Whither Buick and Pontiac?
GM might kill off their Buick and Pontiac brands if they don't peform soon after some recent investment in new vehicles:
GM's Buick and Pontiac are both "damaged brands" due to lack of investment over the years, and GM is working to correct that with an array of new vehicles coming to market, [GM Vice-Chariman Bob] Lutz told a Morgan Stanley automotive conference in New York.James Joyner at Outside the Beltway thinks Buick should be killed off:
But if some of its brands fail to meet sales projections, "then we would have to take a look at a phase-out. I hope we don't have to do that. What we've got to do is keep the brands we've got."
Financial analysts have said for years that the world's largest automaker has too many brands to support, even with the gradual phase-out of the Oldsmobile brand a few years ago, particularly with its weaker U.S. sales.
Among the traditional GM lines, I'd argue that they should keep Chevy, Cadillac, Saturn, Hummer, and Saab as is. Pontiac should be the brand of all GM's sporty cars--and only its sporty cars--minus the Corvette, which is too identified with Chevy to rebrand. GMC should either be killed off or all GM trucks should carry the GMC label.Paul at Wizbang actually thinks they should keep Buick but revitalize it with the reintroduction of the kick-ass Grand Nash using GM's new 500hp LS7 engine:
What GM should have done is put LS7 into a 25th Anniversary, limited edition Buick Grand National II. Instead, they put it into the Corvette which, lets review, is going to sell anyway. They could make a limited edition black and silver that would be on the cover of every car magazine. They would be sold before they even started production. With the exception of the Vet and the Camaro, GM has failed to really milk a product line like Ford has with the Mustang.What do I think? I drive a Pontiac, my Dad is a Buick man, and my Mom drove an Olds when I was growning up. Plus we had a Corvette at one point, so I might be a bit biased.
First off, I agree with James Joyner that either kill GMC entirely or rebrand all GM trucks with the GMC badge. I'd prefer killing it entirely since Chevy is just a stronger brand anyways.
Pontiac needs to retool and only go after the sporty set. That means kill the Bonneville and Montana. And I'm talking about targeting enthusiasts, so the Sunfire and Grand Am are dead. That leaves the Vibe, Grand Prix, GTO, the new G6, and Aztek. Pontiac should position itself as the American "Ultimate Driving Machine" and go after the BMW market like this guy says. All the sporty GM cars should go here except the 'Vette and any ultra high-end Cadillac coupe or roadster.
As for Cadillac, it needs to take on the Mercedes and high-end BMW market and position itself as a luxury brand to reach for, not the brand to settle for. Currently, four of the five cars Cadillac has are between $30k and $50k. They should have a car at $35k, $50k, $65k, $80k, and one over $100k. Make it more exclusive to own a Cadillac, a real accomplishment for the buyer. The $35k car can act like a C-Class Mercedes where you can overpay for the Cadillac badge but clearly not get the luxury of the rest of the Cadillac line.
Chevy's line is pretty good, if ridiculously large. With Cadillac positioning itself upmarket, Chevy would need to add a model or two above what they have now to inhabit the Accord/Camry and Avalon/Acura TL/TSX niches.
Where does that leave Buick? On the dustbin of history, sadly. I love the Buick badge and it has a great history, but look at the cars they have right now. I can't see many people under the age of 45 buying any of them, and those few that would are getting older with nary a young person to replace them. It would simply cost far too much to entirely remake the Buick brand. And, quite frankly, GM doesn't have the track record to think they could possibly reposition the brand successfully.
Lastly, none of this would be worthwhile without, you know, making good cars. GM build quality just isn't good enough. How does Hyundai make such damn good cars for so cheap while GM products still feel cheap and unreliable despite the higher sticker prices? GM has bigger problems than too many brands.
Forgive me father, but Buick is dead. Long live Buick.
posted by Q at 3/24/2005 08:48:00 PM
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