Heaps of folks are speculating concerning GM’s future. If you’re taking all the press reports at heart, you’d think that General Motors is on life support. Quite frankly, the alternative is true especially after you observe the world picture. In 2005, “the General” sold a lot of than nine million cars worldwide, the first time the automaker reached that figure since 1978. Yes, U.S. auto sales are down and a few are calling for GM to reduce its many brands, currently numbering 8. Who ought to GM let alone? Or, ought to General Motors persist with the sport arrange and maintain all eight brands?
For the record, GM’s eight brands are: Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Saturn, GMC, Hummer, and Saab. You’ll take Saab out of that pack as the Swedish automaker (though totally owned by GM) builds few cars in North America. Still, GM includes Saab in its marketing schema so we have a tendency to’ll keep them in for argument’s sake.
Clearly, Cadillac is GM’s luxury division; Chevrolet is it’s budget or “All Yankee” division; while GMC is that the truck division. Beyond that, there’s a lot of muddling of divisions, but Buick could be a maker of “close to luxury” vehicles (Cadillac lite) whereas Hummer is GM’s specialty truck division. The Saab line is a bit confusing as it once was a true European division. Now, the make is chiefly featuring rebadged GM and Subaru vehicles with very little original models to show for it. Finally, Pontiac and Saturn duplicate abundant of what the other divisions do, though the Saturn mystique of “no haggle pricing” offers the build a sure aura to it. That leaves Pontiac.
Pontiac, like the recently killed off Oldsmobile name, is probably one among the most vulnerable of the true “Yankee” makes. Saturn can survive as a result of its dealer network is tops and shopper satisfaction ranks up there with Lexus.
Ultimately, the Saab name will possible die first. Outside of the U.S., notably in Europe, Opel is a known name and an vital GM make. Word has it that a number of Saab’s production will shift to Germany and bound rebadged Opels can begin to sport the Saab name. Let’s simply say once that happens, there is little reason to continue creating Saabs. Let the Saab name die with dignity. Why spoil it by selling rebadged Opels as Saabs?
Personally, I suppose GM ought to leave well enough alone with its remaining Yankee brands. I wasn’t in favor of Oldsmobile’s demise and I am not in favor of killing off trusted brands. GM is retooling its operation as old models are killed off and as new or revived models step in. Look for the Chevy Camaro, Pontiac Firebird, Saturn Sky, and the Buick Enclave to assist spark their respective divisions to renewed glory. Am I living a pipe dream? Perhaps, however a minimum of my imagination is going in a positive direction.
