thegriffon

BTW, all this is done with a minimum number of platforms and even with unlisted trucks is far fewer models than Toyota offers (already many more than GM). small cars, crossovers and SUVs are on Global Small Car (aka Gamma), compact cars and MPVs on Global Compact (Delta), mid-large fwd cars on Global Midsize (Epsilon), Mid-large Crossovers and MPVs on Theta-Epsilon, C- and D-segment rwd on Alpha, and mid-large rwd cars and unibody trucks (Escalade, etc.) on Sigma2. Lambda becomes a lwb version of TE (as originally planned it was Epsilon-wide). Mid-large commercial vans would be either on TE and the new large truck platform, or on the shared Renault LCV platform. The major exceptions are the Celta-Prisma platform—an older version of Gamma, and the small rwd vans supplied by SGMW (the N200 and possibly larger vans rather then MPVs).

Only that people will buy a premium small car.

No, they think Americans want bargain-basement pricing in their cars. The interiors are just the result.

I think you should re-read my post. I am not assuming GM is making money on cars. That is the very problem—GM's margins are not high enough to support adequate marketing. Cutting a brand is not going to help this however. Cutting a brand means lost volume, which means lost revenue (not profit, revenue), which means less money to support the remaining brands, not more. By the logic you espouse GM needs to shut down all of its North American sales operations. It may come to that. Now, developing a unique set of vehicles architectures for Pontiac cannot be supported. It probably can't be supported for Cadillac just yet either, which is why I would like them to share Alpha and Sigma2 with Pontiac, Buick and Holden (like they were supposed to from the start). I think you are overestimating how many sales Chevy would gain from the shutdown of Pontiac, Saturn or Buick. Almost all the volume generated by these divisions would be lost. Forever. You don't think the volume loss after shutting Oldsmobile wouldn't happen with any other division? The new Malibu is a castly improved model, which had heavy marketing at the expense of other GM sedans at it's launch. did it make one iota of difference? Despite the spin, no, none at all. the "increases" are from the nadir set last year, well below previous levels. The new model is not doing as well as the old one, not as well as the older, less promoted G6. It's a bit of a stretch to say all (how many? It's 4, not 6—Malibu, G6, Aura, and 9-3) Epsilon models overlap in price. The G6, Aura and Malibu are all the same price. They should not be, under any circumstances. Overlap perhaps, but then so do the Camry, Avalon and ES350. So do the Accord, TSX and TL. The problem is not too many divisions, it's a mindset of bargain-basement pricing in the North American market. GM has conditioned people to expect it and is too scared to change it. Not surprising given the howls of protest every time they try and increase pricing. Chevy should be the only "bargain" division, priced consistently below Nissan, Toyota, and Honda. Saturn should be priced against Toyota, Pontiac higher again (e.g. the G8 is $3K underpriced), and Buick higher again. Saab should be just under the price of other European luxury marques, and Cadillac should be right at that level. GM's NA pricing structure is all wrong, but it's not because they have too many brands, it's because they were badly managed, well before Wagoner took over. GM needs to ratchet up pricing of higher brands substantially, even if they sacrifice sales. It can be argued the low pricing actually undermines sales, because it's hard to be taken seriously as a premium brand when you are priced against bread and butter models in the same size segment. There are continual signs the strategy board understands this, but it's always undermined by engineers, dealers and sales managers who aren't ready to adjust.

