GM Shrinks
 

GM to shrink to four core brands in North America
Posted Today, 6:01 AM by James Martinez

GM plans to focus its U.S. product and marketing resources on the Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC brands.

One of General Motors’ biggest criticisms is the number of different brands under its roof, which ends up seeing it sell similar models that often compete with one another in the same segments. In its efforts to secure its share of a federal bailout, GM said it intends to focus its U.S. product and marketing resources on four core brands, namely Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC.

That leaves Hummer, Saab, Saturn and Pontiac in an uneasy state. GM has already confirmed that it is looking for a buyer for its Hummer brand, and that Saturn was also under review. Pontiac, meanwhile, is expected to be reduced to just a few models, while Saab could also be sold-off or axed altogether.

At the Detroit Auto Show this week, GM’s North American President Troy Clarke told Automotive News that the company will be able to execute those plans, despite the global credit crisis putting a hold on merger and acquisition activity.

"We have to re-engineer the way we're doing business in many regards," Clarke said. "We're going to be a smaller company."

Also speaking at this week’s Detroit event, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Pontiac will be reduced to just five models – the G8, G5, Vibe, Solstice and Solstice Coupe.

There has been no decision on the future of Saturn but GM is working closely with its dealers. As for Saab, recent reports suggested that GM was having trouble finding a suitor for the Swedish brand. However, GM has since dismissed the reports explaining that it is still early in the process and that any outcome will take some time.

Part of GM’s downsizing efforts will also see its 6,600 dealer network shrunk to around 4,700 dealers by 2012.

makes sense, Gm had way too many brands, and there was nothing revolutionary about any of them. Everything looked like a potential rental car. I hope hummer is gone, the H1 to me is the only true hummer, h2 was a knock-off, h3 was a knockoff of a knock-off. Saturn.....yawn, wont miss it, Saabs were dope but wernt they the same price as bmw's/mercedes?

Too many brand that they produce the excat same car with different badges... WHy?

Saab is gonna be up for sale for sure.

Hope someone in Europe buys Saab.

yupyup

maybe the gm management are inbreds - their wife is their mother, and their cousin is their stepmom, so to them, its not really a big deal (O__o)~

They should keep Pontiac and get rid of Buick

agreed, keep chevy, pontiac, and GMC ( can't really get rid of the affordable work horse GMC van )

Since they can't fire the unionized workers, closing all the rest of useless brands is the best way to save them billions a month

Where did you hear this?

Pontiac > Buick imo.

i would imagine the reason for keeping buick over pontiac is market distinction. pontiac is virtually the same brand as chevrolet. while buick can be seen as a slightly more upscale line to bridge the gap between chevrolet and caddy.

so no more Pontiac G6??

those were fun rental cars to drive around with..:p

uhhh...yes you can...slap a Chevy badge on it and you're set...and just saved a shitload in the administrative costs of keeping a redundant brand like GMC alive.

hmmmm, while we are talking about rebadging, might as well just do an overhaul restructure, keep nothing but the Saab, and able to get rid of the rest of those 95% of union workers. It would be sad to loose all the heritage icons though, Vettes, Camaros, Firebirds. Buick on the other hand, with only Regal/Grand national from the 80's

i will def. miss saab....love their cars, hate the exterior and styling.

Buick - driven by old white farts
Chevrolet - rental cars and Kumbo
Cadillac - mid age white dude
GMC - fat people and construction workers.

I am disappointed they are getting rid of saturn and pontiac, that are the two hope GM has. Pontiac Solictice, G8, Saturn sky, Ion, Aura, Astra, Vue...going to miss all of them

Buick? rather them keep Saturn

When was the last time you saw a Chevy Z06 for consumer rental? :lol

keep Chevy, pontiac, and caddy

and return Saab to Sweden lol

Buick mainly for Chinese market maybe, sharing designs and productions here instead of having Buick over there, and some other brand here.

to find a buyer for HUMMER in this kind of environment is going to hard needless to say

+1

i really thought they stepped it up with their concept cars

I think he was referring to 99% of Chevys out there. People might say Ford and Dodge are rental cars but they're clearly not indicating the Viper and Ford GT.

they wont invest in a Ford GT or a Viper as a rental car....

Alternatively, restructure it so that Chevrolet is solely cars and SUV's while GMC is purely trucks, vans and other commercial vehicles.

Thanx for coming out, I would have no way to figure out what asian_XL meant without your detail interpretation, dr. obVious. Your title is well earned for a reason.