Outlook's Not Good for Acadia. Or GMC.
When GM announced the Traverse, they insisted the new Chevy was different enough from the GM's three Lambda-platformed CUVs that it wouldn't cannibalize sales. It looks like they were right; there won't be anything left to cannibalize. GMINsidenews is reporting that neither the GMC Acadia (the best-selling Lambda flavor) nor the Saturn Outlook (the worst selling) will make the cut. That'll leave only the Buick Enclave and the Traverse to carry the Lambda Gen 2 banner. GM's answer to the slow-selling Honda Ridgeline, the Lambda SUT (due in 2011-2012) will also lose the GMC variant; the Chevy SUT will be GM's only entry in the almost-but-not-quite-a-pickup-truck market. All this leaves only one new GMC product in the pipeline: the GMC version of the Pontiac version of the Chevy version of the Theta CUV (Equinox). Clearly, GM's decided to starve GMC to death. The question is: do they have enough time?
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@Dave M.: But certainly it doesn't warrant an entire brand, rather than just redesigning the grille?
For God's sake, GM's fighting for its life, and what do they do? bring out a FOURTH VERSION OF THE SAME CUV! The other three aren't selling well enough, so let's dilute the brand with v4.0. They need 2 versions, at the very most. One a Chevy and one a Buick. Basic and Luxe. Duh. GMC serves no purpose other than to charge more for the same truck. What's the old joke? A GMC is a Chevy with lockwashers. The only reason GMC exists is so that Buck/Pontiac dealers have trucks to sell. Kill it. Now.
OK, You are at the helm of GM. It's time to swing the axe. What do you keep beyond Chev and Cadillac? Ultimately I doubt any other division can survive, but can we determine the order in which they will be cut? I suspect there will be two to three smaller bloodlettings, not a wholesale elimination. This does have the advantage of focusing the minds of politicians, but the disadvantage of alarming potential customers. Since only the government, and not paying customers can save GM at this point, I think we get a drawn out operatic swoon, not a matter of fact downsizing. After all, at this point the only people whose nuts aren't in a vice are the clowns running things. Win or lose, they get paid. Absolutely everyone else is playing chicken.
Leave it to GM to kill the best selling variation of a clone... Kill the Outlook, there arent enough saturn buyers who will spend 30k or more on a saturn...