The simple answer is—as much as anyone else spends to market a comparable model with similar sales—Avalon, Passat, MKZ, Maxima. The LaCrosse is GM's only entry in that segment, and that isn't likely to change with the new model. GM doesn't have that money, but it has nothing to do with the number of dealerships, the number of brands, or the number of models. GM should be making enough money on each vehicle to market it at the same level as it's competitors—none of which consistently sell any better than the LaCrosse. Your statistic only highlights the fact that GM has too many dealers left over from when Buick sold over a million vehicles a year. Too many of those are quite happy to sell one or two vehicles a month, and aren't interested in buyouts at a level that a larger dealer nearby will view as reasonable, given their low volume. That's not something you can blame Wagoner or Cowger for, that's just another legacy issue GM has been struggling to rectify. Why do you think they like Saturn better? No bloated dealer network to supply, better customer relations etc.. Think about it for a moment—no-one does a lot of brand advertising. Ever. They advertize individual models, a lot, and not all models either. If an individual model has the sales to support marketing, then there is no point in cutting the brand. You save on advertising, but your development costs do not change much, and the sales revenue that you lose, however inadequate, is far more than your saving in advertising. You end up upside down on your cost savings. It's not a new concept. GM has recent experience in cutting Oldsmobile, cited by LaNeve, and it occurs in other industries as well. You can't cut back product lines to regain profitability. It doesn't work. What GM needs to do is raise transaction prices, margins, and profits per vehicle. That means reducing daily rental sales, raising prices, raising perceived value etc., each of which GM has been trying to do. It may very well be a losing battle, negative perceptions being so ingrained, so cherished by too many people in NA. Despite the spin about doubling sales, the Malibu is a sales failure—the G6 still sells better, and sales are not really any better than they have been in the past. The marketing wasn't bad, the vehicle was good enough, in may areas class-leading. And yet it is not and probably never can be good enough, no matter how much money they invest in development and marketing. If it got 1000 mpg, repaired itself, made a Rolls look cheap and nasty, felt like you where flying instead of driving, and performed CPR if you had an accident, they probably still couldn't sell them with the greatest advertising campaign ever. GM in NA has been fighting a rear-guard action against overwhelming odds. Despite a number of mistakes, none of which any of you have pointed out, they are doing surprisingly well. Time will tell if it's enough. They are doing the right thing promoting their fuel economy, but I doubt enough people will believe them, no matter how good the campaign.

Different price points. I doubt there will be any overlap. As for Buick v Saab, still different price points. A smaller Saab 9-3 is a similar price to a LaCrosse, which will be as big or bigger then the much more expensive 9-5. The 9-3 will downsize slightly, moving away from the midsize TSX/A4/159 (the latter currently priced similarly to the Passat and Insignia), and closer to the 3-Series and IS. Effectively the 9-X then previews the 9-3 (although the latter will remain sedan, cabrio and wagon), and Saab can offer the 9-1 as an economical subcompact to rival the A-Class, A1, Ypsilon and Mini Clubman. The lineup will go something like: Brand A-segment B-segment C-segment D-segment E-segment F-segment Chevrolet Beat Aveo/Groove Cruze Camaro Malibu Impala Saturn/Opel Corsa Astra Insignia Pontiac G5 G6 Buick Delta Alpha Epsilon Saab 9-1 9-3 9-5 Cadillac BT3 CT5/CT6 DT7 Brand C-segment D-segment E-segment F-segment Chevrolet Gamma Captiva Equinox Traverse Saturn/Opel Gamma Vue/Antara GMC Theta Acadia Buick Enclave Saab 9-4X Cadillac SRX Escalade Brand A-segment B-segment C-segment D-segment E-segment F-segment Fullsize commercial Chevrolet Groove N200 MPV7 Express Saturn/Opel Agila Meriva/Combo Zafira T/E MPV Vivaro Movano The G5 and Buick Delta will not be sold in the same markets, and ideally the G6 would be downsized away from the Invicta/Lacrosse and become the NA version of the Buick Alpha. Saab should offer a 9-2X Gamma-SUV, or a 9-2 hatch based on Delta between the 9-1 hatch and 9-3 sedan. Although volumes are declining a cheaper 4- and 6-cylinder Buick Park Avenue should underpin the DT7. I fully expect the next Malibu and Impala to be downsized so that both can be built on Epsilon II, and the Invicta may be noticeably bigger than the next G6. Note that there is a big gap in Chevrolet's MPV/LCV lineup: ideally the Gamma-SUV platform would spawn both a compact Chevrolet SUV and a dedicated commercial like the Combo and Transit Connect, which together replace the HHR. A cheaper version of the Opel/Saturn MPV, in both MPV and high-roof cargo van versions should be offered to replace the Venture and Safari, as well as a large MPV developed with Renault-Nissan to replace the Vivaro/Trafic/Astro and Uplander/Quest/Terraza (the latter as a GMC). My Ideal Lineup: Brand A-segment B-segment C-segment D-segment E-segment F-segment Chevrolet Beat Celta Aveo Cruze Camaro Malibu Impala* Saturn/Opel Corsa Astra Insignia Pontiac Ventura Tempest Grand Prix/Safari Buick Century Regal Invicta Electra Saab 9-1 9-2 9-3 9-5 Cadillac BT3 CT5/CT6 DT7 Brand C-segment D-segment E-segment F-segment Chevrolet Gamma Captiva Equinox Traverse Saturn/Opel Gamma Vue/Antara GMC Terrain Acadia Buick Rendezvous Saab 9-4X Cadillac SRX Escalade Brand A-segment B-segment C-segment D-segment E-segment F-segment Fullsize commercial Chevrolet Groove MPV7 Kingswood Chevrolet LCVs N200 Express G10 Express G1500 lwb Express G2500–G5500 Saturn/Opel Agila Meriva/Combo Zafira T/E MPV Vivaro Movano GMC/Buick (China) Vandura Savana/Firstland (luxury MPV) *Impala would be a new vehicle type, a tall MPV-sedan-wagon hybrid primarily for fleet/taxi use. Family/retail buyers will be targeted by the MPV7, Kingswood and Malibu, a large midsize sedan like the G8 and Accord.

