When word that GMC wouldn't be bothering with a 2nd Gen Acadia hit, I was a bit shocked. But only a bit. The world needs more CUVs like I need a hole in my head. That said, of the three four Lambda based crossovers, I've always liked the Acadia's styling the best. As does the rest of The General's public; it's the best-selling of the bunch. Even weirder, GM is planning some Lambda-based SUTs (4-door pickups) and GMC, the truck division, ain't getting any. The General pulled a similar weird move a few years back when they neglected to kick down an Avalanche to their "Professional Grade" division. The elephant in the room seems to be saying GMC's about to be put out to pasture. Chevrolet is fully capable of handling GM's truck needs. Furthermore, with gasoline cresting $143 per barrel this very morning, an all-truck brand must be screaming "red ink!" into the accountants' ears. You think GMC has a future? Really?
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I’ve been screaming “Red Ink” for years, as in Red Ink Rick. how much more will it take for him to get the boot? we don’t need a Volt, we need a Revolt. time for a true American Revolution!
I think the BPG realignment was designed to allow GM to shed all three brands neatly – whether by sale or closure – in the event of bankruptcy. The days of all three brands are numbered, as long as you can count to (Chapter) 11.
No GMC? Who’s going to sponsor “This Old House”?
gmc truck line isn’t necessary…
when you need to trim costs, it’s easiest to get rid of redundancy…
With the BPG consolidation, the Acadia shares the lot with the Enclave. The Enclave sells for more money, so if they can convert some Acadia buyers into Enclave buyers and send the bargain hunters over to Chevy, that should lower their costs and increase their margins.
I think that the goal is to shrink the number of vehicles at BPG dealers, not to kill it. That means having just a few of each brand. Having an Acadia and Enclave parked at the same lot is redundant. Of the two, the Enclave has the most potential, so axing the Acadia is the best choice.
I also preferred the Acadia over its platform mates. It looks the best and has the heads up display option. Not that I was going to actually buy one though.
I’m used to peculiar pictures accompanying some TTAC articles and I generally let them pass without comment but in this case…
WTF is that thing? And is that guy carrying a folding bicycle?
Even without $4+ a gallon, GMC seems to have little reason to exist in that their product line is almost exclusively made up of Chevy trucks with leather, some chrome and a different badge.
I’m with carguy. All GMC brings to the table is Chevy trucks with some extra plushness and styling tweaks. That could be accomplished much more economically by a trim level available for all Chevy trucks. “Denali” has a nice ring to it.
Are there any standalone GMC dealers? If there are, I suggest their employees start reading up on Pontiac/Buick product materials.
As far as I can tell, the only reason GMC exists is so Pontiac and Buick dealers can sell trucks to their customers. Right now I doubt that’s number one on said dealers’ list of priorities.
The timeline of GM’s death spiral:
1. GMC gone
2. Chapter 11
3. Saturn gone/sold
4. Pontiac gone
5. Recovery or Chapter 7. In the case of Chapter 7:
6. Buick liquidated
7. Chevy/Cadillac sold at auction
Bye GMC. It’s been nice knowing you.
Hey Saturn, don’t let the door hit you in the ass when it’s your turn.
GMC should have died long ago. It serves no purpose and hasn’t had a unique product since… well other than the Topkick I can’t think of any. Back in the day maybe Chevy trucks with nicer interiors may have been a winning proposition, but not anymore. I always thought the commenters and authors here who used to say GMC was one of the brands GM should keep were crazy.
And to top it off they are going to “me too” the Ridgeline.
Personally I like the Ridge but they probably should ape some other Honda products first.
I mean it only makes sense…oh wait, this is GM.
Never mind.
Carry on Rick.
Bunter
GMC died when GM promoted the Cadillac Escalade instead of the GMC Denali. Being the Cadillac of Trucks was GMC:s whole raison d’être. With the Escalade, GMC seized to have a reason to exist. Everything after that is just irrelevant.
