be classy, with Lexus-conservative appeal and preferably rwd to maintain continuity with the Pontiacs on the same lot.

GOOD:
GMC seems to have a clear identity and successful marketing. I don't see anything that needs to be fixed. A car like the recent "El Camino" concept could be a nice halo.

THE REST
(+) Chevy cars and trucks are the bread and butter and that seems well defined. The new green angle seems like a nice move.
(+) Everyone knows what a Hummer is and I can't imagine they aren't profitable.
(+) Same with restored Cadillac.
(-) Saab seems to overlap with the new Saturn, IMO, but it's established and should be maintainable with consist and original product. It can't survive and rebadge jobs.

Fine-tune the brands and reduce their number of models to carve out a consistent identity and give the brands in need (Pontiac, Buick, and Saab?) the products to back it up.