Cleaning House
I saw in the news today that GM is planning to cut Hummer, Pontiac, and Saturn from its product line, as well as attempting to sell Saab. By my count, this leaves Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac domestically, and Holden, Vauxhall and Daewoo globally. This seems to be a good start, but the differences between Chevy and GMC don't really exist anymore (I'll admit that they did get better about styling the doghouse of the trucks differently), and I think Buick could be molded into the don't think they Cadillac brand. With the average age of the Buick owner being 63, and the average age of the Cadillac owner being around 59, I really are going to alienate that all important early 60's crowd. I know the idea is to limit the number of duplicate cars in the product line, but it still has to cost a fortune to keep a brand name.
Ford could do the same thing with Mercury. Not since the failed return of the Cougar have they done something really unique (it was the Ford Cougar in the UK, and had about the same luck). The Marauder was nice, but niche.
I don't know if Chrysler could do much, but they do have a lot of crossover 4 door hatches that seem to fit the same market that could probably be dropped.
posted by Justin Short at 6:58 AM
10 Comments:
Don't forget Opel.
The trends in Cadillac and Buick seem largely intentional--maybe they didn't start that way but it's very clear how things work now. The product planners at GM noticed how their target markets laid out and recognized that halo-brand Euro-fighting cachet at Cadillac is squandered if it's thrown at octogenarians. They could certainly be doing far worse--let's not re-live the wishy washy revitalization and eventual canning that Oldsmobile went through.
I'm sure both Ford and Chrysler are evaluating their brand fragments and, although neither is in an ideal position, I bet they're both carefully weighing the incremental improvements they could make in their brand strategy against everything else they could be doing.
--D
4/20/2009 04:39:00 PM
Ah, right. Opel.
I think the main thing is that if you go to GM's webpage and click on all models, it shows 101 offerings. Some of these are duplicate because it considers the CTS and CTS-V two different cars. I counted and there are about 57 unique models (I ignored 3 door and 5 door versions of the same car, as well as V versions, because if you wanted to get into this level of proliforation there would be a ton of trucks with different cab, engine, and bed configurations).
Compare this to Toyota's 18 car, truck and SUVs, and 5 Lexus vehicles.
Remember, GMC's slogan used to be "Do one thing, do it well." They need to go back to that, because doing 60 things mediocrely doesnt seem to work.
4/21/2009 04:29:00 AM
Oh, and I didnt count 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton vans.
4/21/2009 04:30:00 AM
Buick
lacross
lucerne
enclave
Cadillac
xlr
cts
srx
dts
sts
crossover
escalade truck
escalade
escalade esv
Chevrolet
corvette
aveo
cobalt
colorado
hhr
1500
malabu
camaro
impala
equinox
2500
3500
trailbazer
traverse
avalanche
tahoe
suburban
GMC
canyon
sierra 1500
sierra 2500
sierra 3500
envoy
acadia
Yukon
yukon xl 1/2
yukon xl 3/4
Hummer
h3t
h3
h2 sut
h2 suv
Pontiac
G3
Vibe
G5
G6
solstice
Torrent
G8
Saab
9-3
9-5
9-7x
Saturn
astra
aura
vue
sky
outlook
4/21/2009 04:33:00 AM
by my count and going by the word on the street, 31 of those are getting the ax.
4/21/2009 09:33:00 AM
Now that you've said that, I want to have a pool. People can compile a list from the cars I listed of which one's will get axed. the more right answers wins.
4/21/2009 10:11:00 AM
I think originally they were supposed to cut everything except Chevy, Cadillac, and Buick. I think the only thing I would relly miss would be the G8, the GMC front styling, and the Solstice/Sky - and am looking forward to the Solstice coupe and Firehawk, and was hopeful for the HX concept.
BTW you listed pontiac in both the keep and toss lists.
4/23/2009 10:38:00 AM
Thanks. Fixed it.
I wish Ford would put the new EcoBoost engine in something cool, like a Mustang, or bring back the Mark 8 with a manual, or try the thunderbird again with a manual.
Even the 4 cylinder verion would work in a Focus. 275hp focus sounds like fun.
4/23/2009 11:02:00 AM
And I wish GMC would make something like the Ford Raptor, I'd buy that if I could afford it.
4/23/2009 06:13:00 PM
todays press release calls for 4 brands with a total of 34 name plates
4/27/2009 10:41:00 AM
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