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Automotive News & Views What if you were in charge of GM?
874 messages, Last post on Oct 28, 2009 at 10:20 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: circlew (Nov 07, 2008 11:43 am)
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Replying to: xrunner2 (Nov 07, 2008 7:41 am) With my idea the Pontiac dealer next to the Chevy dealer is selling Pontiac badged cars. He can choose not to switch to Chevy, since there's a Chevy dealer next door. If you go to the Chevy dealer you see a Malibu. If you go to the next door Pontiac dealer you see the same exact car, it just says Pontiac G6 on it! GM basically rebadges exact vehicles and then all dealers get product, yet GM only has to support two "real" brands, as the cost of new badges is minimal. It's not like a slightly reworked Acadia is all that different than a Traverse, or an Enclave, etc. So everybody gets the Traverse, but the GMC dealer sells it as an Acadia. I don't see why it violates any agreements about competition, since many of the existing rebadges are still minimally different anyway. Just don't make them different at all, except the badges! Of course none of this matters given today's financial announcements unless GM gets government bailout money soon, since that appears to be their only hope. Let's hope this really leads to some RADICAL, not evolutionary, restructuring. |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 07, 2008 4:27 pm) But why would you want an S-Class fighter since those European cars are like call girls that are so unsatisfying anyway? 
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 07, 2008 4:27 pm) Regards, OW |
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Replying to: lemko (Nov 07, 2008 4:35 pm) Regards, OW |
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 4:54 pm) You realize of course that this is what GM ACTUALLY DID with a number of models for a long time, and as you can see it didn't save them enough money to avoid the abyss they have now fallen into. In particular, it ignores the cost of separate marketing materials, advertising, etc etc for these other brands. And if your point here is to chase those other-brand dealers out of business, well GM dealers have demonstrated many times over that they will be perfectly content to sell rebadged product until the cows come home. So the plan may not work. |
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 4:54 pm) That could work. It was proven in recent election where voters were conned into voting for a guy with no credentials. There is the old saying of a Sucker born every minute which was proved with Obama. There are still enough fools who would believe Elmer Gantry, Jim Baker and his wife and a Pontiac/GMC dealer about a rebadged Malibu being an upscale Pontiac
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Replying to: nippononly (Nov 07, 2008 5:34 pm) This is a much more radical idea. Call it the "Orphaned Divisions Plan". Key points: 1. Consolidate all of the divisional headquarters of the Saab, Pontiac, Saturn, GMC, Buick (hereafter referred to as the "Orphan Brands") under Chevy and get rid of 99% of those divisional staff. So you eliminate those costs. 2. Take GMs 10 or 15 best vehicles, and KILL all the others. Chevy and Caddy split them up according to which vehicle fits which make - this is now like Toyota and Lexus. Decide which of the Chevy vehicles can be renamed to provide product to the Orphan Brands. Perhaps Pontiac gets 5 vehicles, perhaps Buick gets 4 vehicles, etc. Caddy's vehicles are exclusive to Caddy only. 3. Get rid of separate marketing materials for the Orphan Brands. See that Chevy brochure for the Traverse? Take the source file, replace the Chevrolet emblem and word "Chevrolet" in the brochure with "GMC" and "Acadia". No other differences in the brochure. So you eliminate separate marketing budgets, etc. 4. Only one set of commercials for Chevys, then take the same commercial and replace "Chevy Traverse" with "GMC Acadia". Repeat for all other Orphan Brand vehicles. Guess what? Pontiac, Buick, Saab, and Saturn are now also the Heartbeat of America and are as good as Mom, Apple Pie, and Hot Dogs! Virtually no extra costs. 5. FOCUS on making and designing new QUALITY vehicles for Chevy and Caddy. No more junk. Keep the number of models under control. Rebadge some of the Chevys to keep some product going to the Orphan Brands. You basically kill all of the various taillights, body panels, and interiors on similar vehicles and save those costs. You kill the corporate divisional HQ's of Saab, GMC, Buick, Pontiac, and Saturn and save those costs. GM may have had identical rebadges in the past but they never did it like this extensively. And while we're ranting, get some new upper management and FOCUS on product. You think a $40K plug in hybrid or a retro V8 muscle car are going to have enough volume to save GM? Get some management who can make smart strategic decisions. Why isn't GM making a small car as good as the Mazda 3, as reliable as the Honda Civic, or as fun to drive as the Mini Cooper? They need to focus on excellent, high volume vehicles, as nobody is going to support the world's largest car company on a plugin at $40K or a V8 muscle car!
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 5:51 pm) Chevrolet and Cadillac are gold plated and must be retained as brands. Pontiac, Buick, Saturn are expendable as brands. But, what about legal entanglements with Saturn, Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealers? Apparently, GM cannot just kill a brand without serious legal implications. Is there a way that Obama can intervene and neutralize dealers of Saturn, Pontiac, GMC, Buick?
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Replying to: tlong (Nov 07, 2008 5:51 pm) Yep. High volume and "profitable". GM is in same straits as you or I when in bad financial straits. I, we, jettison, superfluous such as cable, magazines, expensive cell plans, weekend restaurant meals, etc. For GM, anything not high volume and not profitable must go. This might include Solstice, Camaro. The only thing to hang onto would be Corvette for image. |
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