Pontiac Could Save GM

Today, the Wall Street Journal ran a story stating that GM could shutter many of its brands, not just Hummer, which the company has already publicly said is up for sale or closure because of tough economic times. The only two “safe” brands, the article states, are Chevrolet and Cadillac. Buick, GMC, Pontiac, Saturn and Saab are all up for discussion, meaning sale or the chopping block. It’s obviously too early to tell what will happen, but we can still speculate.

Comments

I'm a tried and true GM fanboy, but lately I have had to rethink what is acceptable for GM to do under the circumstances.

I have always thought of Saab and Hummer as excessive buys, during the "good old 90s"- and could be easily rid of.

I don't want Buick to go. There is good stuff coming for it and with the Chinese gobbling so many up, there is a real chance the brand could become prestigious again in the future in the US.

Your plan of combining Pontiac and Saturn together would be sloppy, if anything I would like a small (maybe 3 model) RWD Pontiac and a large (Opel based FWD Saturn).

GMC had a lot going for it but its time has come. GM should (and probably will) combine Saturn, Pontiac and Buick under one sales channel. Drop Saab and Hummer and see what happens from there I recon.

wow Dave T,
I said almost the same thing in another forum today. I think GM should consist of Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Pontiac. Saab, Hummer, and GMC seem like a no brainer as they are either new, or niche. Buick could probably just be an Asian brand only and saturn has been a disappointment that I think few will miss.

Broq

I think Saab should be its own company again, or be bought by a company who will let Saab do what it does best...make good quirky cars (9-7x puh-leeze).

And not to toot my own horn but I recorded this segment for 1st Business on Thursday July 3
http://www.firstbusinessx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=430&Itemid=87
Even though it aired this a.m.

In this time of intense competition, high gas prices, and educated consumers, it is time for GM to streamline thier operation. Changing the front end and back end of an existing model doesn't constitute a new product. Hummer needs to go since it is the worst of the fuel burners in the fleet. Sales figures for the Hummer show constant declines and is GM's biggest loser.

Buick has one product that is moving off of the showroom floors rather quickly. The Buick Enclave is a fine product, but would fit better in the Cadillac line-up.

Pontiac hasn't been a true performance division for many years. Many of the models are alterations of other products. Vibe is a Toyota Matix, G5 is a Cobalt, Torrent is an Equinox, and so on.

GMC is just a rebadged Chevy. In a time where large SUV's and trucks are dead in the marketplace, there isn't a need for 2 truck divisions.

Bottom line: Pontiac, Buick, Hummer, GMC, and Saab need to go away. For the sake of efficiency, GM needs to focus on Chevy, Cadillac, and Saturn. Compare to Toyota: Toyota, Lexus, and Scion. Managable and efficient. Nostalgic feelings are not going to bring GM financial success. They must seek the best possible business decision.

G. Peter.
Your Saturn in place of the others makes sense except that consumers aren't catching on to the brand despite all new models and massive ad spending. It might be better to go with a brand with more brand recognition like Pontiac. That is why I picked it versus Saturn.

GM should have got rid of Hummer and Saab earlier this decade like BMW dumped Land Rover. I would keep Saturn. The only problem for them is that "no haggle policy". Most people today know that GM cars are mostly derivatives of each other (not rebadged) so buyers expect to "haggle" on price. This would work if they sold world class products but they don't. Saturn should redo this system as "flexible buying" like adding some vehicle options for free. As for GMC, I never understood its existence with the likes of Chevy selling the exact same products for less money. As for Buick, GM will need them as a gap between Chevy and Cadillac. If China designs the next wave of Buicks, they will sell here just like everything else that comes from there.

You can't compare Saturn to Scion. Scion has a specific strategy and that strategy is to not sell as many cars as possible, but to make the cars it does sell as desirable as possible. This is how you sell cars at one-price fits all. Once you try to sell to everyone and as many as possible, you make it very hard to keep the haggle door shut.

And get rid of Pontiac. Chevy has more street cred for performance than Pontiac does and already has high performance vehicles that Pontiac lacks.

Jay,
what high performance Chevy are you talking about? Cobalt and HHR SS? Camaro is coming soon of course

Pontiac does have the G8 and Solstice GXP.

kill everything except chevy, cadillac, and hummer, yes hummer!!!

saturn, ponitac, gmc, buick should be killed if they could not be sold.

Saab should be sold, ( i bet they could find a buyer).

