Daewoo/Holden/Pontiac merge into Holden Brand (3 Brands become 1 brand) These three brands currently sell similar products. Take three regional players and merge them together under the strongest brand which is Holden. This would introduce a new player to the U.S. market and give the former Pontiac brand more vehicles and a new purpose. The internationalization of the auto market requires that these type of brand-mergers become a reality.

GMC and Chevrolet merge into Chevrolet Brand (2 brands become 1 brand) most GMC and Chevrolet Vehicles overlap and are essentially rebadged copies, make it easier and consolidate into the stronger Chevrolet Brand.

Hummer and Saab sold either jointly or separately to a private equity firm or other automaker. (2 brands divested) Hummer and Saab both require huge sums of investment in their product lines, it makes the most sense to sell these two brands either together or separately at market value.

Opel/Vauxhall/Saturn merge to form Opel (3 brands become 1 brand) All of these brands essentially sell similar products. Take these three regional brands and form a strong international player under the Opel brand name. Saturn as a brand in the U.S. has no relevance but the opel logo and insignia could reinvigorate the entire company and product line.

* Possible that Buick as a brand could also be dissolved as they only sell three different vehicles and do not have a strong presence in their operating market. I could see this brand being totally phased out by 2020, the other GM brands would more than make up for the loss in product/branding. This would also allow GM to focus on the core Cadillac/Chevrolet brands and their newly minted international brands of Holden and Opel

Goals:

Reduce duplicative brand management

Reduce duplicative factories producing the same cars under different brand names.

Create strong global players in the automotive business, no more regional brands for GM

Realize economies of scale from consolidation of brand management, advertising, dealership networks.

The above mentioned steps seek to consolidate the GM brand network and dealer network into a more nimble organization. These mergers of core brands eliminate costly dealer-lawsuits from shuttering a brand, while being able to invest in our core surviving brands. The steps outlined above are far overdue and could be the jolt GM needs in order to reinvigorate their core business. The above outlined plan takes 10 brands and marketing strategies and whittles them down to 3 global brands.

The surviving names will be able to receive more attention and investment from GM and will be able to produce more relevant products. By merging brands and product lines the cost to GM can be drastically slashed since most brands carry similar products under different brand names.

The surviving corporate brands would be Buick,Chevrolet, Holden, Opel, and Cadillac, a drastic and necessary shift in response to market realities. I believe the plan put forth is the best way forward for GM and allows it to realize its many core strengths and keep their most prestigious brands. By cutting the brand and dealership network and merging divisions significant synergies and cost savings can be formed it also allows GM to better respond to market shifts and changes in consumer tastes. This way forward plan seems as though the least harsh and one that could provide the quickest results to the company.

This brand consolidation will streamline the entire company allow GM to get rid of non-core factories and duplicative management for its stable of 12 brands and allow the company to better focus on core brands. Toyota does with three brands, what GM attempts to do with 12. GM needs to keep 4 to 5 core brands and then heavily invest in creating a full line up for each of their strength brands. 2-4 good cars per brand does not do well anymore. This is not the 1950’s and GM’s dated brand strategy must go.

There will be immediate and long terms savings goals from factory/management consolidation of these many brands. Since a lot of the brand consolidation mentioned revolves around brands that each sell the same products under different brand name banners the consolidation should be common sense and is long overdue.

In addition to those mentioned steps GM must go through its line up and cut underperformers from production, do you really need 5 types of GMC Yukon’s to choose from? A faster switch to flex fuel automobiles and hybrid power trains will lift the company and boost sales, but GM must also cut most of its behemoth SUVs from the lineup to focus on fuel efficient crossovers. The changes we have experienced with gas prices and the automotive market are here to stay, it is time GM realized that.

I believe if all of the consolidation steps above are taken and GM invests in those core brands and introduces new products while streamlining factories and duplicative management that they will ultimately become a stronger corporation than even Toyota is today.

No way buddy you blew it!

Static I think you’re quite wrong on this one. It would clearly be better accomplished at gunpoint by the minions of Doctor No using a fast filling indoor pool/tank with no means of escape for BONDholders.

I thought years ago that there would be a day of reckoning when car makers kept pushing the SAAR higher and higher with one round of incentives after another. Then when I thought it was impossible to be repeated another year the incentives got sweeter and it went even higher for a few more years. Of course I didn’t realize that lenders were tossing out money to anybody, liars loans for example, and dumping the paper in opaque tranches to investors backed by opaque instruments sold by AIG, until near the end. I can’t believe I wasted my time actually working for a living, he he.

In any case they made sure that most people who really need a car already have one. With the NA population at this level some car maker will reap huge benefits from pent-up demand if SAAR stays at this level for much longer

GM Volt Fan 79

Greedy yes, but stupid, I don’t know. If you lose a job and tank the world economy but still have $5 million in the bank in a world of lowered expectations and even lower luxury goods prices then maybe you’re not that stupid after all. Wall streeters just made choices from the options they were given. They may of thought the game would continue and they’d cash out with billions at the top of the pyramid, but a few million in the bank is better than most ordinary folks.

I agree. The big questions are when that rebound comes, how rapid is the rise in sales, and what kind of car is purchased. As to when, cars can be pushed on up to 200K or more, with maintenance, so it could be a while. When it comes, one can imagine a big market share for GM, or hardly any share. From initial indications, the latent interest lies more with big vehicles than with smaller ones, though preferences can change rapidly, as we have seen.