im confuzzled

wow…wait….is there someone at GM that is listening to the rest of the world??? What a great idea…lets concetrate on giving our brands distinct identity! It sounds like Chevy, GMC, Caddy and Saturn will be the big brands in this group, probably a full line of vehicles for each…then the other 4 brands are nitch market brands. i must say…congrats GM…you are showing signs of life.

ss: you will not see a full line of vehicles at GMC.

I think moving some of the other brands, such as Pontiac, to a niche brand is a good move. Pontiac has REALLY lost its way, as proven by the badge-engineered cobalt and the rumored badge engineered Aveo.

yea i dont expect a GMC car, but im sure they will have afull line of SUVs and Trucks then hummer would have the more extreme off roader type of things. Do you think they will combine dealers. Chevy/Pontiac GMC/Hummer Caddy/Sabb and Saturn/Buick.

Nice to see they’re thinking beyond the Lutz 60’s. Sometimes you gotta sit the family down with the TV off and get real.

j i m

Here is my opinion:
Chevy: The Camaro and some family sedans
GMC: Trucks and SUVS
Cadillac: Main luxury division
Saturn: Fuel conscious compacts or/and small sedans.
Buick: Luxury sedans
Pontiac: Sporty cars
Hummer: Off road division and for pimps
Saab: Mid-luxury performance division
You shouldn’t have to have core brands, just get the auto manufacturers priorities in the market straight.

I hope they make Pontiac an all RWD brand like GM said they would. If done right it could be almost like a mainstream/affordable BMW substitute brand.
They should also make Cadillac do sport-luxury and have Buick do more of a comfort-luxury.

ss, You already see GMC cars. They are called “Pontiacs.” Pontiacs and GMCs are products of the Pontiac/GMC division.

As for Lutz’s announcement, I am 100% in favor of it. The problem is that I was also 100% in favor of it each of the two or three times it was announced before. In GM’s defense, it has done fantastic job with Cadillac and Pontiac/GMC’s GMC brand. Cadillac is unpolluted luxury. GMC is professional grade whatever that means. Pontiac should be sporty, but relies too much on producing cars for the rental fleet. Buicks are supposed to be luxury cars that are a step down from Cadillac, but are well-engineered. In practice, they “just work.” However, they are still seen as the car for old people who can’t afford Cadillacs or who just don’t want the glitz.

GMC’s biggest problem with product differention is its dealer network. Every dealer wants a full line of vehicles. Minivans are hot. Oldsmobile doesn’t have a minivan. Oldsmobile must have a minivan. Oldsmobile got its minivan, the Cadillac of minivans. It also got an SUV. They did not save Oldsmobile.

Obviously, GM needs its dealers. Each dealer needs a viable product mix. It is preferable for each dealer to sell a single brand. In those markets where single-brand dealers are not economically viable, GM should establish complimentary groups of brands.

My proposal:

Chevrolet (Baby Buick) with Buick
Pontiac/GMC with Cadillac
Saturn with Hummer with Saab

In very small markets, dealers would combine groups, but there should be no dealer which sells one brand from one group and another brand from another group. This proposal will break up the product mix of many, if not most, current GM dealers. However, these disruptions will be short-lived. GM will be able to offer fewer duplicate models. Its costs will go down. Profits and vehicle reliability will go up.

the problem with a Saturn/Hummer dealer is that no one is going to corss shop an Ion and H2. If i want to buy a sedan and i go to a Saturn/Hummer dealer and i dont like any Saturns im going to leave and maybe buy from another company.But lets say its a Chevy/Pontiac Dealer and i dont like the Chevy sedans, oh look, on the other side of the show room is something a little sportier that i like. When someone is car shopping they know what they want, giving them all the options in one place would be the best way to get them into your car.

Smart thinking going on over at GM.

So what is Buick for again?? I got a good look at a LaCrosse yesterday and honestly I would rather buy a Hyundai Sonata.

Its good that GM gets that profitablity = declining market share but it’s going to continue to be a painful process

Richard, your idea was good it makes shopping for the vehicles alot more simple. BUT the way you paired them wasn’t. Not many people are going to shop for a Saturn and then a Hummer. This pairing I think in my opinion is better:
*Chevy, Saturn and Pontiac- they sell somewhat similar vehicles, sedans, compacts and performance.
*Saab, Buick and Cadillac- again they sell somewhat similar vehicles, luxury, performance and fastbacks.
*GMC and Hummer- Large SUVs and trucks
If they paired up like this it would be a good idea

It’s about time. When you are losing to the competition, one might suggest taking a look at what it is the competition is doing to beat you!

I love the idea of a Saturn/Saab dealership. I like the idea of a Chevy/Pontiac dealership as well. Chevy would be selling vanilla coupes and sedans, but if you want a real performance version we have Pontiac. Or depending how Buick is reorganized, we could see a mixture of Chevy/Pontiac, and Chevy/Buick dealers. I don’t see the Chevy/Caddilac connect. The last time we had that connection, we were given the Catera (remember the Caddy that zigs??) and prior to that the Cimmaron which was a bomb bigger than the one dropped on Nagasaki. The step between a Chevy and a Caddy are night and day. But I see a huge connection between Hummer and Caddy. They are both glitz and glam, and they are both in a similar price range. Actually, that is how they are sold today with new dealerships. The key is that the products they offer are differentiated enough that they do not immediately compete against each other, rather, they compliment.

So the Camaro will be a Pontiac, right? Or do they not want Pontiac to be relevant?

GM Rule’s !!!!!

“Core garbage” and “Focused Rubbish”

An still nothing will change at the product level