Hummer i believe could be successful if they were innovative! I think the h4 sold be a seller, if they put something half way fuel efficient in it. Maybe a scion type h5 (pure speculation). But i dont think hummer will survive, because of the fact that its too much of a hit on the whole company.

Cadillac is better than buick and should be saved, but other than the cts, they have work to do also. Bring the enclave to them, kill the srx, and come up with a new, better larger version of the cts.

Gm has a lot of work to do, and i dont think they are up to the job. They need a new management team that is willing to make the hard decisions in order to survive and grow.

General Motors needs to kill off Saturn, Saab, Hummer, and GMC. GMC is unnecessary and redundant, Hummer is totally out of touch with the times, Saab simply has no place in the GM hierarchy, and Saturn has products that would be better served as Chevrolets or Pontiacs. Sharpen the focus of Pontiac (performance) and Buick (entry-level luxury), make sure that each division has truly distinctive, attractive, and competitive offerings, and GM will once again find itself where it used to be: on top.

General Motors needs to kill off Saturn, Saab, Hummer, and GMC. GMC is unnecessary and redundant, Hummer is totally out of touch with the times, Saab simply has no place in the GM hierarchy, and Saturn has products that would be better served as Chevrolets or Pontiacs. Sharpen the focus of Pontiac (performance) and Buick (entry-level luxury), make sure that each division has truly distinctive, attractive, and competitive offerings, and GM will once again find itself where it used to be: on top.

The position Saab has within GM is very reminiscent of Chrysler's position within Daimler; they're losing tons of money on a very undesirable product, and no one is happy. So where's the Scandinavian Cerberus? There must be some nationalistic Swedish venture capitalist who misses the whole “born from jets” thing.

I want to see Saab and Hummer gone, Cadillac should become the Cadillac of cars: an ostentatious alternative for those who find Lexus and MB too antiseptic, Chevy remains the mainstream brand, and everyone else gets their dealerships consolidated. When several makes are consolidated onto a single lot I don't think the number of different makes is very important. The product lines do really need to be streamlined though.

Buick needs to lose the Lacrosse it's practically the same thing as the Lucerne. I'd like to see a very refined version of the Sky/Solstice badged as a Buick.
GMC needs more of an identity. I think they should make trucks more upscale than Chevy, and they need more differentiation in styling. In other words go from being the Mercury of GM trucks to the Lincoln.
Pontiac – the excitement division - needs to remain performance oriented. Lose the Torrent. The Vibe should be a Saturn, The G5 should only be available with the 2.0L Ecotec. Please restyle the Solstice.
Saturn - the euro/green brand - needs to lose the Sky and Outlook (how many people even know the Outlook exists?). GM could really revitalize the brand if they make the Volt a Saturn.

These brands could potentially compliment each other quite well. GM just needs to maintain the identity of each one and keep there products unique.

lil, tom..
your apporach is doomed to fail. U basically are calling for more investment in failed brands. more investment in gmc, buick, and pontiac? saturn has tons of investment now and its not working. your idea on saab is solid, and while it think hummer could be successful, i know most people think hummer will be gone and i think it will be gone too. You also have to remember that Gm is running out of money to invest in new products. They need to slash payroll, sell more cars, and be more efficient. they have 25% market share for 8 brands? Thats a joke. Dave, do u know what the market share of all the gm brands are?

Alex,
Yes it's right in the graph in the WSJ story actually
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121539865693931653.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

I guess GM has had enough of all this blogosphere commotion.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apXN93naM2FY&refer=home

It basically says they're only thinking about getting rid of Hummer and nothing else.

Hummer and Saab never made sense to me. Hummer always carried a "way over excess" stigma, and Saab was always quirky and low volume. What is the point?
GM, offload these brands now.

Creating Saturn didn't make sense at the time either, however the brand now has some very nice cars in its lineup, but nobody ever seems to be in their dealerships. I agree that the "no-haggle" policy is now hurting Saturn. Saturns will sell if they get more exposure and need to be teamed with one of the other divisions.

Losing Buick would be a pity, but it is GM's own neglect. How do they expect to sell Lucernes with the 198hp 3.8 liter V6 when you can get a Hyundai Azera with a lot more hp and for a lot less money? Even the Chevy Malibu blows it away. The Lucerne needs the direct injection 3.6 liter engine now, and then perhaps it can compete with the Azera and Toyota Avalon. The Lacrosse looked old when it was released. It just needs to go.
The Chinese version of the long-wheelbase Holden Commodore (Holden Statesman in Australia) would make a terrific addition to the Buick line.

