GM WILL CONSOLIDATE MODELS!

From DealersEdge.com

General Motors has announced that only two of its vehicle lines - Chevy and Cadillac - will offer a full array of models, while the remaining brands will have more limited product lines, according to a report in the Detroit News. The stated goal is to rejuvenate sales, reduce marketing and production costs, and to build brand identity.

The move is a dramatic change from GM's long-held philosophy that every brand should offer a full array of cars, trucks and minivans, noted Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing.

Chevrolet and Cadillac will become "bookend" brands, with each offering a broad product lineup. In between, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Hummer and Saab will exist as "focus" brands with more limited portfolios.

That means, for example, GM could eliminate either the Buick Terraza or Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan -- which are similar to other GM minivans -- to concentrate on the brands' bread-and-butter vehicles.

A key part of the strategy has been the ongoing transformation of Pontiac, Buick and GMC into a single sales channel where all three brands are sold at the same dealership. GM says the three brands complement each other and give customers myriad options.
About half of the GM dealers selling the three brands already have reconfigured their stores to sell all three, Mr. LaNeve said.

The effect, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, is downsizing without eliminating brands as some analysts have predicted.