GM may cut brands

[blue_onyx]

General Motors Corp. is studying possible elimination of some of its brands, with options including Pontiac, Hummer and Saab, the Free Press has learned.

A person familiar with the company’s deliberations told the Free Press that all options are being considered as executives look at potential savings and devise a plan to submit to Congress in its bid for government loans to help it through a cash crisis.

http://freep.com/article/20081126/BUSINESS01/81126098


I would be sad if Saturn went because I like their design a lot. Pontiac is useless. I'm VERY surprised GMC isn't on the chopping block.

[FLAprogressive]

1. I'd kill GMC. n/t

[Bluebear]

2. Agree with you, i would say GMC & Pontiac would be my first two to get rid of.

[FLAprogressive]

3. GMC first...since their models are pretty much redundant with Chevy. n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. They killed the best brand years ago..... The oldsmobile

Best damn car brand they made in terms of quality, reliability and performance.

[Muttocracy]

18. that's interesting - my parents bought Old after Olds for decades.

Most of them were great; one had some trouble and they should have taken it back early on.

I like our Olds-es OK, but I don't like most American cars I've driven. Were Olds and Buick very different?

I've had a string of mostly Hondas myself and doubt I'll ever switch.

[TheDebbieDee]

29. I loved the Oldsmobile Aurora, Intrigue, Alero

and most especially the Toronado, although I think they stopped making the Toronado in the 80s.

GM should have axed the Buick line. All Buicks look alike in that they are all UGLY!

ETA: I've never owned an Oldsmobile, I just always liked them.

[Ichingcarpenter]

33. My Mom bought the 1971- 442 with her teaching money

Gave it to me after I got married. Great Car 300,000 miles

The Vista Cruiser?

What would the 70s show be without it?



The 1956 Olds

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

37. The 2001 Aurora 4.0 I had,

until it was repossessed, was the best car I ever owned. Excellent build quality and materials, good mileage for a largeish sports sedan (it would pull 30 cruising at 65-75 mph), comfortable as could be, beautifully appointed, decidedly sporting handling and quickness. Not to mention a beautiful design. So of course GM shut down Oldsmobile.

[leftofthedial]

5. kill 'em all except the Saturns and the HHR.

And build something that blows the rest of the world out of the water.

The original Saturn was the "Honda-killer." It worked for me. I bought three of them in the early nineties and they were excellent small cars.

They now need a brand that sets a standard for good, basic, green quality.

[blue_onyx]

9. I didn't like the early Saturn design

Too bland...although that makes the Honda comparison valid.

[leftofthedial]

16. bland

and popular.

[Muttocracy]

22. I've known several people very happy with their Saturns - didn't that division

run rather differently than the rest of GM? More on a Japanese company model, but in the U.S.?

[blue_onyx]

26. They have no-hassel pricing

The price on the sticker is what you pay. A lot of people don't like negotiating with salespeople so the idea of simply picking the car with the price you can afford on the label is attractive. My cousin went from a Honda to a Saturn, in part because of this no negotiating policy.

[Muttocracy]

41. oh, that's right - that would appeal to me too. nt

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

39. A friend of mine and his wife

have both driven nothing but Saturns for as long as they've been around and neither will drive anything else.

[leftofthedial]

45. yes

it was a separate company for a time.

then it became low-end Chevys for awhile

now it's an actual brand again

[madrchsod]

6. saab and hummer are probably history

pontiac is imported from gm`s australian unit and still is as good name. gmc is just a nameplate. saab maybe in trouble unless they are sold at a huge discount. hummer..who cares. saturn won`t be sold..

[amandabeech]

11. Saab might find a European buyer.

I think that the parent company that makes trucks and used to make planes still exists in Sweden.

Maybe Saab will return to its sister companies in Sweden, where it belongs.

I agree with the deletion of Pontiac and GmC. Buick makes very reliable cars. GM needs to figure out how to sell them to younger people as well as the older folks like my Mom who loves hers.

[Diclotican]

55. amandabeech

amandabeech

Saab is inded building trucks in Sweeden yet.. And the SAAB aero is indeed building planes still in Sweeden. It is called the JAS 39 Gripen...

Hopefully the SAAB brand wil surive, maybe coming back to sweden, maybe owned by some europeans.. Becouse the SAAB brand is just to good to be tossed becouse of the downhill economical we are experiencing today.. The cars is good to drive, and good to be an passenger into.. So I hope the SAAB brand somehow wil surive.. And be a good car for many year ahead...

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[CRF450]

35. OMG... Pontiac is not imported from Australia

Its only the G8 and the 04-06 GTO that were imported from their Holden brand.

[flvegan]

7. Pontiac is the only remotely "cool" brand they have left.

[blue_onyx]

10. Really?

I don't know anyone that thinks Pontiac is cool...and I'm from Detroit.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. I drive a '98 Pontiac Grand Prix with 120,000 miles. It runs great.

It isn't a bad looking car

[flvegan]

17. Solstice, G8, Vibe...cool cars.

Pontiac also recently had the GTO, and the Trans Am was always cool.

Maybe you should expand your circle of friends in Detroit.

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. !!

:thumbsup:

[blue_onyx]

23. The Solstice is nice

but could easily be given to Chevy. I don't like the Vibe but it could also go to Chevy.

[flvegan]

27. Saturn has the sister, Sky.

The Vibe is the only really good hatch they have, especially with the kinship with the Toyota Matrix.

[cloudbase]

24. Don't forget the Aztek.

Hubba, hubba.

[Ichingcarpenter]

36. the Aztek was when you went WTF is GM doing moment?