If that was GMC’s entire purpose for being than the brand never had a raison d’être. The real reason the brand existed was to give dealers who didn’t have a Chevrolet franchise a line of trucks to sell, especially when the truck market boomed.
GMC products are simply Chevrolets with different grilles, just as most Pontiacs are. These brands have no real point, purpose or identity. They are already dead.
And how long will it take GM to realize it doesn’t need more than one mainstream car brand? (Chevrolet vs Saturn and Pontiac) Or three near-luxury/luxury brands? (Cadillac vs Buick and Saab)
GMC and HUMMER should be the very tip of the iceberg.
GMC will be around for years to come. Pontiac Torrent replacement to be a GMC product. Acadia is hot selling.
I don’t know whether the brand is screaming red ink or not. I’d think that what they rebadge is quite profitable.
I’ve asked several times before, and I may as well ask again – if GMC is eliminated, pre-C11, where do the customers go? Are we sure that most go to Chevy? (Why didn’t they go to Chevy to begin with?) If we are sure, then by all means, save some money by cutting redundancy. If we’re not sure, maybe cutting the #2 selling division isn’t the brightest move for a revenue starved corporation.
The only thing worse than being a BPG dealer would be having a BP franchise w/o the trucks to sell. It might be a clever way to get rid of a lot of BPG dealers w/o having to buy them out.
I’m inclined to agree with PCH, the goal is to reduce redundant models in the same show rooms.
As an aside, GMC was around long before there was a “Truck boom”. They were re-badging Chevies back when only farmers and contractors had trucks.
GMC is probably going to go the way of Oldsmobile. And while I’m at it, doesn’t GM own Daewoo? Why haven’t we talked about GM dumping Daewoo?
OK, stupid question of the day – what does GMC stand for? I’m talking about the initials, not the division.
jolo :
I believe GMC is simply General Motors Corporation…but it depends on where you are…in Canada they swear GMC is General Motors Canada.
Dynamic88: While I would agree that trucks are what keeps the lights on at a BPG dealership…trucks aren’t selling right now and may not pick up for a long time (if at all). Therefore the difference between BP and BPG becomes negligible except with more products that aren’t moving.
jolo: GMC stands for General Motors Corp. And is the only marque to use the company brand, it used to be GMC Trucks (starting in 1912).
Sure you could shed the GMC lineup. But the combined sales of GMC AND Chevy have outsold the F150 for decades straight. Nevermind the Ford Chevey debate. A GM pick-up has been the best selling truck line ever. Check the #’s. GM just wanted to be the competitor, not the behemoth.
People love the underdog…
There are few stand alone GMC dealerships. I think GMC will survive because it enables the other GM divisions to sell re-badged Chevy pick-ups.
But all of GM’s divisions will not, can not survive. The General will have to shrink dramatically to reflect their present dwindling market share.
Enter bankruptcy as the simplest, most cost effective way for GM to shed some divisional pounds. If a judge approves a reorganization plan that includes axing a division or three, this greatly reduces any litigation that could arise.
Over at GMInsideNews, where reality seems to be very subjective, some of the folks SWEAR that GMC trucks are different than Chevys. Some guys going so far to say they’d NEVER buy a Chevy pickup… only a GMC. How can you not just look at the two makes and realize they’re nearly identical in every way? Aren’t they built in the same factories?
It’s unbelievable. And being so, why is GMC needed at all?
I always thought that when GM purchased Hummer, they should have sold them as GMC products. Adopted the rugged Hummer look across the entire GMC line, offered the GMC Hummer2, Hummer3, HUT, etc along with Hummerized Sierras and Canyons. It would have given GMC unique product and also given GM a direct and fresher competitor to Jeep. But of course, because GM has proven amazingly adept at managing brands they already have (sarcasm), they decided that Hummer needed to be yet another unsustainable, product-starved, shortsighted, wtf-were-they-thinking standalone brand.
