GM's REBADGED COMPANIES

This is so sad

At least they look halfway decent. Although completely getting rid of Saturn and bringin Opel to North America would have been a better decision, this isn't all bad.

it would save GM alot of money getting rid of Isuzu and Saturn and just bringing Opel to USA. Then GM could build good cars! Opel builds good vans too. You could call Opel Saturnisuzu!

If you're going to criticize business strategies, make sure you get the facts correct and have a basic understanding of the business in question.

The Zafira and the Relay are not related at all (and the Relay doesn't have long to live).
The Sky was designed as a Saturn (sharing its hardware with the Pontiac Solstice) and a small quantity are badged as Opels for Europe.
The Saturn Outlook (which you overlooked) has no Opel counterpart (as it's a bit large for non-US markets).
The Ion ceased production two months ago.

Welcome to the global auto industry, folks. Trying to relaunch the Opel brand in the US (where it never enjoyed much fame) is more costly (it costs a lot to launch a new brand and establish a new dealer network) and complex than linking the US-only Saturn brand (which has established strengths in the ownership/dealer experience) with the non-US Opel brand. This allows US drivers to get their hands on Opel products (which is something the automotive press has been asking GM about for years).

I'm sorry, really I am sorry, I never thought about it that way.

The 2008 Saturn VUE is high on my shopping list because my wife wants a small SUV (she find the Outlook to big). If we end up buying it, I have a good mind to import the equivalent Opel grille (or just the logo) and install that on the vehicle. I'm just now getting used to the Saturn logo but I still like the Opel logo better.

In this day and age GM should change its thinking. GM is off to a good start when they employed Bob Lutz.

Lutz wasted no time in cutting GM's bureaucracy, and getting rid of all those bean counters. NOW it was the CAR GUYS like Lutz and alikes, that are making the decisions and not the bean counter accountants.

Results decision making is now faster and leaner.

I agree with you, that GM should rid of its Isuzu Division. I would also like the Pontiac Division to get the axe.

Since childhood for me Pontiac has been nothing more then rebadged Chevy's

Camaro - Firebird
Monza - Starfire
Cobalt - Sunfire
Chevelle/Chevelle SS - Lemans/GTO
Caprice - Catalina Bonnville

You get my drift?

Now what really annoys and irritates me, is when I see those Pontiac commercials that are trying to ram down our throats that they are the Performance division. Yeah right all those body cladding don't equal performance.
Pontiac is more like aerodynamic drag division. I say get rid of it, its useless.

Chevrolet has always been GM's real performance division, and has participated in many diffrent racing series. The BowTie is a well recognised symbol, with Chevy's Halo car being the Corvette, and its kid sister the Camaro.

Having said that, I will also go one step further. and state that GM should let GMC take over and concentrate on all its SUV's, Crossovers, Heavy/Light trucks and Vans, plus its commercial truck business.

No more Buick, Caddy, Chevy, or Saturn Suvs or crossovers, its now all under the GMC Division period.


So here is what I think GM should do.

LUXURY:

GM's Buick Division main target should be Lexus for those who want a nice quiet comfortable drive.

Buick Lucern Target Lexus LS
Buick Lacrose Target Lexus GS

Buicks Rainer, Rendezvous, Enclave, Terraza Suv's crossover and van now goes to GMC

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GM's Cadillac Division main target should be Audi-Bentley // BMW - Rolls Royce // Mercedes-Benz - Maybach

ULTRA LUXURY:


Cadillac Sixteen should target Mercedes (Maybach Division) / BMW''s (RollRoyce Divison)

Cadillac DTS should target Audi's (Bentley Division) Continental GT


SPORT SEDAN:

Cadillac STS Target Audi A8 / Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Cadillac CTS Target Audi A6 / Mercedes-Benz E / CLS-Class

Cadillac BLS Target Audi A4 / Mercedes- Benz C-Class

Cadillac XLR Target Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

Cadillac V-series Target AMG


Caddilac Escalade and XRS goes to GMC division


HIGH PERFORMANCE:

Chevrolet Division should target BMW / Infinity


Impala / SS Target BMW 5 / M5 Series / Infinity M35 / M45

Malibu / SS Rear Wheel Drive Target BMW 3 / M3 and Infiniti G37
Malibu Front Wheel Drive Target Acura TL / TL Type S

Camaro Target BMW 6 series / M6

Corvette Target Porsche 911 / Aston Martin

Corvette Z06 Target Lambo Gallardo, Fe

Corvette Z06 Target Lambo Gallardo, Ferrari F430 I meant to say

Very lofty goals.

Chevy is supposed to be a value American brand. It's cars like the Cobalt and Impala that get them through the door. While GM definitely is experiencing brand identity crises right now, why confuse people even more by stretching the Chevy brand into Acura/BMW territory?

