Wild-Ass Rumor Of The Day: I Got It! What If Buick Sells Opels?
The fate of GM’s dead brands walking generates rumor and hearsay like few other topics. GM is unraveling into a buyers market, and secret talks are typically denied within hours of their leaking. Ironically, one detail that rumors seem to have in common is the proliferation of Opels in the United States. Thus far Saturn has been the defacto donor brand for American Opels, but Motor Trend now claims it “makes sense” for Buick to cover Opel with brand familiarity.
The point of the exercise? Rescue the DOA PBG (Pontiac-Buick-GMC) sales channel. Which means there’s a “huge caveat:” only with a bailout can GM turn PBG into a “middle-priced channel consisting of Opel-based Buicks, a small fleet of sporty and affordable Pontiacs, and more crossovers for GMC.” You know, instead of whatever it is right now. What they mean though, is that if you like the looks of that Opel Insignia, and you want to buy a slightly cornier Buick version someday you should get on the horn with your elected representatives now.
But would Buick really make a better Opel-peddler than Saturn? After all, even MT admits that “Saturn’s 400 dealers are considered the best franchises in the corporation.” Or is this a bailout for every purse and purpose, with Opel’s Euro confections as bait? Either way, by the time GM figures out what label to sell its European offerings under, Ford’s Euro-invasion will have already begun. Oh yeah, and the bailout isn’t a sure thing anymore either.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
Am I the only one here old enough to remember the Opel Kadett of the 1960's sold at Buick dealers? It was the Aveo of its day. Car and Driver did the photo shoot for its road test in a junkyard.
The 60's Kadett was a nice car. But it was never aimed at the US market. It was an entry class car competing with the VW Beetle in Europe and nothing else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp1qeBMllfQ&feature=related
That would be a disgrace to opel. That would associate Opel's cars to people that are at their last stage before death. I really want Opel to break away and sell in the US as a European brand.