- Jan 7, 2002
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Only two of General Motors Corp.'s eight brands -- Chevrolet and Cadillac -- will remain full-line marques while the others will offer more limited product lines under a new strategy aimed at building sales, cutting costs and bolstering brand identity.
The move marks a shift away from GM's long-held philosophy that nearly every brand should offer a full array of cars, trucks and minivans, said Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing.
The automaker's goal is to clearly differentiate each of its brands and phase out cars and trucks that don't fit in with a brand or are too similar to other vehicles in GM's lineup.
"People say we have too many brands," LaNeve said in a recent interview. "We have too many brands if we try to do the same things with all the brands."
GM is revamping its sales and marketing strategy in an effort to reverse sliding sales and U.S. market share.
Analyst Jim Sanfilippo of AMCI Inc. in Bloomfield Hills said he believes the changes are necessary and could pay off for GM.
"It's like (GM Chairman and CEO) Rick Wagoner and LaNeve putting bricks and mortar back together while they're under fire," Sanfilippo said.
LaNeve said mass-market Chevrolet and premium Cadillac will be the two bookend brands, with each offering a broad product lineup.
In between, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Hummer and Saab will exist as "focus brands" with more limited portfolios.
That means, for example, GM could eliminate either the Buick Terraza or Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan -- which are similar to other GM minivans -- to concentrate on the brands' bread-and-butter vehicles.
Pontiac, GM's performance division, is dropping the Bonneville full-size car at the end of this model year and may see its product line further truncated.
GM is repositioning Saturn as a more upscale brand below Buick, leaving behind its past as a purveyor of plastic-clad compact cars. http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0505/19/A01-187008.htm
The move marks a shift away from GM's long-held philosophy that nearly every brand should offer a full array of cars, trucks and minivans, said Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing.
The automaker's goal is to clearly differentiate each of its brands and phase out cars and trucks that don't fit in with a brand or are too similar to other vehicles in GM's lineup.
"People say we have too many brands," LaNeve said in a recent interview. "We have too many brands if we try to do the same things with all the brands."
GM is revamping its sales and marketing strategy in an effort to reverse sliding sales and U.S. market share.
Analyst Jim Sanfilippo of AMCI Inc. in Bloomfield Hills said he believes the changes are necessary and could pay off for GM.
"It's like (GM Chairman and CEO) Rick Wagoner and LaNeve putting bricks and mortar back together while they're under fire," Sanfilippo said.
LaNeve said mass-market Chevrolet and premium Cadillac will be the two bookend brands, with each offering a broad product lineup.
In between, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Hummer and Saab will exist as "focus brands" with more limited portfolios.
That means, for example, GM could eliminate either the Buick Terraza or Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan -- which are similar to other GM minivans -- to concentrate on the brands' bread-and-butter vehicles.
Pontiac, GM's performance division, is dropping the Bonneville full-size car at the end of this model year and may see its product line further truncated.
GM is repositioning Saturn as a more upscale brand below Buick, leaving behind its past as a purveyor of plastic-clad compact cars. http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0505/19/A01-187008.htm
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