Auto analyst slams GM to VA dealers

[buyacargetacheck]

Getting back to Maryann Keller...

Her prediction isn't that radical. Buick, Pontiac, and Saturn lack any kind of positive image. Yes, the quality is better and better products are on the way and the service is good yada yada yada.

But when people plop down money and chain themselves to 5 or 6 years of payments they tend to think long and hard about what kind of image these purchases purvey. What will my friends and family think? Will this get me the girl? Etc. The answers to these personal questions all ultimately come from the gut. And psychologists and consumer behaviorists say that people often take the safe route by doing what their neighbors and peers do.

We can talk all day long about how "evil" Toyota is or how great the new 2010 Zetas are going to be, but if buyers don't feel good the sale doesn't happen. GM has mismanaged the images of their brands for so long that it's possible there isn't enough time left to right the ship. This is ultimately where Keller is coming from.

P.S. This image thing is probably in hyper-mode here in Los Angeles more than anywhere else. That's why you hardly ever see a new Buick or Pontiac, but Escalades and Tahoes with the bling are everywhere.

Edited April 25, 2006 by buyacargetacheck

[VenSeattle]

No need for this as Buick,Pontiac and GMC are already a single sales channel. It would just alienate existing customers.

True, they are in a consolidated sales channel, but:

- All three brands are still marketed separately.

- Sales are still figured separately.

- "Average Buyer's Age" for the brands are figured separately.

- Warranties are different.

A single division could have broader appeal with more pull. The public wouldn't accept a GMC sedan just as 'Pontiac & Truck' is an unnatural combination.

Buick is the only one of the three that would be able to deliver a full line-up while maintaining a premium reputation. Imagine the next GTO actually becoming a Buick GNX and picture how the market would react.

[buyacargetacheck]

This will solve the 'marketing too many divisions' problem...

• Rebadge all of the GMC Trucks/SUVs as Buicks. They can keep the same names. 'Denali', 'Envoy', 'Yukon' blend well with B-U-I-C-K. It would also allow for name association for clients during the transition. 

• Add a small/sporty $20k-$25k compact sedan w/ coupe & wagon variation (make LaCrosse strictly 3.6l powered)

• Add a Bengal roadster off of Kappa at $22k-$30k.

• Cue the Zeta sedan, coupe, & convertible

• Add 'Ultra' or 'Super' trim to all sedans, coupes, & convertibles

Bye-Bye GMC & Pontiac...

Hello Million+ volume Premium 'Professional Grade' Buick Division.

I'm just evil...

I like the idea of raising the marketing efficiencies by combining the three. On the other hand, GMC has a straightforward image. And selling GMCs is like printing money - simple rebadges of Chevy trucks sold in another part of town. Pontiac and Buick could be replaced by equivalent Chevrolets - there's no reason why Chevrolet can't cover the middle market like Toyota does with the Avalon and upper trim Solaras and Camrys. Just call the Lucerne a Caprice and give Chevy the Enclave.

Ideally, GM would be able to get rid of excess plants, and the Chevy-clone nameplates: Buick, Pontiac, Saturn. Then GM could clean up Chevy's dealer body and have them adopt Saturn's sales/service practices while extending Chevy's warranty to 100,000 miles across the board. Then, you'd have a lean, mean GM.

[VenSeattle]

I like the idea of raising the marketing efficiencies by combining the three.  On the other hand, GMC has a straightforward image.  And selling GMCs is like printing money - simple rebadges of Chevy trucks sold in another part of town.  Pontiac and Buick could be replaced by equivalent Chevrolets - there's no reason why Chevrolet can't cover the middle market like Toyota does with the Avalon and upper trim Solaras and Camrys.  Just call the Lucerne a Caprice and give Chevy the Enclave.

Ideally, GM would be able to get rid of excess plants, and the Chevy-clone nameplates: Buick, Pontiac, Saturn.  Then GM could clean up Chevy's dealer body and have them adopt Saturn's sales/service practices while extending Chevy's warranty to 100,000 miles across the board.  Then, you'd have a lean, mean GM.

Yes... but that plan involves buying out thousands of dealers, along with tons of lawsuits... That's not the case with just merging B-P-GMC into 1 Brand.

The Chevrolet dealership network can not absorb the 1 million+ buyers. Not to mention that many of these buyers would never buy a Chevrolet to begin with. GM would lose hundreds of thousands of buyers between dealership location changes along with no direct brand association between Chevrolet and the BPG Trio.

Saturn is not a Chevy Clone nameplate.

GM does not need to copy Toyota to be successful. There's more than one way to be successful. Toyota's way is just one of them... not the only one.

[buyacargetacheck]

Yes... but that plan involves buying out thousands of dealers, along with tons of lawsuits... That's not the case with just merging B-P-GMC into 1 Brand.

Lawsuits and buyouts may happen anyway because of or despite GM. For sure, GMC could stand alone.

The Chevrolet dealership network can not absorb the 1 million+ buyers. Not to mention that many of these buyers would never buy a Chevrolet to begin with. GM would lose hundreds of thousands of buyers between dealership location changes along with no direct brand association between Chevrolet and the BPG Trio.

GM has already "lost hundreds of thousands of buyers," but this fact has been masked by insane rebates and historically higher rental car fleet sales. True, not all buyers would go right to Chevrolet but a good many would.

Saturn is not a Chevy Clone nameplate.

Are you kidding? Every vehicle Saturn sells has an engineered duplicate at Chevrolet. Sure, the Ion and Cobalt don't look the same but they both have the same engineering underneath. And the Ion came first but the Cobalt sells far better. I know you know all this. Same product, same buyers. The only unique vehicle, the Outlook, would do better at Chevrolet (ditto for the Sky).

All this talk about consolidation and phase-outs, however, ignores the fact that nobody on these boards or in the media or the analysts have any idea which brands are profitable and which are not. GM does not report this. So, maybe as long as the brands are profitable (even though sales are falling) maybe it doesn't matter if you have 3 brands or none. From an advertising standpoint, however, you could agree with someone like DeLorenzo and say that consolidation makes sense otherwise you'll never be able to get the message through for one brand let alone three.

[Chicagoland]

Face reality, there is no such thing a a time machine to make it 1969 forever. Buick and Pontiac will never sell a mill cars a year and be volume brands, ever again. Better to be niche brands and combine with GMC.

[Mr.Krinkle]

in order to get name recognition from consumers at an early age the brand is going to use the same intials just rearranged to form the acronym/snyonym of a lunch time staple sandwich

PB & G's