Chevy needs some quality entry-level econocars to compete with Honda, not badge engineered Daiwoos that literally fall apart. The Astra is a good start, but it belongs in the Chevy lineup to replace the Cavalier.

The competing overlapping models need to be rationalized. Malibu and Saturn Aura are almost identical as are the Acadia and Outlook.
The Chevy Malibu should be the platform basis of the new generation FWD models. Stretch the platform for the new Impala. While RWD seems to be getting all the attention, a larger FWD model is still necessary in the northern states and Canada.

Having a couple of specialized models from each division with their own unique appeal would make more sense and reduce costs all around, than having parallel models attempting to covering a broad spectrum and competing with each other.

GM need to do away with the many unrelated OHV V6's they have and exploit the DOHC 3.6 liter and the Ecotech 4. The Japanese have been very successful at tuning the same engine for different applications. Why does GM have the huge costs and complexity of engineering, manufacturing, maintaining and warranting so many different engine designs of similar capacity? It makes absolutely no sense.

Smart thinking can save GM, not slash and burn policies.

Colin B.,
It wasn't the blogosphere it was the Wall Street Journal that started the commotion.
No one at GM is going to publicly say it's true that's for sure. I guess we'll see in August when the board meets.
Most rumors have pointed to a big reduction in new model development across all brands. We've already heard of the trucks/suvs getting delayed by a few years.

With the economy in rough shape I can see why some actions have to be taken. Saab, Saturn, and GMC should be the ones to go. There is a need for GM to downsize but at the same time keep their identity. Take the best of the best reduce supply and they will survive. Newer technology is on the way and pretty soon we will be driving our big SUV's on hydrogen or some other awesome alternative. Hummer, wheather you love it or hate it, is an ICON. Getting rid of this just 6-7 years after launching would be a mistake. The H3 gets better mileage than a Ford Explorer. Newer more fuel efficient models and/or engines would ensure this brand's survival. And as I said there is new technology on the way. I hope that within 10yrs. we will be driving emmision free cars.

And to top it all off, Matchbox (Mattel) has more market value than General Motors. As far as Pontiac saving GM? Sure, as long as Pontiac keeps rebadging Toyota's I'm sure anything is possible. As of today Toyota's stock is $93.17 while GM stock at $10.24 is barely holding on to double digits. Only a fool would buy a GM product.

bar, u are right, only a fool would buy gm in its current state. Even good recent additions like to cts, enclave and mallibu might not be enough to save the company. Perception is reality, and people trust honda and toyota more. Very tough to get the mindset turned around. Gm, in addition to killing what they need to kill, need the volt or some other car to be a smash on a prius like level. good luck to gm

Okay, so BYE to Hummer and Saab, even Saturn.

The only GMC I think of when the brand is mentioned is the Yukon Denali regular wheelbase. That would be the only thing from that brand I would be sad to see go.

Get rid of Buick? I don't know. Cadillac is clearly the better luxury nameplate of the two, but could you imagine the enclave with a Cadillac badge? It just doesnt sit right with me.

I have a thought that might work in GM's favor. Take the Gas Hungry Hummer Brand and make it an Ultra Luxury Brand. Bentley and Rolls Royce style. Put a W12 in an H1 or H2, hand built and extreme quality. This is how GM should market Hummer if they want to sell.

The only brands GM should keep for sure is Chevrolet and Cadillac.

Buick: The Enclave has really been the only vehicle success for the brand in decades. Both the Lucerne and LaCrosse have failed to generate any excitement. There's no reason to keep the brand based on the success of a single model. The Enclave can easily be rebadged as a Cadillac (which GM does best).

Saturn: The brand exists only in name only, as all it's models (with the exception of Sky) are rebadged Opel imports. GM has suceeded in buturing this brand. Best to eliminate it, no one will miss it.

Hummer: A no-brainer to eliminate this poster child of gas guzzlers.

GMC: There's no reason to keep this brand, and trying to move it 'upmarket' is silly in the face of high gas prices.

Pontiac: This brand has always been associated with sportiness, and if GM could be consistent with model sucesses and reliability this brand could succeed. A car can be sporty and fuel efficient.

Saab: GM has put very little money into this brand, and it seems unlikely that they will do any significant investment in the brand given their current situation. They should take the 4 cylinder turbo tech and apply it to their other brands (like Pontiac or Cadillac).

