Looking to avoid the overlap that eventually killed Ford’s Mercury brand, General Motors says it is planning to better differentiate its Chevrolet and GMC brands. That differentiation will see the GMC brand move further up-scale.
Although GMC is currently positioned as an up-scale alternative to the Chevrolet brand, the differences between the two brands are quite minimal. However, GM is looking to widen that gap by better differentiating the GMC and Chevy brands through products and pricing.
“We need to make sure that we drive the differentiation in the product and the price to create that separation that we know we can on GMC and Chevrolet,” GM North American head Mark Reuss told Automotive News. “I don’t think we have the margin opportunity set up quite right with GMC.”
Although all GMC products have Chevrolet counterparts, Reuss is confident GM can push the GMC brand further up-scale while still leaving room for premium Chevrolets. GMC’s Denali sub-brand will be a major part of that push, with the luxury trim expected to spread throughout the GMC lineup. More than 30 percent of GMC buyers opt for the more expensive Denali models.
References
1.’GM wants to move…’ view