Then you're just lucky no-one has forced you to make an emergency maneuver while you where being "lazy". You may not cause an accident, but you're a sitting duck if someone else does. If anything GM has an obligation to make it difficult for you to keep doing that.

As for marketing, well GM can do all they like, but too many people refuse to believe anything good about GM's products. If you try and inform them, they just put their hands over their ears and go "LALALALALALALALALALALALA." E.g. if you tell them the Cobalt has the best highway mileage they say, no that must be pre-2008 figures. If you show them the 2008 figures they say, no that's not real-world, if you show them real-world reporting, they say "no …". It's not simply that they don't believe, they don't want to. It's become an ideological position that you can't argue with. And they are fierce proselytizers as well, voicing their opinion at every opportunity, and denigrating anyone who points out they're wrong on any point. You may as well tell them the earth is round, or the earth orbits the sun.

I think you'll see Pontiac selling smaller cars that will be sold as Buicks in Chinese markets — the compact and lower-midsize models, and perhaps even subcompacts. The 2 major problems with cutting a brand rather than selling it are: you lose revenue as well as cut marketing costs, so your budget actually falls; and you pay an enormous cost in buying out dealers etc.. All the analysts, journalists and armchair pundits can say what they like, but GM knows exactly what it costs having tried it with Oldsmobile. You have to believe they know it won't save them any money or allow them a bigger advertising budget. Aside from Hummer and Saab North America, each division would still be a major automaker in its own right—if GM can't solve the cost problem and make more money per vehicle there simply won't be enough money to properly market anything, no matter how many divisions and models they cut.

Of course they may have decided to only build the Pontiac version, since the Epsilon 1.5 Malibu is still fresh.

Not this Malibu, the Epsilon II Chevy.

Yeah, the press releases state all Tiida's sold in Europe are built a Civac. A Japanese source for the 1.5 L model might be credible, except that the 1.5 L engine is not offered in Europe (it may be offered in other markets served by Japan). It's a 1.6 L engine. For reasons I'm not aware of, a 1.5 L is a fundamental requirement for the Japanese market, but most companies, including Nissan, prefer to offer a 1.6 L engine in export markets if they can. A 1.5 L must be a sub-optimal compromise for regulatory/taxation reasons. If they can justify production of an unconstrained 1.6 L engine as well, they will do so. Nissan offers the HR16, Toyota the new 1.6 Dual-VVT, Subaru a larger 1.6 L boxer 4 instead of the JDM 1.5 L etc.. Even in Korea Daewoo offers a unique 1.5 L version of the GM family 1 block, but the standard 1.6 L for export markets.

The Primera has not been on sale new in the UK for quite a long time. It was last on sale in some Eastern European markets such as Poland, but even there has been unavailable for many months. After all they stopped building them a very long time ago now.

You are mis-informed. European Tiida's are manufactured in Mexico: "This model is already enjoying sales success in Japan and the United States, where it is called Versa. Sales in Europe are expected to reach an average of 30,000 units per year over its lifecycle. Tiida will be built at Nissan’s Civac plant in Mexico."

4x4 sales are growing in Europe, despite a PC backlash by the usual wowsers, but the Land Cruiser (LC Prado in other markets, Lexus GX in North America) and LandCruiser V8 (the regular LC elsewhere) can hardly be called "crossovers". Toyota has only one car smaller than the Yaris in Europe—the Aygo, The iQ arrives some time in the future. Smaller vehicles are generally sold through the Daihatsu and Perodua (Daihatsu Malaysia) networks. Daihatsu develops and builds the only smaller Toyotas sold anywhere (Sirion/Coo/Boon, Materia/bB, Go/Terios/Rush etc.). The new Scion xB will be sold in Europe as the Toyota UrbanCruiser (pretending it is a fwd crossover, although only the badging and engines differ), but is bigger than the Yaris (more in line with European competitors—the the much shorter Yaris hatch is a segment down in size still, but not in price). The Corolla sedan is sold in several European markets, but Western Europeans prefer hatchbacks, so they get the Vibe-based Auris instead (the Corolla Verso is also based on the wider Vibe platform). Even smaller D-segment Japanese cars have not always fared well in Europe. Nissan dropped both the nominally-midsize Primera, and the compact Almera, only later selling the Mexican-built Tiida (Versa) and Sentra in select markets instead, as a vague acknowledgment that the Note B-MPV and Qashqai crossover were not attracting as many C-segment hatch buyers as hoped. Is Chevrolet outselling Nissan in Europe now? Pwned.

