If Holden gets its wish to sell its brand in the US, do you think it will be to the detriment of other GM brands? (i.e Buick)

Also do you think from a marketing stand point should they jump under the GM wing, or try and distance themselves from other GM brands??

 

I don't understand the logic of launching the Holden brand here at all. This was supposed to be the age where GM cut the excess fat, became leaner and more focused throughout its portfolio. Olds had to go because it was excess, wasn't selling well, and the slack could easily be picked up by Buick. Now why bring another new nameplate into the market, spend all the money to market the Holden name, set up dealer networks, and waste all that time when the cars can just as easily be brought in to strengthen existing brands, much like what is happening with the GTO now? Someone explain this to me.

 

Still not sure how Buick of all brands picked up Olsmobiles slack.

 

Ya, bringing Holden Division over fills what void?

It doesn't make much sense to me...

Like Z28Wilson said, they dropped Olds because of product overlap... why bring a new one into the fold?

 

When you look at Bob Lutz's stated goal of having multiple divisions selling the same car, it's certainly doable.

Personally, I think Holden as is, is what Buick is (minus the UTE & Comodore SS which scream Chevrolet). Standard Commodores, Statesmans, even the Monaro itself reminds me of Buick's position in the 70s and 80s. Good sensible cars, with some performance thrown in (Supercharged V6s and LS1 V8s are common in Holden V bodies).

GM's different divisions are marketing arms, and are no longer separate divisions (save Cadillac), so it would make great sense IMHO to roll Buick & Holden together (with Holden running it!).

But the problems with that are 1) It goes contrary to Buick's aim to take Cadillac's old position, and their goal of becomming a Lexus competitor, and 2) Holden wants their own identity, and I can't blame them. They are the only GM division that was doing something right in the 1990s all the way up to Cadillac's current resurrection. After that, I'd feel I deserved to sell my own brand here too.