GM Looks to Shed Saturn, Saab and Hummer, Reduce Pontiac Models

After a first read of the business plan GM submitted to Congress in hopes of securing $12 billion in federally backed low-interest loans, it appears there are some major changes afoot that will drastically impact car shoppers.

GM says it will now focus on research and development for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC. Pontiac will become a “niche” brand, selling fewer models in joint Buick, GMC and Pontiac dealerships. We’d guess that would mean forgoing rebadged vehicles like the G6 sedan, G5 compact, Torrent SUV and the just-introduced G3 subcompact, and focusing on the G8, Vibe and Solstice.

Hummer had already been put up for sale under a “strategic review,” and now GM confirms that Saab is in the same boat.

Saturn is the tricky brand to unload, though.

Comments

too bad Saab has to go. thheir cars ahve nice styling that is different from the other makes.

then again, its hard not to see coming. Saab hasnt acctually redesigned their vehicles in over a decade. even the "new" 9-3 is just a freshened version. They need to REDESIGN their vehicles to keep them competetive.

What makes this worse is that Ford has gotten away with just freshening their vehicles for years. the new '09 F150 is still just a freshening.

GM waited too long to offer quality products for Saturn after selling those crappy SL1/SL2's. Chevy is perceived more as a perfomance division than Pontiac (SS line, Camaro, Corvette) so they would not be missed. Saab could have been special if they had took the money they spent Hummer and used it more wisely. Also, what's the point of GMC if they are rebadged Chevy's anyway?

"too bad Saab has to go..."

Saab didn't turn profit since 1989 so....
"...Saab has to go..."

JM, i agree with you about Saab's styling. I would definitely be upset to see them go. But maybe another company could pick them up. I'm glad that they are getting rid of Hummer and that they are keeping Pontiac. And i honestly don't care about Saturn. I'm upset that they are keeping GMC and Buick. Both are completely unnessesary. I mean i guess they would have problems because of all the joint Buick Pontiac GMC dealers, but it would be so much better. GMC is exactly the same as Chevy. And there isn't even a point for Buick. There is only one successful vehicle in their lineup, and thats the Enclave, which could easily be passed on to Cadillac. Then they could get rid of that ugly SRX.

New SRX will be out at Detroit as will a new Buick Lucerne. They just spent a ton of $ consolidating the 3 brands into 1 dealership so prob would cost them too much to close them. GMC and Buick also make a fair amount of money even though their sales aren't very high. And pontiac is still the second best selling brand they have.

GMC is aimed at those that want the functionality of a Chevy but with styling and features that arent available on Chevy vehicles...people that buy GMC's dont mind spending a little bit extra to stand out a little bit more.

I think from all the commentary we provided, we all predicted most the moves. I think the best way to think of "BPG" as one brand like "Chevy". I am not sure what to do with Saturn either. They have a complete mostly modern lineup and fail. The Buick will become the new Opel brand according to report. Saturn sealed their own fate. I personally wonder if it is so hard to close brands why don't auto dealers spin them off.

Has Saturn ever turned a profit in it's history?

I can see why GMC is being kept. I think they are GM's 3rd best selling brand even if it is mostly rebadges. GMC is probably cheap to design and profitable.

They are making the right move with Pontiac, making it kind of a white trash BMW. But isn't the G6 their best selling model? Half is fleet, but most mid size sedans are sold to fleets.

Buick is supposed to be more like a Lexus. They should make all Buick's like the Enclave; big, overstyled and comfortable vehicles.

Cadillac is (supposed to be) more like high end BMW's and Mercedes.

Why drop anybody? Do we really need all the repeat models. Isn't the Enclave just a rebadged Acadia, which is the same as an Outlook which is the same as the Traverse. Isn't all this rebadging the same as the late 80s and 90s with OLDS, pontiac, buick and chevy. Every body had the g car platform, OLDS, pontiac and buick all the c, h, j, x, a, and in the 90s w platforms. GM needs to pay attention to history because they are repeating it.

wait, saturn sold less than 10k in one month in the entire country? the astra and saturn are the only exclusive car they have. the rest are saturn versions of other vehicles. that doesn't mean they are bad.

If I was to listen to GM we would be up to our eyeballs in Saturn Hybrid SUVs by now. But they are not even building the cars that were selling out but they are building 09' Cadillac SUVs that weren't.

