Alittle disconcerning

[96ImpSS]

Check this out, this might interest Buick or Pontiac buyers.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/29/Autos/buick_pontiac_future/index.htm

[BigAls87Z28]

WTLW Scott.
No, its not going to happen tomorrow, but Pontiac and Bucik are becoming less and less useful in GM's line up. With Saturn moving up into a sporty Euro type car, that should take up both Pontiac and Buick's job, while the rest could be taken by Caddy(top end) and Chevy (low end).

[NJSPEEDER]

at teh same time gm is makign all these moves to try to change caddy into a sport/luxary company and saturn into a non-econobox brand gm is forcing their own market share.
once upon a time there was a clear progression through teh gm brands. but since the 80's they have started to cross market so many of teh exact same vehicle under so many banners that teh identity of each brand has nearly vanished.
other than pontiac keeping most of it's "excitement" division image there is really no distinction between most of teh marks. pontiacs big marketing mistake seems to be pricing themselves out of their own market for teh most part.
buick jsut got lost with a stale image somewhere in between olds and pontiac. with no unique model or advertising campaign they really have no place to go but down.
gm is managing to kill itself one nameplate at a time by not letting teh brands compete with each other. competition is healthy between marks when sharing platforms. it creates a distinct image for each brand that people can grab a hold of. that is not true of teh generic marketing that gm uses today. [/rant]

later
tim

[BigAls87Z28]

Why have brands compete with eachtother? Why waste teh time to have the same car across 2 or 3 brands? Why waste the money?

I think that in time, GM needs to cut down on middle management, people that hold down and stall major projects or do last min 180*'s on cars.

Example is Bob Lutz approved the Cobalts interior materials and quality, but someone in middle mangement overruled Lutz due to cost, therefor slowing down the process. Lutz had to go back into the ****, wasting more time and money, and overrule the middle management's choice for cheaper materials.

IMO, Pontiac and Buick no longer have meaning. Tell me what seperates Buick from Chevy? What seperates Pontiac from Saturn?
With Sky vs Solstice, Impala vs Grand Prix, Aura vs G6...why have the Pontiac/Buick version?
Only reason to keep Pontiac is that its the #2 car seller for GM. Its going to take a lot to cut off both. If GM's market share drops below 22%, expect drastic cuts.

[96ImpSS]

I hate to see either one of them go, both divisions have put out some really awesome cars. I guess thats to be expected growing up in a GM town.

[Fasterthanyou]

{Buick Pontiac Saturn } Buntiturn
{Chevy Cadillac} Chevillac
Problem solved.