Saab, Saturn & Pontiac Brands Face the Chopping Block

Pontiac is easy to save and its painful to see how GM remains so 1970s stupid about them. Pontiac is GM's BMW. Buick has no place today and should be axed except for in China where they think its still a brand that shows wealth. Pontiac should be all RWD, more upscale than Saturn but not so high as Cadillac, and be marketed as an innovating stylish American company that is not going to rely on past glory (aka Ford).

SAAB needs to be sold as Ford found with Jaguar, having it was redundant with their existing brands. SAAB could actually be the one to really trive of all three mentioned with their development of AWD (finally!), history, reputation for quality & safety, and quirkyness to just go after BMW.

Its easy to hate on GM, but anyone who wants them to fail will cut off their nose to spite their face. we need GM in America and we need GM to stop being so arrogant and stupid.

They should start by killing Hummer. It is a PR nightmare.

People dis GM over Saab, but Saab wasn't exactly flying high when they bought it and FWD premium brands can only go so far (e.g., Volvo, Acura, etc.).

I don't follow the sales between their divisions, but Pontiac seems like a good candidate for elimination given Buick's popularity in China.

This would leave them with Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Saturn, and Opel. (That still seems like a lot.) Let them cut the corporate jets and drastically reduce executive compensation and it might be palatable.

Anyway, there's more to get rid of.

Sell Hummer. Sell Saab. Sell brands from the past, like Oldsmobile and Geo, and even names, like the BelAir or the Firebird. It will hurt, but maybe even sell the Corvette name, since it's been marketed as a separate brand in markets abroad.

Cut even more product overlaps. In the US, leave trucks for GMC only. In Europe, don't let Chevy get in the way of Opel. In Latin America, start selling korean Chevy cars instead of simplified Opels with high adaptation costs.

Simplify, reinvent and, most of all, stop thinking as a number one and start planning like a newcomer.

I know, I know, not that simple in real life, but... I don't see the General considering half of it.

Watch Hyundai or Nissan, GM, and learn.

Chevrolet: American mainstream brand selling in the Americas and Asia-Pacific region. Would sell cars formerly marketed under Holden, Pontiac, Hummer, GMC.

Cadillac: Premium brand for Chevrolet & Opel(much like today) marketed worldwide. Sell cars formerly built by SAAB.

With just these three brans, it will be greatly simplified, with each of the three selling passenger cars, SUVs, and utility vehicles. Better having three distinct brands than nine mixed ones.

Kill Buick- Kill Pontiac- Kill Saturn

Sell SAAB