The problem is GM doesn't build for mortals anymore. They have to guild the lily with beefy contracts for radio services that give very little benefit to anyone but the insurace and the bank that holds the loan. I looked into a G5 and they wanted me to pay $400 for ABS that was standard to not buy into their electronics subsidation. They made me feel like I was buying a PC without windows on it.

Ford is pushing people to pay for seperate internet service and cell phone contracts contracts FOR THEIR CARS. Instead of building 4cyl Rangers and european fuel efficent Focus cars in the US.

GMC needs to go they just seem to leach off of Chevy with the Contractor set on the low end and the Rappers on the high end with Cadillac.

Don't get me started on Chrysler they could dig up a whole line of fuel efficient products that people would buy at a price people would pay for just by running a few old CAD programs again and updating them a bit for safety. They were in the right spot 10-15 years ago but as always they were ahead of their time.

Dump redundant models, limit trim levels and cut number of options and large engines. For now only build Hybrids and 4cyl cars.

Merge Saturn/Buick/Opel then (whats left of) Pontiac/SAAB/Hummer/Cadillac.
Keep Chevy (more Daewoo), dump GMC.

Dump redundant models, limit trim levels and cut number of options and large engines. For now only build Hybrids and 4cyl cars.

Merge Saturn/Buick/Opel then (whats left of) Pontiac/SAAB/Hummer/Cadillac.
Keep Chevy (more Daewoo), dump GMC.

Keep Cadillac. They've had an amazing turnaround. Bring Opel to the US and market it under one brand to replace Pontiac, Buick, and Saturn. Sell of Saab... GM has done an awful job with them. Hopefully another company will pick them up. Is it so hard just to copy a Honda Accord or Civic? Why can't we do that?

And Ford: I've travelled and lived throughout the world. Where are your European products? Our US Focus is god-awful.

Dump Buick. They only have, what, three models? Dump the Lacrosse and Enclave in favor of a luxury-trimmed Impala and Traverse.

It seems strange that GM has made so much investment in Saturn recently (Astra, Aura, Sky, Vue) and yet they appear so quick to dump the brand altogether. The problem may be this: people rememebr Saturn as a "no-haggle" brand, so they may think they can get a Malibu cheaper than an Aura, or a Solstice cheaper than a Sky, etc. It just doesn't make sense to run away from such a significant investment so quickly. They're nice cars - find a way to sell them!! (Easier said than done these days, I realize.)

One plan that seems to work well is to lower the price.

i will be quite sad to see saturn go. i have owned 3 of the gems including my current 07. say what you will of them, but they have come a long way and are arguably better designed and crafted vehicles than most korean and other 'budget' brands. the dealer experience is first-class. :(

GM should have killed Saturn 4 years ago instead of Oldsmobile.
They should keep Saab but not sell any in North America.

Reduce Pontiac models to 3 and lower any other redundancy within the brands.

Hummer is already for sale. Granted no one mentioned the real solution... file for bankruptcy and get rid of the current union contracts and start anew.

Throwing money towards the big 3 is a waste. They should all file now.

GM's problem is that it is hurting important and coveted brands. they are selling major portions of their brands and business model to foreign competitors giving them well established dealership networks and entry into well established automotive markets.

Pontiac could be successful at importing the entire Holden line up under the Pontiac Brand.

Saturn could continue importing all of Opel's international vehicles. I would suggest saturn take the opel name and logo, but even minus that suggestion it seems a good fit.

Saturn and Pontiac would lead little to no investment from GM and will be able to import stylish international vehicles imported. cutting R&D Costs and other expensive costs.

Buick can succeed with 4-5 models and has a refreshed line up and purpose. I think they can survive.

I have stated in the past GMC should be merged with Chevrolet, retaining the chevrolet brand name to cut duplicative services.

Vauxhall could be folded into, and renamed Opel.

Daewoo could be folded into either Pontiac or Holden, drastically reducing brands and duplicative services.

I would not condone selling any of their brands or dealership networks to a foreign automaker or private equity group.

The only brand I could see GM selling is SAAB. I would prefer the company completely shutter Hummer rather than give that brand and dealer-network to another automotive group.

GM must be focused on the future and long term. strengthening these international automakers and giving them access to U.S market and dealerships they are putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage in the near future.