GM to shrink to four core brands in North America

[Avatard]

Originally Posted by TIGGER

I still miss Opel....

Opel is still alive. It, along with Vauxhall, continues as a European GM brand (Opel is primarily German, if memory serves). They just stopped importing them here.

In fact, it was the now-defunct Olds brand that served as the "Importer" of the Opel product.

I love the old Opel GT "Mini-'Vette". What a gorgeous little car...

[Rider]

Originally Posted by Trip

Tennessee will, we have a lot of jobs in Saturn factories in Spring Hill

GMC should go, it's pretty much the same line as Chevy anyway. Caddy has the dept in the fancy category.

GMC is a much nicer trim line than Chevy. Chevy is GM's entry level trim line with Buick and GMC being their mid level trim line and Cadillac being their top of the line trim line.

[pauldun170]

GMC should be the brand for commerical vehicles only. From stripper pickups to heavy duty stuff.
Pontiac should be the niche brand and it's vehicles reflect something besides a ridiculous BS rille treatment. No mini-vans...no CUV's\SUV's. I'd like to see some Mazda guys advise these folks how to build great handling car on a budget when you are stuck with so-so parts bin stuff.

Chevy - bread and butter stuff.

Buick - At this point they are going to be competing with Hyundai for poor peoples luxury cars. They are not prepared to chase Lexus in that they lack platform and drivetrain that can escape bean counters.

Caddy...Dump the Vette wanna be. The CTS coupe has "potential" as a Halo car.

Saturn - I'm voting keep the brand. Make the cars interesting. This is were you can get silly with styling...but they MUST MUST MUST work on quality interiors and nail down fit and finish. They do not need to have evey type of vehicle under the sun...they do not need a Saturn Minivan. They do not need a saturn full size SUV.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Rider

GMC is a much nicer trim line than Chevy. Chevy is GM's entry level trim line with Buick and GMC being their mid level trim line and Cadillac being their top of the line trim line.

yes, but they don't need several options anymore. Stick with Chevy for regular cars and have caddy for the fancy ones. They are trying to cut the fat and GMC is fat, it's not necessary. Saturn should go back to their roots, what made them stick around, cheap economical beat the shit out of them cars. They should be the entry brand. Buick, just dump it. Caddy, Chevy, and Saturn. They can take some of the necessary cars from other brands and move them to one of those three lines.

[Rider]

Originally Posted by Trip

yes, but they don't need several options anymore. Stick with Chevy for regular cars and have caddy for the fancy ones. They are trying to cut the fat and GMC is fat, it's not necessary. Saturn should go back to their roots, what made them stick around, cheap economical beat the shit out of them cars. They should be the entry brand. Buick, just dump it. Caddy, Chevy, and Saturn. They can take some of the necessary cars from other brands and move them to one of those three lines.

A few example of models that cross the GM brands:

GMC Acadia, Chevy Traverse, Saturn Outlook, and the Buick Enclave - Same vehicle, jut re-badged and and different trim packages.

Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura - Same fucking car

Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra - again same fucking thing.

Chevy Avalanche - Cadillac Escalade EXT - Same

Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade - Same thing

Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon XLT - Same thing

There are a lot more that cross the boundaries. So yeah you can clearly see where the fat needs to be cut. And like you said GMC could go away completely and no one would miss it.

[Homeslice]

They'll never drop Buick, it's always had very strong customer loyalty among the 60+ set

[Rider]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

They'll never drop Buick, it's always had very strong customer loyalty among the 60+ set

They are trying to appeal to the younger crowd now.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

They'll never drop Buick, it's always had very strong customer loyalty among the 60+ set

Yeah like the Grand National.....

[101lifts2]

Originally Posted by Rider

A few example of models that cross the GM brands:

GMC Acadia, Chevy Traverse, Saturn Outlook, and the Buick Enclave - Same vehicle, jut re-badged and and different trim packages.

Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura - Same fucking car

Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra - again same fucking thing.

Chevy Avalanche - Cadillac Escalade EXT - Same

Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade - Same thing

Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon XLT - Same thing

There are a lot more that cross the boundaries. So yeah you can clearly see where the fat needs to be cut. And like you said GMC could go away completely and no one would miss it.

Rebadging works wonders...everyone does it and benefits from it. Did you know that Honda has 5 total platforms worldwide whereas Ford has 11.

Most Lexus's are built off Camry platforms, but because America is generally dumb, they stretch the wheelbase 1 inch, change some panels and people think the car is all different.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by 101lifts2

Rebadging works wonders...everyone does it and benefits from it. Did you know that Honda has 5 total platforms worldwide whereas Ford has 11.

Most Lexus's are built off Camry platforms, but because America is generally dumb, they stretch the wheelbase 1 inch, change some panels and people think the car is all different.

"Most Lexus's are built off Camry platforms"

IS - um...no Camry
ES - Um there be Camry underneath
GS - um....no Camry
LS - um....no Camry
SC - um....no Camry
RX - Um there be Camry underneath
GX - um....no Camry
LX - um....no Camry

That's 2 outta 8 you ignorant buffoon. Please refer to your Texas Instruments calculator before posting things.