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I don’t know how they did it. Nobody’s crazy about a Mercury. Suzuki is still a one niche car company, and most Mitsubishis look like Chryslers that were drawn by stoned orangutans. Does anyone want a Volvo? No, you can’t have one made before 1995. How about a Dodge? A Ram? A Tonka? Oh, you think Chrysler WILL survive the year. I beg to differ. Speaking of which, who wants to bet that GM pulls the plug on one more brand before 2010 is done. Any bets? Any five brands will do . . .
Hmmmm … I don’t know. I think that the carnage is over for now, at least at GM. Unless, of course, the whole Opel thing blows up in their face, which it looks like it might. I think everyone is going to hang on for deal life in 2010 to see how it all plays out.
But, that’s just one idiot’s opinion.
Wikipedia still shows GM with 8 brands globally (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet,
Daewoo (44%), GMC, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall).
I don’t know enough to comment on the Opel/Vauxhall names but they seem strong enough in their home markets. Holden won’t disappear. Daewoo will likely be supported by the Korean government and they aren’t wholly owned by GM anyway.
GMC Truck is the only I see being weighed at the moment but (at the moment) I don’t see any more North American nameplates going – the only remaining potential change (to me) would be for Chevrolet to give up their trucks and have them sold as GMCs.
Nice Hawk! My father-in-law recently restored one… saved it from the crusher.
I am with racebeer. I don’t think GM is sentient enough to realize they still have TOO MANY brands…..they will all go down together SLOWLY rather than kill one quick to let the others have a chance to live.
If I were involved in running GM…..I don’t want to be…that would be getting me too close to government workers, for government work…..but If I were, I would axe GMC the redundant brand which they don’t need,either…..and they fubar’d the whole Opel thing.
At the bottom of this page are a set of icons that name all of the major car brands on the planet. GM owns six of them, not counting the brands they claim they are phasing out ‘soon’. Way too many. Ford and Chrysler have three each, which is also too many.
Buick – Too similar to Cadillac, go away.
Cadillac – Still some life left here, you can stay.
Chevrolet – The main brand. Have to keep this one.
GMC – Just call it a Chevy and be done with it.
Pontiac – Bye-bye…
Saturn – Sayonara…
Chrysler – Flatlined…off to the morgue with you.
Dodge – Changing your name to RAM isn’t fooling anyone, but since you’re here…
Jeep – Keep this one.
Ford – Again, the main brand has to stay
Lincoln – I suppose you need something to keep Cadillac on its toes.
Mercury – I can’t even name one current Mercury model. Why are you still here?
I want a Volvo. But I likely won’t get another one next year.
MidLifeCelica-
Agreed. GMC is stupid beyond belief, and don’t even get me started on Mercury.
Both are pure badge brands. and bring nothing to the party.
I have been saying for years that Chrysler is so damaged as a brand it would HELP the company to kill it. Dodge could remain as a niche for muscle cars – the Charger, Challenger, Viper are about the only half decent things in the line-up anyway. Kill Dodge/Ram trucks and just make them all under the Jeep brand.
Right now Mercury’s only semi-unique model is the Grand Marquis (since you can’t buy a Crown Vic retail and the Town Car rides on a sufficiently enlarged wheelbase to qualify it as a unique model), and when that is gone, and Ford finally managed to merge all the Lincoln-Mercury stores with Ford stores, Mercury won’t really have a point. There might be some hope for it in the future if Ford can launch Lincoln further upmarket to compete with Mercedes and BMW instead of Cadillac, but that is going to take many many years.
GMC is entirely pointless, and it’s a shame to see it as well as Buick live on when GM brands that had more panache and better cars like Pontiac and Oldsmobile bit the dust.
Scion isn’t doing so hot either. But I would put my money on Chrysler, Mercury, Suzuki and SAAB.
I think Buick is a goner. Chevy can offer cars like a Buick. GMC should survive as truck and SUVs and stop offering them as Chevys. Dodge won’t survive no matter how they Ram it. Jeep should absorb all trucks. That’s if Chrysler as a whole survives at all. Mercury’s a goner. Lincoln can be absorbed into Ford if they brand it correctly.
