For Gm, Four Core Brands are Enough
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General Motors’ strategy going forward is to concentrate on bolstering four brands – Cadillac, GMC, Buick, Chevrolet – while shrinking Pontiac and possibly doing away with Saturn. Saab and Hummer remain on the market, with the former not an important part of the automaker’s American marketing plans. GM’s Fritz Henderson, Chief Operating Officer for the automaker shared GM’s restructuring plans at a recent Automotive News World Congress meeting which included a discussion on brand marketing.
Essentially, Cadillac, Buick, GMC and Chevrolet will be the core brands for GM, especially as pertains to selling cars in the North American market, the company’s home base. Both Saab and Hummer have been for sale for some time, with GM Henderson acknowledging that the car company is working with the Swedish government to find an investor. Three quarters of Saab sales are in the European market with just a small number of cars sold in the states each year.
Hummer remains a mystery as the automaker has twice set deadlines for when its specialty off road vehicle brand would be sold and has twice missed those marks. Thought that a Chinese or Russian company would scoop up Hummer have surfaced, but given the brand’s niche and very low demand, finding a buyer remains a challenge.
Pontiac’s role will be diminished, with GM retreating the brand back to just one or two models. Over the past two decades, management has been uniting Buick, Pontiac and GMC dealers to one dealership, which would make the change much easier and less costly than closing down the brand altogether. After shuttering Oldsmobile in 2003, GM cannot afford to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to do the same for Pontiac.
Saturn has been one of the biggest disappointments for GM. Initially launched as a separate car company in 1985 with the first cars rolling of a Tennessee assembly line in 1990, Saturn quickly drew praise for truly being a different kind of car company, one whose owners embraced the compact S models. For the past decade, Saturn has been part of GM’s brand structure and has benefited from a number of new models. Still, Saturn’s identity remains clouded despite its blossoming alliance with Opel where the two brands share a number of car lines.
GM still is looking to get an additional share of the bail out money promised late last year. At that time, now former President George W. Bush allocated funds to GM and Chrysler in a bid to keep the two automakers afloat. Part of the loan deal has required that GM restructure, hence its new found emphasis on full out supporting just four brands.
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Source by Matthew C. Keegan