Your distinctions for the Sixteen and DTS would be a dream, but it is the DTS that should be the S-Class competitor, the STS the E-Class competitor, the CTS the C-Class competitor, and the BLS should be scrapped altogether, or make it a small economy compact for Europe alongside the A- and B-Classes.

And if anything, GM should keep Pontiac, that actually has some juice left in its name, and scrap Buick altogether. People already recognize Lexus as a Mercedes/Audi competitor. There's very little possibility that anybody would ever associate Buick with Mercedes/Audi/Lexus.

All GM needs is:

Chevy: the core of the division. Everything from your Corolla competitor to your Camry competitor, plus Tahoe et al.

Cadillac: the sport/luxury premium division. Lexus to Mercedes, plus the Sixteen.

Hummer

Pontiac: instead of rebadging Chevys, they should offer actual performance upgrades over Chevy.

Saturn: I like where Saturn/Opel is currently headed as am earth-conscious, fuel-efficient Euro-esque marque.

All others should go.

Will, I almost completely agree with you on your brand analyses. One odd point, though: why is Hummer still involved? They make cheap, ugly, horrific monsters that do nothing good for the world.

Also, you have no idea how literal it is that Pontiac is rebadging Chevys. Ever hear of the Pontiac G5? It's a Chevy Cobalt with a different grille. You can even see the cheap cutout where the grille fits, which lets you know it was not designed as a Pontiac.

No offense, but I don't think Cadillac will ever actually achieve direct competition with Mercedes, Maybach, BMW, Rolls, etc.
I mean seriously, that's a joke!
A cadillac vs. a Maybach/Rolls?
of course - go germans and british!

Johnel:

omigod how long did that take you?

i dont see anything wrong with saturn becoming rebadged opels, what has lexus been for years? infiniti? acura? scion? rebadged vehicles, the opel brand is more competitive and offer nicer products than many of gm's current offerings, and that is the customer base gm wants saturn to appeal to, if they have a "division" that already does that why not bring those cars over here. why would they sell opel here....at least saturn has some brand recognition, opel hasnt been sold in the states in decades, why would you not bring over good products because you dont want to rebadge... Isuzu was never a "division" of gm saturn is not another company, i fail to see why isuzu still sells cars here.....

These rebadged cars does not look all that bad. Especially the new Saturn lineup. They are actually quite attractive compared to the traditional Saturn's we once known of. The old image has faded in my memory.

Ford's Mondeo over in Europe. That car that's in the Casino Royale movie that was a very nice Ford. Never thought I'd say such a thing but that looks really good.

For some reason, over the pond they tend to build better Fords. Like... Americans can just take cheap. No, we don't drink tea and act rich. (some people that have British ancestors do) But does that mean they get better cars?

Regards Pontiac: I'll admit that, for a while, Pontiacs were Chevy's with different badges and some different sheetmetal. However, if you look at the new Pontiac showroom:

G6: Very different looking from Malibu--and Pontiac doesn't share the coupe and convertible with anyone
G8 (new rwd sedan due next year): no direct Chevy counterpart
Solstice: no Chevy counterpart

Yes, there's still the G5 (Cobalt) and Torrent (Equinox), but give them a bit of credit for trying to make Pontiac more unique.

IMO, GM should axe Saturn and Buick and sell SAAB.

Chevy should be the main brand and right now Saturn is getting the good products. All the mainstream Accord/Corolla competitors should be offered by Chevrolet ONLY.

Cadillac should be the ONLY luxury brand competing from Volvo all the way up to MB levels.

GMC should be come commercial vehicles only and have no more retail sales. All the HD Trucks and Big Vans should be marketed only as GMC while Chevy retains the Colorado, Silverado (w/o HD), and the full size SUVs. The GMC Acadia should be badged as a Chevy ONLY.

Hummer should have 3-4 models. The H2 and H3 are in a good position. A truck sized between the H2 and H3 would be good and then a smaller off-roader to compete with the Wrangler.

Pontiac should go all RWD while Chevy products stay FWD to keep differentiation. It should have a RWD midsize sedan G7 and then a fullsize G8. Coupe and Convertible should be offered for both. The Firebird and Solstice would be its two sports cars. All SUVs should be axed from its lineup. This should be GM's niche brand along with Hummer while Chevy and Caddy will be the main brands.

As mentioned before, Saturn may be getting good products, but those products should be given to Chevy. GM should offer all of its best in one brand and not spread it between a few brands. Buick is dead because all its customers and fans are dying or already dead. They shouldn't even try to revive it. SAAB has a name so they could probably sell it to some entrepreneur for a couple million.