Brilliant.
Here in Denver, there is a stand-alone GMC dealer in an industrial area of town, where it sells the mainstream line of GMC vehicles, but has a pretty good inventory of commercial vehicles (cabs, heavy duties, etc).
But then again, this is GM, where less than 5 miles down the road, you’ve got a Chevy + GMC + Pontiac + Buick dealer.
GMC could transform itself into a non-truck division if it wanted to. During the SUV craze of the 90’s, GMC dropped “truck” from its name and if you remember, used the tagline “It’s not just a truck anymore” (instead of “Rethink”)
sillyp :
I always thought that when GM purchased Hummer, they should have sold them as GMC products….
Heck, I think GM ought to KEEP Hummer — and ditch GMC. Let the BP dealers have Hummers, which at least are UNIQUE in some manner, instead of Chevrolet copies.
The GMC brand is practically useless, it’s been nothing but rebadged Chevys for decades and chevrolet can do anything GMC can cus’ well…(previously stated). With this brand gone it’ll be a some weight relieved off the generals shoulders. I’m hoping we can see Buick receive the same fate sometime soon.
INTRODUCING THE ALL NEW GMC EL CAMINO.
use car platforms. with I4’s or V6’s
TEXN3 said “jolo: GMC stands for General Motors Corp. And is the only marque to use the company brand, it used to be GMC Trucks (starting in 1912).”
But interestingly, I’ve seen a truck (from the late 40’s, I’d guess) that had a big chrome badge on the hood that said simply “General Motors Truck”.
GM permanently screwed GMC when they created more truck brands and models. There was no good reason Cadillac should have a truck for sale, let alone three models. And by creating Hummer, GM shifted the focus of hard core trucks away from GMC.
Now, consumers don’t know what to think about GMC. Are they luxury trucks? No, that’s an Escalade. Are they super capable off road vehicles? No, those are Hummers. So what is a “GMC”?
Are they a one-stop truck shopping superstore? Is GMC the place to go when you need a tough work truck? Yeah, this is more what GMC should be. If you want a truck to do truck-like things, you buy a GMC.
There is no reason for Chevy to sell the same product. Chevy does not need 1-ton chassis cabs and 4-door duallies. That should be GMC’s domain. Chevy should not sell anything more than a 3/4 ton 4WD truck. Anything more serious should be a GMC. Let Chevy sell mainstream products like 1/2 ton extended cab “family” trucks or a 4WD model for those who do light towing and hauling. Pull the luxo models from Cadillac and keep the GMC Denali concept. GMC could use a little glamour and Cadillac has no business selling anything resembling a truck. The Hummer brand is permanently tainted so shift their capabilities back to GMC without the attitude and styling.
By refocusing GMC as “GM’s Truck Division”, it will be a shot in the arm for the Buick-Pontiac dealers its teamed with. Small towns that can’t support a Buick-Pontiac-GMC Truck store can sell GMC with Chevy, making those stores Chevy & GMC Truck dealers so sales aren’t lost to the Ford dealer across town. In short, GMC becomes GM’s truck brand while Chevy is refocused to be GM’s all-American mainstream brand that also sells a couple truck models for those who must have a Chevy logo on the nose. Instead, what will happen is GMC will die, Hummer is practically dead now, Cadillac will lose their truck models sooner rather than later, and only Chevy will be selling trucks, driving another nail into Buick and Pontiac by giving their Chevy rivals even more exclusive product.
To say that GMC should be shuttered is to not understand the truck market.
Take Canadian truck sales as an example. GMC Sierra sells at 90-95% of the Chevy Silverado’s numbers. Is GM going to gamble that consumers will decamp en masse from GMC to Chevrolet?
In this (mostly U.S.) hysteria accompanying the sales drops in trucks, let’s not get too hasty in calling for the demise of truck-based divisions that are keeping the lights on at General Motors.