Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 10:51:17 GMT From: "Jeremy Brown" <Jerem43nospamcom> Subject: Re: GM File for Chapter 11 on the 18th of October????
The Money article said that they will probably start shutting down the smaller marks, specifically Buick. Buick, like Oldsmobile before it, is viewed by many as a tired brand here in the US. They suggested that GM would probably go with five major brands- Chevy as their mainstream, Caddy as the luxury, GMC as their commercial line, Pontiac as the performance group and Saturn as the economy line. Hummer, Saab and Opel/Vauxhall/Holden (OVH for simplification) were really not discussed. If they are going to kill another mark, I would think they would elimnate OVH or sharply reorganize the OVH low- and mid-tier brands in favor of Chevy. It would be a logical move on their part as OVH are "local" brands, each being (mostly) limited to one of GM's geographical markets. Chevy is currently found in three of GM's six markets- The EU, North & South America. Chevy and OVH have very similar reach of products though the low- and mid-tier levels, with OVH having some higher end products that would be Buick or Caddy in the US. Holden already has product overlap with Chevy and Pontiac in the US. By merging OVH's low- and mid-tier levels with Chevy it would establish two things- a single international brand in all six markets and a simplified product offering. The OVH top-tier brands could become the equivalent of Caddy of Europe. I now many view the OVH brands with some scorn overthere, but with some serious work, the marks could be revitalized much like Caddy was here in the US. Saab is a bit of red-haired step child in GM and I honestly do not know what they will do with it. GM currently aim it as a competitor of Volvo and Audi here in the States. It is their only European mark in this hemisphere. In fact, Saab is GM's only European brand that has worldwide brand recognition in all six of its markets, which I see as a plus for the brand as an ongoing product. It is a rather American POV, but GM is still a US company. Also, according to an AP wire report this morning, the UAW and GM have reached a tentative agreement to restructure healthcare cost. The Union will be picking up about 25% more of the costs associated with its members, their families and retirees. Jeremy "NeedforSwede2" <carl.robsonnospamcing-czechs.com> wrote in message news:MPG.1dbe220b3ef81e37989adcnospam.individual.net... > In article <3rK4f.447668$5N3.294672nospamsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>, > Jerem43nospamcom says... > <snipped> > >>My sources for this were the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News and Money Magazine >>from some time in June of this year. >>(Delphi used to be DELCO which stood for Dayton ELctronic COmponents, I >>believe) >> > Thanks Jeremy. > It isn't looking good, looks like some of the less mainstream brands may > get moved along then. > -- > Carl Robson > Car PC Build starts again. http://smallr.com/rz > Homepage: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com
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