It is rated as the ugliest and worst cars of all time


http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658544_1658540,00.html

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

38. That may well have been the ugliest vehicle I've ever seen

God, that thing was an aesthetic horror.

[Owl]

52. They're ugly to the point that I think they're kinda cool!

[CRF450]

31. When's the last time you looked at the Pontiac line up??

The G8 is their top dog, and it is a damn fine car for the money! The Solstice is a good car too and nicely built.

[flvegan]

34. Had a feeling you'd chime in here.

WS6 and all...

[Bluebear]

19. Cadillac is pretty cool

They "recooled" themselves of late.

[flvegan]

28. Different class of vehicle, though.

The CTS-V is very cool, but you need $65k to buy into that club.

[Bluebear]

30. Not my kind of club :)

[Double T]

8. hummers need to be scuttled and orphaned.

The end of urban warriors.

[AlCzervik]

12. i always liked Saab's, something about that amorphous shape. Hummer trucks

really, why, just why?

[rockymountaindem]

13. No!!! Not Saab!

Please tell me someone in Sweden will buy that and keep making them. I know Saab still makes jet aircraft. I assume that is a separate company not owned by GM. Perhaps they will acquire the car line.

[madrchsod]

21. i`ve owned close to 25 saabs in the last 40 years

mostly early 60`s 93 and 96 models.....the only car i`ve ever had where one could fix everything in the garage.

[rockymountaindem]

25. Dream car

If I can't aspire to having one when I "grow up", then what will I do?

[MarianJack]

15. My Sister's first husband bought a Saab in 1969, and,...

...according to my neice, is STILL driving it.

He is a cheap bastard who probably stilll has his first grade milk money, but his Saab has to be a GOOD CAR.

[Idealism]

32. The people all nostalgaic about old Saabs

need to remember that GM bought them almost 20 years ago. The Saabs you praise for their reliability are not by the same people making them today

[Batgirl]

40. Our 1996 manual transmission Saturn rolled over 300,000 miles this summer.

It wouldn't exactly win any beauty contests even when new, but then again it spent very little time at the repair shop.
It's been living a life of relative leisure in the driveway for a few months but I could drive it if I wanted to jump start the battery.
30 mpg even in its elderly state. Hands down the best car we've ever owned.

[Muttocracy]

42. I love those photos - I miss the analog odometers. nt

[Batgirl]

43. Now that you mention it, so do I!

[Muttocracy]

44. one of the things that made me sad when I traded in my early 90s car for a late 90s one. nt

[slackmaster]

54. Those are great cars

One thing GM has done right.

[DainBramaged]

46. My take (one more time)

Saturn needs to go, it competes with Chevy, and doesn't have ONE car in the top 20 for sales.

Buick, done. Their demographic is collecting Social Security and has already bought their last car. Build them in China where big cars mean something.

GMC, Jesus, if people don't realize that all they do is change the emblems on a Chevy truck as it comes down the line. It was done to placate the Buick/Pontiac/Olds dealers who wanted to sell trucks and SUV's and not lose sales to the 12 Chevy dealers around them.

Hummer is just a joke. Based on a Silverado/Suburban, the parts are available if they break, just let the fucker who bought them live with their excess.

Saab, poor Saab. Misunderstood, sells as many cars as Mazda, which means not many. Give them back to Sweden or Finland or wherever.

Pontiac. If the idiots at GM had done a better marketing job, Pontiac would still be popular. They've been a bastard child for years.

If GM were Chevy, Cadillac and maybe one division promoted between Chevy and Cadillac, they would be just fine. And the dealers who would bitch at the closing? Too bad, too many dealers in too small territories. Already around me, dealers who have been in business since I was a KID are closing their doors. The pie is finally getting bigger for the dealers who can survive.

[blue_onyx]

50. I would keep Buick

Like you said, there could be a need for something between Chevy and Cadillac. That's where Buick is suppose to be in the first place. It would be silly to kill Buick just to create a new brand to fit there. Buick has had success with their new Crossover, the Enclave. The average age for this vehicle is around 50. I also saw an article that said they have gotten a lot of foreign trade-ins for the Enclave, which isn't typical for the brand. Buick's problem has been lack of product. It will never be the "cool" car or a mass market brand like Chevy but I think there's potential for it.

[lithiumbomb]

47. they should have started this years ago

My plan, which to be fair I've simply heard from other people first...

Pare down to the following divisions:
Cadillac: Leave alone. Like it or not, it's a successful brand.

Passenger Cars: Keep Chevrolet, kill everything else. There's no reason not to sell a Buick or Pontiac model in the mix too. But they would no longer be entire divisions with their own dealers and service networks. There's no point. I like Saturn too, but they have no class of vehicle that's not currently available as a Chevrolet.

Trucks: The body-on-frame trucks and SUVs would all be under a truck division, probably all branded as Chevrolets.

Everything else, retire it or sell it. Cut their dealer network in half. This will unfortunately result in some job losses, but far less than if the entire company collapses. They need to shrink to a company that has 20% of the US market rather than 50% from 40 years ago.

[Edweird]

48. "They need to shrink to a company that has 20% of the US market rather than 50% from 40 years ago."

Why is that?

[JVS]

49. But who will build excitement!

[mdmc]

51. Me, a good progressive liberal opposes any bailout

while the HUMMER still exists.

I have no power, just opinion.

Keep the Hummer if you want - I won't support your bailout (not that my opposition is really any sort of roadblock - it is what it is)...

[slackmaster]

53. They should have done that 40 years ago

There has been no meaningful difference among Chevrolets, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Pontiacs since the early 1950s.