Yeah, for some, but lets face it, A LOT of the car buying public is very ignorant.

 

Why would anyone think there was a chance they'd change the name from "General Motors"? I mean yeah, I suppose I could listen to the argument that the name is too damaged....for about 10 seconds. Going forward everyone would still know that Chevrolet, Buick, etc. still fall under that umbrella, whether it's called GM or Born Again Motors or whatever.

 

BAM! New cars!

 

You would be surprised at what people don't know. Most people I know didn't know Saturn was part of GM until they started airing the GM 100,000 warranty ads. I know Saab owners that didn't know GM made their car. As soon as they did though they switched to another brand for their next car. Enron Motors would be just as good as GM. By putting that little GM badge on the fender the cars face and up hill battle from day one from all but GM loyalist. A lot of people just won't buy the GM brand ever again. Even if it is a new and improved company that name to them says "same old, same old".

 

But Saturn went to great lengths (at the beginning) to downplay any association with GM. And Saab used to be an independent company so those that don't closely follow the car biz quite likely wouldn't know they were swallowed by GM. Of course, both of those marques are no longer with GM.

I agree with those above; it would make no sense to jettison the GM name. People will always know that the long-time core North American brands (i.e. those that are remaining part of the new GM) are in fact GM brands. Changing the name wouldn't have any material effect, at least not positively.

 

Agreed.

Anyone who has an issue with the General Motors name, does anyone honestly believe that if GM renames itself, those same people won't know it's the same company?

Seriously.

 

Don't laugh, you would be surprised how ignorant a lot of people to are to who owns what auto brand. I've seen people say they will buy a GMC truck but not a Chevy, even though it is the same truck.

They need to at least stop using the GM name in commercials. Buyers and owners of GMC, Chevys, Buicks and Cadillacs don't need to be constantly reminded that they are buying or owning a car from a failed company. The GM be the silent owner like they were with Saturn in the 90's when Saturn had record sales.

 

At the Lincoln/Mercury dealer I worked for, most (meaning 3 out of 4 or better) people had no idea Ford built their cars. We had a Mazda franchise too. Lots of people would return Mazda parts because they did not ask for "Ford parts". Mazda uses many Ford parts, in Ford boxes, with a small Mazda sticker on top

My sister used to have an Aveo. When I found out I asked why the hell she bought a Korean POS. She had no idea.

I can't believe I agree with Z28x!

 

I can understand why they were were promoting GM in the commercials. With the company taking such a rightful beating in the financial press, they wanted to remind investors that they were building attractive cars. The appeal of something like "Chevrolet Motors" is that good press about the cars translates directly into higher stock prices.

However, rebranding a company is a big complicated task, and not something which is undertaken during bankruptcy. Its the kind of thing NewGM would only consider when they are gearing up for a public offering.