Cadillac: The brand continues to do ok, but GM needs to come up with an alternative for the Escalade. They need to be careful not to move to far away from their Arts & Science theme, which is the inital reason the brand began to flurish again. If they get rid of the Escalade, and the demise of the DTS and STS, Cadillac will be short on models to sustain the brand. Again, maybe filling the line with a turbo 4 model, and a performance hybrid, may help.

So really the only ones that GM should for sure keep is Cadillac and Chevrolet. But whatever GM decides, it does need to eliminate some brands. But more importantly, they need to trim their management. The company still has too many managers, which inhibits the company from reacting quickly to market conditions.

Never bought a GM product until GM bought Saab... And I never will buy another GM product after GM sells Saab. Not that I haven't driven GM cars and trucks, as growing up my parents seemingly rotated their purchases amongst every major car brand made, and for three long years early in my professional life I was stuck in Pontiac fleet cars... YUCK! But my last five cars have all been Saabs (9000 x 2, 900, 9-5, and my current '06 9-3).

Please, either invest in Saab and get my next two vehicles to market (9-4x for the family and either the 9-1x or next generation 9-5 for me), OR sell Saab to a company that knows what to do with these practical, yet fun, sexy, and fuel efficient gems. Think there are some GM execs that get it, but if not... BMW??

Never bought a GM product until GM bought Saab... And I never will buy another GM product after GM sells Saab. Not that I haven't driven GM cars and trucks, as growing up my parents seemingly rotated their purchases amongst every major car brand made, and for three long years early in my professional life I was stuck in Pontiac fleet cars... YUCK! But my last five cars have all been Saabs (9000 x 2, 900, 9-5, and my current '06 9-3).

Please, either invest in Saab and get my next two vehicles to market (9-4x for the family and either the 9-1x or next generation 9-5 for me), OR sell Saab to a company that knows what to do with these practical, yet fun, sexy, and fuel efficient gems. Think there are some GM execs that get it, but if not... BMW??

GM would be wise to keep SAAB as it can use all the engineering expertise in the field of efficient/powerful engines and safety that it can get. Lets not forget the current crop of GM vehicles that are selling well are SAAB/Opel/Holden designs. None these were designed in the U.S.A. for good reason the past U.S.A designs were junk as is evident by GM loss of marketplace to Toyota. GM should Axe Hummer,Buick,GMC and Saturn. Invest in SAAB for a change and consider bringing the Opel nameplate to the U.S.A. Make each vehicle
unique to the brand and stop all the cross badging.

GM would be wise to keep SAAB as it can use all the engineering expertise in the field of efficient/powerful engines and safety that it can get. Lets not forget the current crop of GM vehicles that are selling well are SAAB/Opel/Holden designs. None these were designed in the U.S.A. for good reason the past U.S.A designs were junk as is evident by GM loss of marketplace to Toyota. GM should Axe Hummer,Buick,GMC and Saturn. Invest in SAAB for a change and consider bringing the Opel nameplate to the U.S.A. Make each vehicle
unique to the brand and stop all the cross badging.

1. GM neds to drop all except Chev. Cad and Pont. Sell Buick to the chinese!
2. Add a line of 4-passanger (real Conv.'s!)
3. Offer cars in "green" form!
4. the 1911 chev. got better mileage than most 2008's. Is that progress?
5. Push states into ABSOLUTE speed limits. one MPH over and you get a ticket! out funds into enforcement, education, safety. We would save enough gas to more than make up shortage!!!fisut!

Hummer should be axed. They are ugly gas guzzling monster vehicles that are completely unessesary especially in a time like this.

Buick should be axed. I don't think there needs to be a middle luxury class. You have your Chevys and then your Cadillacs. No need for Buick. The Enclave should go to Cadillac to replace that wretched so called crossover that they have. Nobody would miss the Lucerne and LaCrosse.

Saturn should be Axed. They could probably dissapear the most easily. Everything is just rebadged except the VUE and the Astra. The VUE can easily be rebadged as a Pontiac. And the Astra is just unnessesary because of the Pontiac Vibe and the upcoming G3.

GMC should definetly be axed. Do I even need to explain? Everything is a repeat of Chevy.

I guess Saab should be axed. Personally, i like Saabs. I just like their design. But i guess they could just go a seperate way. The 9-4 concept could probably go to Chevy.

