buyacargetacheck

Was on auto row today and noticed that the Pontiac sign on my local dealer's building here north of LA has been covered up. The GM pylon sign out front still has "Pontiac" but will likely be replaced by "Cadillac" as the dealer has replaced his Cadillac-only store with Volkswagen(!) and has moved Cadillac in with Buick/GMC. Interestingly, the HUMMER sign at the same Buick/GMC dealership has not been covered up/removed yet despite the lack of new inventory. The Saturn dealer down the street still has his sign up but no new inventory. What's going on in your town?

Right. I like Whitacre a lot. He's about goal-setting and results. Not excuses. This is GM's last chance.

I agree. On average, each HUMMER dealer in the US is only selling about 5 vehicles per month. Most of those are H3s. And sales are decreasing. Hard to make a solid business case for those kinds of volumes. Worldwide, the story is much the same. GMNA accounts for around 72% of sales worldwide with 80 dealers (150 total worldwide). I can see Tengzhong in 2 years, after the GM contractual period ends, simply making money on licensing toys and t-shirts while licensing the name to a HUMMER knock off manufacturer in China. Becomes a China-only brand then.

The analyst who stated that Renault/Nissan pulling out of the Penske deal is basically a lack of confidence in the US market for the next 2 years is correct. The Chinese are crazy to want to invest in Hummer and Saab. Those brands would be better off dead. There's just no more money to be made. The new GM isn't out of the woods either.

Freakin banal as hell. Jeez. Rockets and desert test bases? Are they marketing to grownups or children? And everytime I heard the prefix "Re" I thought of Saturn and "Rethink." How'd that work out? Not good. Just like when they tried to reinvent Oldsmobile before that. Has GM not yet learned that apologizing for the past will not increase sales? Who wants to shell out $40 or $50K for a luxury car that has a name that needs an apology? Don't they get it? Not good. Not a good sign. BTW, they came close with the "Moments" spot back in the earlier part of the decade. There was a whiff of apology there too but the imagery, music and iron made up for it. There was emotion. Of course, the LeMans program and XLR in the ad are both dead. At least there's the CTS Coupe which will be old news by the time we see them out on the road. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyYq4_3fw2s

The Enclave is carrying Buick. It's sales were up 40% to 4,103 from last May. The LaX was down 49% and the Lucerne down 28%. For year-to-date the sedans are down 57% and 43% respectively. Overall, the trend is still down like it has been for years. GM has GOT to do something about regaining Buick's mojo, its public perception. Same for Cadillac. One way would be to combine the two lineups, call it Cadillac or Buick, and then promote the heck out of it. Otherwise, even with the benefits of bankruptcy, we're looking at both brands fading away for good.

What could Buick do to fill Pontiac's shoes? It's not even a legit question at this point. GM is staring down the bankruptcy barrel. As Chrysler is about to demonstrate this is a time to reset the company and do everything right as if you were starting a brand new company. Chevrolet handles what Pontiac did just fine. GM doesn't have unlimited resources for chasing down BMW and Mercedes with Cadillac. Select Cadillac vehicles (new SRX, Converj and maybe a less expensive GMT900 Escalade) should be moved over to Buick. Cadillac should be cancelled. It's either Cadillac or Buick, and I think Buick can pull off sharing parts and platforms with Chevy better than Cadillac. Plus, the automotive center of the universe is moving to China. Buick can build on that. GMC. What do you think the future is for trucks in a more stringent CAFE world? Phase out GMC Chevy clones, move all medium-duty trucks to GMC and spin off the medium trucks to someone else. Retrench with Chevy Trucks to beat Ford, Dodge and Toyota. Bottomline 2 channels: Chevy and Buick.

There's only room for either Cadillac or Buick at this point. Both brands are essentially 2 or 3 vehicle brands now, and GM doesn't have the money to have Cadillac do battle with the Germans internationally. 2 or 3 vehicle brands just won't be able to cut through the media din. The future is China and the Chinese apparently like traditional American car values (ride over handling). As crazy as this sounds, GM should use bankruptcy to take the very best Buick dealers and the very best Cadillac dealers and make them all Buick dealers with an 8 or 9 near-luxury vehicle lineup (300K+ sales). It's more believable to make Buicks from Chevys than Cadillacs with Chevys. That's what GM will have to do. LaCrosse (EpII) Buick "SRX" (Theta) Enclave (Lambda) Buick "CTS" (based off Camaro) Buick Park Avenue (based off Camaro) Buick Riviera "CTS Coupe" (based off Camaro) Buick "Escalade" (GMT 900) Buick "Converj" All out advertising effort with Buick promoting its comfort, styling and international appeal. Ditch GMC and polish the Chevy Truck brands even if that means picking up 1/4 to 1/3 of former GMC buyers. Truck sales are not the future and don't require two brands.

