Blinding, biased ignorance is a terrible burden to deal with when trying to make a point.

should have said

LOL!
The Taurus X is better than the Magnum or Pacifica

and the Mustang is the best convertible.

@MySi89TuNeD and HoosierHero

the Nitro is weak

@ AMGoff

The Plymouth Prowler should come back

@
jayjc08 Oldsmobile was killed by Mercury

and the Mustang is the best convertible.

@MySi89TuNeD and HoosierHero

the Nitro is weak

@ AMGoff

The Plymouth Prowler should come back

Ford and GM’s US offerings are better in that way..

@
jayjc08 Oldsmobile was killed by Mercury

GM’s rebadging is hardly as haphazard as it used to be. You also have some outdated information in your list.

Yes, GM does a lot of rebadging and redressing, but more redressing that rebadging, as of late. Rebadging is just swapping one badge mark for another. GM has been doing much less of that. Redressing is making a totally new, at least looking and/or driving machine on the same platform.

The GMT360 platform for the Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, and SAAB 9-7x are general examples of Rebadging. They look and are equipped mostly alike. Note the BUICK Rainier was dropped for the ENCLAVE already.

GMT355 platformers, CHEVY Colorado and GMC Canyon, are lagging in sales. Though the platform is listed through the 2009 model year, I would not lay good odds on them without a severe redressing. these tucks have the same relationship GMC and CHEVROLET have with their Full-sized P/Us. But those sell much better, regardless of the times.

The GMT900 SUVs CHEVROLET Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon, and CADILLAC Escalade all fit their niches pretty well. Trucks already mentioned.

The SUTs, CHEVY Avalanche and CADILLAC Escalade EXT aren’t going to be shared with any other divisions, not even GMC.

The Theta platformers, CHEVY Equinox, SATURN VUE, and GMC Terrain, will be around a while. They fit their target groups quite well. The PONTIAC Torrent and BUICK Rendezvous are discontinued.

The Lambda Platformers, GMC Acadia, BUICK Enclave, SATURN Outlook, and CHEVY Traverse, are mixed cases of Redress and Rebadge. Between the ENCLAVE and the rest it is Redress to the point they look nearly nothing alike. The rest are varying cases of rebadge. It would not have been so bad were it that they stopped with the three but they had to add the CHEVY which will likely be even cheaper than the SATURN and less stylish as well.

The Y-bodies is shared with only two cars, the CORVETTE and the CADILLAC XLR.

There are two Kappa platformers, the SATURN Sky and the Pontiac Solstice. Though rumors of a V6-powered CHEVY version still persist. This one would share styling directly with the CORVETTE and be an even more serious performer than the Solstice GXP.

Delta platform CHEVROLET Cobalt, PONTIAC G5. GM may kill the COBALT for an ALPHA Platform FR car. A car roundly believed more fitting for PONTIAC to be shared, in any case, with either BUICK and/or CADILLAC.

ZETA, FR large car platform which could see a model in nearly every division. Most notables CHEVY Camaro (Sedan possible but rumors rule it out for a FF car.), PONTIAC G8 (coupe possible), a Production version of the GMC Denali XT concept. Possible but not altogether likely: a BUICK large sedan (Roadmaster) and/or possible production version of the Velite Coupe, and CADILLAC large sedan and possible coupe (STS and El Dorado – ETC- replacements).

GM is a company of Seven divisions. It is unrealistic, even in the best of times, to expect GM to develop totally new vehicles across the board for all their divisions. While some have made the ham-handed arguments that GM should shed more Divisions the fact is that GM admitted they made a mistake in killing OLDSMOBILE, but the damage is done but they have no plans to kill anymore divisions. They mean to make each Division stay on task and focus on their particular “mission”, be it

Luxury and Grace (BUICK)
Luxury and Performance (CADILLAC)
PERFORMANCE on a Budget (PONTIAC)
“Bread and butter” (CHEVROLET, though there is talk that CORVETTE will spin off its own Division)
European appeal and Style (SATURN made easier with actual OPEL cars)
Just Trucks and SUVS (GMC sometimes skirting areas between HUMMER and CADILLAC in terms of content and AT capabilities)
and lastly All-terrain as a Status Mark (HUMMER – needs to make a real original AT to really stand apart)

*Hypothetical: Japanese Luxury fighter (OLDSMOBILE – would be somewhere between BUICK and CADILLAC)

GM is a big company with a lot to work with. It will be a course that serves GM well in the long run if managed properly. So far there is not too much to fault them for (Traverse, GMT355 and GMT 360, and HUMMER).

I said “not too much”.

GM does more “badge engineering” than any company I know of. They could eliminate the entire GMC brand if they stopped.

Brendino… you pretty much nailed it. It’s still not ideal but it’s as good as it can be with the current state of things. I still think they need Plymouth… if they did, Chrysler would offer the most complete, sensible lineup of any automaker. They need Plymouth for their bread and butter cars, in a perfect world it would go like this.

Plymouth – all your basic, economy cars – mostly 4-cylinders and a few sixes, cars only.
Dodge – Pickups and performance – if there’s gonna be a Dodge branded car, it better have a V8.
Jeep – SUVs only, all shapes and sizes.
Chrysler – Cars only, very upscale versions of some existing cars, along with one completely unique to Chrysler to serve as flagship models.

As far as the comment about GM goes… there’s nothing wrong with platform sharing – there’s a big difference between that and badge engineering. Even still… they’re learning from their past mistakes, which is why they’re starting to import their overseas models. There’s nothing wrong with slapping Pontiac badges on Holdens because Holdens aren’t sold here… same goes for rebadging Opels as Saturns. When that is done, there’s also nothing wrong with Chevys and Buicks sharing mechanicals… or Buicks and Cadillacs sharing mechanicals as long as the sheetmetal and interiors are differentiated. GM has come a long, long way since the badge-engineering days of the 80s/90s.

I think GM could learn a lot from this. They’ve got more identical models than you can shake a stick at… marketted under 3 or 4 different brands. If they’d cut some of them out they’d be more profitable.

Good. Now make with the cool cars that will sell.

Dodge – cars and pickups. economy.
Jeep – SUVs, slightly more expensive. SUVs aren’t gonna be for the masses for much longer anyways.
Chrysler – Upscale. Platform share like Lexus does with Toyota, but aim for more of the Acura level.

That covers all the bases without overlap, right?