Wild Ass Rumor of the Day: GM Axing GMC And/Or Pontiac?
GMInsidenews.com is quoting sources lacking even the thinnest euphemisms who whisper that Pontiac and GMC both could be on the chopping block. "At the moment," writes "nsap" of GMI, "the GM Board of Directors is leaning toward killing GMC as the brand is made up entirely of rebadges. The Board is also taking into consideration that GMC is mostly trucks and SUV's, both market segments that slowly dwindling." HUMMER is for sure dead (duh), and Saturn may get bumped to the PBG channel if (when) this all takes place. Not only does GMI fail to indicate a source, they attach a disclaimer. "Please remember that all of the above are RUMORS and should not be taken as solid fact." The only thing this rumor has going for it is that it makes a lot of sense. Neither brand really does anything Chevrolet can't, and in bad times that means they're expendable. BUT (caps lock off) GM can't kill anything without killing an entire channel (Buick, Pontiac, GMC)– and facing thousands of lawsuits. Unless they're in bankruptcy.
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Why couldn't you just rebadge the dealers as "Professional Grade Chevrolet Truck" dealers? Probably cheaper to rebadge the dealers, save the money rebadging the trucks and nuking the distribution channel.
As explained in DW181, GM will avoid the cost of closing the brands (like incurred with Oldsmobile) through Chapter 11.
Before the BPG idea was started truck buyers would buy GMC because their dealers were dedicated to truck buyers. Buying a GMC meant you didn't have to wait behind the Chevy car owners to get service. Especially good if you were a commercial buyer.
Okay so they kill off Pontiac and GMAC. That kills a long list of dealers too which is a good thing. Why not remove any duplicate entries in the GM lineup and then sell them ALL under one roof? The G8 is different from any other North American GM vehicle so we keep it. Ditto on the G6. However the G5 is just a Cobalt so kill it off. Maybe folks would like the different trim packages of the Cobalt and G5 and they could sell them side by side, admitting they are the same car with different trim packages. Keep the Saturns but kill off that big snout minivan that all the divisions sell. Sell it only as a Chevy. Then the consumer could walk onto a lot and see 35 different products and choose from that. There are real choices to be had. Not this big long confusing product catalogs that the average consumer barely understands. They would see a big shiny GM logo on the sign with all the division names listed under the logo on the pole. The facade of the building would repeat those name all around the front. GM could quit the divide and conquer business model. People would go to the GM dealer to see all the choices and discover models they did not know existed. The better dealers would survive. The crummier dealers would sucum. I mean if they kill of GMAC and Pontiac a whole lotta dealers are going to die anyhow... I suspect though that GM will have to declare bankruptcy to really change their business model - shed the UAW, shed all sorts of legacy contracts and benefits, shed all sorts of franchise agreements... Then they reorganize and come back a fighter which can make money on cars big and small. On the other hand maybe the end is near for gasoline powered vehicles thanks to technolgy and the internet (people getting the straight scoop on EVs) and they know they will have to be a much different company as well as big oil will have to change their business plan too.