The savings from being able to close at least two underutilized and unprofitable plants that produce mainly Pontiacs (Wilmington and Orion) won't be small. Plus the millions spent on all the ridiculous advertising trying to convince the general population that Pontiacs are much more than just Chevy reskins. News Flash kids: Pontiac died 30+ years ago.

Where are you getting your numbers? Or are you just comparing the M3 to the CTS-V? Yes, I agree the CTS and CTS-V are fine cars.

The CTS and Sigma are fine products. But no one but no one believes that Cadillac has the same prestige as BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or even Audi. It all boils down to how the owner feels when he pulls up to the valet at the country club. The product can be great all day, but if the general perception isn't there it won't help sales. Cadillac just doesn't have that "I'm a success" factor anymore. It's like the true story of the XLR owner who was approached by a Mercedes SL owner. The SL owner said he loved the look of the XLR and would love to buy one. But he said he just didn't have the guts. How's the XLR doing now? The SRX and STS were both admitted sales disappointments. This is not conjecture and not a secret. Cadillac destroys its competition? The BMW 3 Series outsells the CTS 2 to 1. The sales numbers below tell the story. Despite an excellent Lutz refresh the CTS is doing about as well as it did when it was intro'd under Ron Zarella. 2005 CTS 61,512 2005 STS 33,497 2005 SRX 22,999 total 2005 Sigma = 118,008 2008 CTS 58,774 2008 STS 14,790 2008 SRX 16,156 total 2008 Sigma = 89,720 Can you run a factory building a dedicated platform at an entry-lux price point profitably at 100K units? Industry rule-of-thumb says no. And sorry, but the DTS does not compete in the same market as the S-Class or 7-Series. They're not even in the same price class. You're dreaming if you think a new GM will have the cash to mobilize an all-out assault on BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, and Audi. Just not going to happen. Europeans have rejected Cadillac, Americans are lukewarm to it and the Chinese prefer Buick.

Here's a contrarian thought nobody sees coming....maybe Cadillac should be ditched in favor of Buick??? GM has failed miserably to get Cadillac anywhere on the same plane as BMW and Mercedes in terms of prestige. It's probably an impossible mountain to climb given the investment required and GM's financial situation. Buick, on the other hand, is also lower than it should be in terms of perception, but the difference between where it is now and where it could be as a "deluxe" brand isn't as large as where Cadillac is now and where it needs to get to for growth and parity with the Germans. Add to that, Sigma has been a disappointment sales-wise and probably profits too. It just didn't deliver like they thought it would. The large sedan market is rapidly contracting so cars like the DTS are doomed. Chevy-based Escalade has been the most successful Cadillac image-builder lately, but its glory days are past. Undoubtedly, whether it's Cadillac or Buick, the second GM division's future is tied heavily to Chevrolet. Probably an easier and more cost-effective mission for Buick. Chevrolet and Buick???

Not yet. But don't be surprised when SAIC buys out GM's share of their China JV including Buick worldwide as a part of GM's Chapter 11 filing. It also wouldn't surprise me if the Chinese decided they weren't interested in GM's NA Buick network given the lack of growth potential here (in fact decades-long contraction!) versus expansion opportunities in China.

Seriously, even if bankruptcy is relatively quick the new GM will be under pressure to cut what is unprofitable. So, is the Lansing Cadillac plant profitable now? How much less so will it be when the old SRX and STS go out to pasture? Is the CTS and its niche coupe and wagon variants enough to justify the plant? With GM= Epic Fail in the minds of buyers will anything but Chevrolet be left standing 2 years from now?

Exactly. Pontiac and the rest of the "divisions" have been dead or doomed for 30 years+ now. Even Chevy and Cadillac are not safe given the brand abuse they've suffered over the years. Sure, they'll survive the bankruptcy but will they thrive? I doubt it.