The mid-lux brands…Mercury and Buick, were always essentially Fords and Chevys with thicker leather and power windows. Now that you can get those options on a Ford or Chevy, there’s no reason for them to exist. Well, Buick could soldier on in China where it has good brand image, but here…I don’t think anyone under 50 still aspires to owning a Buick. Of course, I here they have a few decent cars now. Following GMs track record with Oldsmobile, Saturn, and Pontiac, it seems they won’t kill a brand until it starts making a few decent cars, so it’s time for it to go.
Dodge is utter crap…but that would be interesting to see it soldier on with the Viper, Charger, and maybe a smaller performance car.
When I was but a wee lad of 4 or 5 I asked my dad what was the difference between his ’62 GMC truck and his ’62 Chevy truck. He responded by just taking me to the front and pointing to the emblem on the grill. There was and is no difference. All they are doing is keeping a few extra dealers happy and allowing Ford to claim to be the best selling truck year after year. I am sure that there have been years when the combined sales of GMC and Chevy trucks outsold the F-150.
If these brands go away where am I going to bottom feed for left over new cars at fire sale prices?
(Current fleet at home – Wife’s 2004 Buick Rendezvous bought new at 29% off and my commuter 2008 Volvo C30 picked up new at 27% off.)
Despite the coming launch of a handful of new models, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Suzuki and/or Mitsubishi leave the US market any time now. In fact, I’d call that more likely than GM cutting any more brands. I feel Ford is finally letting Mercury die, with the lack of a Sable replacement, no plans to replace the Mountaineer, and sketchy plans for the future of the Escape twin Mariner. That just leaves the Fusion twin Milan, which isn’t receiving even a ten of one percent of the marketing push the new Fusion is getting. They make even less sense today than ever anyway, with Ford’s push upmarket and Lincoln’s continued foundering downmarket.
I suppose Toyota’s committed to Scion, with their recent Canadian expansion announcements. I don’t know why. The last two model launches have been met with crickets and every college-age girl already has a tC, which hasn’t been even slightly refreshed since it hit the market, what, thirty years ago? Sadly, it’s still their most compelling model, IMO, despite being older than dirt.
Toyota has had quite a bit of success in the past thirty years, but they really dropped the ball after creating a compelling business scenario with Scion back in the days of the launch and first-gen xB.
Ford is doing quite well right now with Ford and Lincoln is going to compete with Buick and Lexus for the growing over 60 market. What seems lacking, is a plan for Mercury. Mercury still needs to find a brand identity or it will be the next to go.
I will give Fiat the benefit of the doubt with the Chrysler brands. The all new 300 and Charger are just around the corner. Fiat and Chrysler have a plan, and vehicle platforms, to move beyond the core vehicles in 2 years. With all three and a half brands under one roof, Chrysler, Dodge/Ram and Jeep can each occupy their own unique niche and provide enough total sales to keep the factories running and the dealers viable.
In the grocery store parking lot I waited for a lady to navigate her Navigator out of a parking space. “All engines back one-third…” etc. Tell me that Lincoln is not dead, along with Mercury.
I am increasingly worried about Volvo. I love their product line and would have bought one… if they weren’t so damn expensive. Ford and its pursuit of turning Volvo into a luxury brand was wrong it’s not even funny. I guess they needed a justification for their existence in the premium group and the company overall. But I think its now time to understand that they should be competing with Volkswagen, not Audi.
The S-40 and C-30 are great looking cars that are hobbled by the fact that I got a better equipment set on a Jetta over $6000-$8000 cheaper.
Volvo could live again… but instead Ford has sucked the company dry in terms of intellectual property, so they simply can not let them go to the highest bidder.
I see no use for GMC, honestly, Pontiac had better reasoning behind it.
I have hope for Chrysler… I really do, Sergio is no idiot, him, out of anyone could certainly pull this off.
Buick would be my choice if it weren’t for China. They are the only thing keeping that division from flat lining. The new Lacrosse is dissapointing, the upcoming Regal better but with 4 cylinder only power in the mainstream line not spelling a recipe for sales success, the big heavy Enclave and the old traditional slow selling Lucerne with a 1980’s based 4 speed automatic transmission design. GMC would be my next choice. They have no reason at all to exist.