That would leave the three different things that people are currently looking for. Well built well priced base vehicles(Chevrolet). Sporty detailed vehicles(Pontiac). And your high class luxury vehicles(Cadillac). By the way Alex, the CTS is probably the best car that Cadillac is making right now. Very well praised. No need to make changes.

GM is in true crisis mode it was speculated last week that GM could potentially sell major portions of or spin off Vauxhall and Opel a major focus of their european operations.

they have already announced intentions to sell or shutter saturn,saab, and hummer vehicles all within the next 3 years which will significantly free up capital for their remaining brands.

Maybe if opel and vauxhall were spun off into their own company they can succeed apart from GM but overall the company seems to be haphazardly outlaying plans that are counterproductive to long term viability. there is much speculation about the company and the brands, it remains to be seen GMs goal or long term game-plan apart from what they submitted to congress.

Im a big fan of GM, obviously not in current form but definately have an appreciation for the history of the automaker.

SAAB was recently reported to have several interested buyers which is excellent news for GM, they will recieve cash for this brand and not have to shut it down.

It is a strong belief of mine that Hummer and Saturn should be shut down completely by 2012. to give another automaker entry to the U.S. market through these dealerships and the ability to import inexpensive cars and launch new brands is counterproductive to long term survival of GM. The U.S. is further overbranded and over-stored with dealerships which is why these brands should be completely shuttered.

Buick-Pontiac-GMC- will continue to be successful. combined they actually have significant market share. if Buick is relegated to Mid-Market luxury niche, Pontiac is a sporty niche, and GMC continues to provide the trucks,vans, and suvs the other brands lack the company will be successful and might actually grow their market share.

Pontiac- Should become the U.S. import arm for 5-6 Holden Austrailia vehicles. the vehicles should be stylish and sporty and fit with the history of the brand. Firebird,GTO,Trans-Am should be three of the 5 cars. they can also be introduced as hybrids or with different engine variants for everyone who will say it makes no sense to bring back those sports cars.

Buick- Should be the U.S. import arm of Opel Europe. buick should have a constant line up of 6-7 vehicles. by importing most of their line up they cut development costs drastically while providing a full line up of refreshed cars.

GMC- this brand will be reinvented in future years, and will most likely revolve around crossover products and unique re-engineered versions of some chevrolet hits. there still is strong loyalty to this brand even if it is mostly re-badged chevrolets that they sell. The company is poised to grow sales if they reinvent their line up.

Opel/Vauxhall- these are two of GM europe operations that sell the same product under different banners. Vauxhall only operates within the United Kingdom and provides an added and unneccesary cost for Opel to rebadge their vehicles. Vauxhall should be folded into the Opel brand and cease to exist.

This same logic should be applied to Holden Australia and Daewoo. the strong Holden brand that is responsible for several engineering and design hits should be merged with Daewoo, with Holden being the surviving marque. this will cut costs, reduce management and allow GM to fully realign their operation and realize efficiencies of scale.

For GM to close both saturn and hummer the costs would be minimal. when Oldsmobile was shuttered in early 2000 that brand had nearly 2,800 dealerships which made buyouts and lawsuits costly. Saturn and Hummer combined have probably 750 dealerships. this reduces the cost of closure and allows GM to get loss makers off their balance sheet.

It would cost GM most likely $550 million to get rid of those two loss making brands, which seems like a bargain compared to the $2 billion it cost to close oldsmobile. these steps really need to be taken to shore up GMs business and consolidate into a strong firm with a real purpose.

The steps above if taken will reposition both products and brands to better take advantage of the automotive market and the future shifts that are likely to take place. great luck GM!!

I was totally shocked by this 'suicidal' action of Government Motors. I mean, you just killed your most exciting, most powerful brand that I must say can compete with Japanese and European cars!!! Recent years would prove that the Pontiac brand amidst GM's lack of interest to properly advertise it the way it did before still SOLD RELATIVELY WELL compared to the line of brands you were saving. Chevy is pretty much acceptable and should be included in your line of brand… But including GMC? And worst BUICK?!?!?! Come on, you just drove away the youth sector and young professionals who always went their way to support Pontiacs. Just look around while you’re driving, how many Pontiac Grand Prix, Grand Am’s do you see?! A LOT! I own a Pontiac Grand Prix, and as long as it works I will still use it. But do not expect me to support your pathetic brands after since this recent event has justified the common notion of the American people that American brands are hopeless and will settle to shift their choices with either a Japanese or European car. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?!