Volvo uses a transverse straight six in several models, and the same engine is offered in the Land Rover Freelander 2/LR2.

I'm sure people would love to see the Chevy LUV back again (completely unchanged). Zhongxing has no money for product development and only a very small sales base for a largely underutilized facility. FAW has already bought a pickup/SUV manufacturer, which among other things builds fake Colorados (they only look like Colorados, really they're 20+ yr-old Isuzus). What would either company do? Strip out the tooling and build something else entirely.

1.4

Again, Autoblog not quoting the speech, but adding extra, unconfirmed and probably erroneous information. The actual quote was: "The next-generation Chevy Equinox will begin production in May 2009. It’ll feature a new four-cylinder engine, which will place it among the best fuel-economy performers in its class."

They are misquoting. This was taken from the speech to employees, but Wagoner made no mention of rwd. Autoblog is mistakenly extrapolating from the concept's long wheelbase.

It will have a six-speed auto. The new transmission debuts on the Korean model this year.

The definition of "spin": "The truck market continues to worsen, so unfortunately we must temporarily suspend production. But this good news about production mix demonstrates our long-term commitment to our North American operations…"

"Toyota Announces Changes in North American Production —Prius to Be Built at Mississippi Plant— Tokyo — TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC), with a long-term aim toward enhancing its ability to flexibly respond to rapid fluctuations in North American market demand and toward facilitating a stable supply of North American-made vehicles—announces the following changes to its North American production structure: 1) The currently under-construction Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi, Inc. (TMMMS), which was originally scheduled to produce the "Highlander" SUV, is to instead begin production of the "Prius" hybrid in the latter half of 2010. 2) Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. (TMMI) is to begin production of the Highlander in the fall of 2009. 3) Production of the "Tundra" full-size pickup truck, currently built at TMMI and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc. (TMMTX), is to be consolidated at TMMTX in the spring of 2009. The production of the Prius at TMMMS is to represent the second Toyota hybrid vehicle produced in North America, where Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK) already produces the "Camry Hybrid". In North America, strong demand for hybrid vehicles is expected to continue. Therefore, TMC, as a step toward a more stable North American production structure, intends to respond to customer needs by localizing hybrid vehicle production. The introduction of the Highlander at TMMI and the consolidation of Tundra production at TMMTX are intended to increase efficiencies at both plants and to achieve steady plant-utilization rates. Furthermore, as a response to a rapid fluctuation in truck-market demand, TMC announces that operation of the Tundra and Sequoia production line at TMMI, the Tundra production line at TMMTX and the Tundra and Sequoia engine production lines at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc. (TMMAL) is to be suspended for approximately three months from early August through to November. During this non-production period, employees are to mainly be assigned to participate in "continuous improvement"activities and training. TMC intends to use the opportunity presented by this period to cultivate its employees, with a long-term aim to further increase the productivity of its vehicle production plants in North America." Toyota sales fell more than GM's last month, and I have to say, it seems GM has embraced the new market reality more than Toyota.

Dufus, that is so widely reported as an example of an unsubstantiated urban myth you really should know better by now. It did so well they've used it over and over again already. Only english speakers think it is spanish for "no go". Memories of the last Nova, the rebadged Toyota Sprinter that preceded the Prizm, the Holden Nova, and the Vauxhall Nova are greater problems.

The Ignis was never rebadged as the Cruze. The Cruze was a different vehicle designed by Holden as a Chevy crossover, on the same platform as the contemporary Ignis. Although sold as a Holden for a short time, the Cruze was primarily intended as a mini SUV for the Japanese market, while the Ignis was a standard A/B-segment hatch. Suzuki sold both in the same dealerships until fairly recently (the Cruze longer than the Ignis). Magyar Suzuki in Hungary much later built a longer, lower, wagon version of the Cruze, replacing the previous Ignis as a cheaper alternative to the new Swift.