GM's plan to get a government bailout by Michael Gauthier November 27, 2008 7:31 PM Filed Under: American, Corporate/Financial, General Motors, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn When the big three went to Capitol Hill looking for a $25 billion dollar government bailout, Congress had a clear message "No plan, no cash". They were given until December 2 to come up with a comprehensive plan of action and if reports out of Detroit are correct GM's plan could call for drastic action. Sources familiar with the plan say the company is studying the elimination or sale of Pontiac, Saab and Saturn. Selling or eliminating the brands would help cash-strapped GM cut production costs and reduce product overlap. The plan also includes measures to cut debt and reduce costs for both current and retired union workers. The oldest of the brands up for review is Pontiac which has an 82 year history as a General Motors brand, in the past year the brand's sales were down 21 percent. The recent dealership tie-up of GMC-Buick-Pontiac could also work against the brand as it would still leave dealers with products to sell if the brand were to be killed off. An elimination of Saturn seems less likely as the brand features a full portfolio of fresh products and strong ties to GM's Opel division. Company officials are currently scheduled to begin reviewing the proposal after the Thanksgiving holiday and then they will present their plans to Congress on December 5.
Like I've said, all they need is Chevrolet, Cadillac and Pontiac. Cadillac = luxury vehicles. Chevrolet = Korean imports, cheap cars, trucks, vans, Camaro and Corvette. Pontiac = Euro and Aussie imports, niches, sport cars, mid range luxury, and anything else in between. Maybe just call Pontiac Holden <A BORDER="0" HREF="http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?displayFAQ=y"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="pitlane/emoticons/wink.gif"></A> Australia just needs Holden, Cadillac, Camaro and Corvette. Europe/UK just Opel/Vauxhall, Cadillac, Chevrolet. I dont know whether they need Saab or not. Leave Buick in China, where it works.
would be cool if some kewl automotive company picked up saab. one of the german companies... just make saab their little off beat scandinavian division.
I wouldn't like to see Saturn dropped. I wish Pontiac could be held on to, but aside from the G8 they don't have a competitive car in their lineup so I see the logic here. Saab, meh, who cares... Why is Buick sticking around?
Doesn't sound bad. Rebadge the G8, rebadge the good Saturns, sell Saab. If gas prices stay down Hummer can probably turn a pretty good profit. I would imagine they can have a pretty good margin on those since they're basically fancied up trucks with big sticker prices.
I'd like to see Pontiac stay, I think they have a good brand identity, if GM would keep the Solstice and bring a few other cars to market to keep the G8 company. As for Buick, I think thay actually do a fairly good business, despite their aging slice of the market. They also sell hugely in China, not that that helps North America much.
No, there really is no point in having three luxury car brands under GM (SAAB, Cadillac and Buick). I think they should scrap SAAB and Buick and concentrate mainly on Cadillac as far as luxury goes. Ditch Pontiac too, (What's the point when there's already Chevrolet) Get rid of Hummer and get rid of GMC The problem with automakers in america is they keep trying to build car-brand identities by the level of supposed luxury their brands offer. I think they should further refine their main brands until they get to the point where their entry level car such as the Aveo, is actually made by GM (and not a rebadged daewoo POS)and competitive against Honda and Toyota (Fit and Echo HB FTW!). I feel like GM slotted themselves under Japanese Import brands by selling cheap POS cars like the Malibu/Impala/Monte Carlo (seriously WTF?) created the image of bargain bin cars, and now found themselves in trouble because nobody wants their stigmatized products. And why are they building musclecars?!?!? note to GM; a refined compact sedan with RWD would sell more units/create a non-redneck cult car status better than a stupid camaro.
Make a limited run of a Pontiac supercar based on the ZR1 and have Pontiac go out in style Saab will get sold, Too bad about Saturn though they were really starting to become cool
I'd agree with you, but as I said, I think Buick does a good deal of business. I agree that Saab should go though. Pontiac is the sporty GM division. Like I said, if they'd introduce a few more models and ditch the bargain-bin crap they have now, I think they'd do well. I had forgotten about GMC. They should've axed it LONG ago.