GMC will survive, just because RAM is surviving. This will be used to argue that there is a market for a “Professional Grade” truck. Frankly, if they stopped selling Chevy Trucks and made them ALL GMC, I think it would work. Everyone knows there’s no difference anyhow, and if you are going to save only one, save the one with the ‘truck’ image.
Buick can be a China-only brand if they want them so badly.
I agree that the demise of Volvo is very sad.
I think Kia and Hyundai have eaten the lunch of the “2nd tier” Japanese brands. Suzuki and Mitsu aren’t long for America, and I fear for Mazda and Subaru also, though Mazda has Ford support and Subaru, if they can keep prices under control ($30k +for a Legacy!), has a good brand identity and loyal following, though I don’t see them growing.
If Ford can sell trucks under the Ford brand, why the hell can’t Chevy sell trucks under the Chevy brand? This idea that you need a DIFFERENT brand for a truck is exactly the problem.
I don’t see why GMC needs to exist. I’ve heard the sales argument, but (in spite of the momentary halt in the slide of SUV/truck sales) that angle is susceptible to another spike in gas prices, which seems inevitable. Not to mention that there’s so little differentiation between Chevy and GMC trucks in terms of equipment and, more significantly, price. I find it hard to believe that Sierra/Yukon sales couldn’t be rolled into their Chevrolet twins if they were eliminated. Case in point, Ford’s done just fine with the F-Series. I level the same criticism at ChryCo RAMming their trucks away from Dodge into a separate brand. Truck sales seem to be, after over a decade of inflation, starting to normalize and return to their niche. Seen in that light, a brand like GMC or RAM has no reason for existence when a Chevy or Dodge equivalent would do just as well.
As for Mercury, the clouds seem to be forming. The lack of model refreshes/replacements and aggressive promotion suggests to me that the brand is slowly being choked; Ford just wants to kill it quietly to (hopefully) avoid stirring up the UAW and Lincoln-Mercury dealers.
’tis a shame about Volvo, though. In spite of the pre-1995 quip, I find many of their current offerings appealing, if completely out of my price range.
Yes, GMC and Chevy Trucks are redundant… but on the other hand, everybody knows they’re the same vehicles and it isn’t costing GM more than about 50 cents a vehicle to put a different nameplate on. Both brands have significant sales. What’s the harm in keeping them?
Buick has a good reason to exist. They have different body styles and some different mechanicals from their Chevy cousins and from Cadillac. They appeal to entry luxury to mid luxury customers who want graceful, classic styling instead of edgy in-your-face styling of recent Cadillacs. Giving the $30-$50k market to Buick leaves Cadillac free to move upmarket. Most makers have a separate brand for under $30k cars and $30k+ cars.
Maybe Scion should be next to go. Sales haven’t been that great, and Toyota discovered that they haven’t been selling to the young adult market they were hoping to attract. 30+ year olds would probably happily buy the Scion vehicles at a Toyota dealer.
Subaru is not going anywhere. There will always be a niche for AWD Wagon/Crossover vehices. Their residuals are up there with Toyota and Honda. Browsing a salvage auction site last week I was amazed how many Subarus had 200+k on the clock.
i agree, Subaru isn’t going anywhere. as long as Toyota let them do their thing. a car company doesn’t need to be the top seller to be profitable as long as they’re well managed.
i think that Suzuki will stay in the US market, once they’re rid of GM Daewoo product and Kizashi and new Swift come on line i think they will develop a mini cult following. mitsubishi is in trouble everywhere imo. they need to sort their interior quality/presentation, the Colt has been around since 2002 and the facelifted model eventually coming is not all new and obviously done on a low budget. the Lancer is the biggest sedan offered in most of the world, the Galant was old, boring, dated and not competitive when it first came out and is in dire need of replacement asap. i think they need a major alliance with another automaker to survive
GMC is stupid beyond belief
I have to disagree. Looks are personal taste, but the GMCs have always looked better than the comparable Chevies. The current pickup and the Arcadia is case in point.
Volvos have always carried at least a slight premium – they were never Ford or Chevy priced. But methinks they blew their tank reliability load when they went fwd with the ’93 850. I think the new S60 and the XC90 are gorgeous, but our POS S70 left a very bad taste in my mouth. I always regretted not getting the last of the S90 run, only $2k more back in ’98.