I think people might be misunderstanding the word "SHEAD" in the article. I really believe GM has intentions of SELLING one or two of those divisions......not closing them down completely.

Remember when GM announced the CLOSING of Oldsmobile it cost them billions of dollars to "buy-out" the existing dealers (it was based on the dealers annual Oldsmobile sales). AND SOME of the Oldsmobile existing facilities were used for other model vehicle production.If GM, again, closes one or two of the divisions it will again cost them BILLIONS of dollars in immediate funds. FUNDS THEY DO NOT HAVE, even with a "bailout". AND they would still have properties/plants to sell.

However the reverse of this....how do you sell a "failing" asset!!!! GM HAS always sold thier money making divisions/groups (which I think is stupid...because the beginning of this insane sale, GM has gradually disintegrated to the position they are now in).

Also, they could sell Buick to China....who would probably jump at the chance of having the TOTAL production rights to the Asian market as well as an opening into the US market.

And just a piece of personal info........many years ago, when GM finally decided to liquidate Oldsmobile....the initial discussion was to liquidate Pontiac. But a type of thought process occurred which reorganized Pontiac with the responsibility for GMC. Which apparently (and temporarily) saved them.

Just a thought.

 

Hummer is for sale and Saab could be if they can seperate it from Opel.

Pontiac has nothing worth selling.

Saturn could just be turned into Opel America or closed they like Pontiac only have 4 good cars right now and all are Opels.

Right now GM is losing money and it will cost them money to close plants and dealers. But if they are losing more than they will spend to close them there is no choice as to close them.

GM will not sell of China as it is the only growing market they have. THe wose thing that could come is they build Chevys in China and import them if all is lost here in N/A.

The biggest thing that saved Pontiac over Olds is the fact The Grand Am became one of GM's best selling cars in the 80's Add that to the strong sales of the Fiero for the first three years 84-86 and Firebird/ TA Pontiac was out selling most Olds. GMC could have been paired with anyone they had left.

Olds in the 80's named near every car Cutlass [3 or 4 different Cutlasses if I recall] and took their large good selling RWD cars and made them into FWD smaller cars. They lost their identity and peoples preception of what olds once was. It is sad they started to make some nice cars in the last couple years they were around.

GM is down on market share so they do not need as many models, dealers or as much production as they once needed. They need to cut in all areas. The market is competitive and yopu need to go with what is your best players for it.

Chevy can cover value, near luxury and performance while Caddy covers the top end. Buick could still cover the mid luxury market but need some serious new product if they are going to do it. The Lecrosse and Enclave is not going to be enough. I am hoping they get the new Opels to fill out the line up. THe new Opel just won car of the year in Europe.

 

hummer has to go, if they can't sell it, just close it.

buick needs to go, they have nothing really to offer anymore since the Grand National

saab needs to go, remember they just rebadged a WRX for one of their vehicles.

pontiac can stay, their G series is a winner
chevy needs to drop their 6 models per car. no 1ls 2ls 1lt 2lt its too damn confusing.

I think chevy should drop their truck lineup and turn it all over to GMC.

saturn is actually pretty good, they just need to get rid of that damn Astra

Dealers are shutting down, so I dont think a buyout is really needed

 

Buick is going to brcome more Lexus and Acura like. The new Lecrosse is going a new direction including a AWD option. The GN was never really what Buick was all about.


THe WRX Saab has been gone for 2 years and a whole new line new Saab models are coming but they only sell 125,000 cars world wide.

Only the G8 is the only one worth a crap. The G3 is an Aveo, the G5 is a low perfromance Cobalt, The G6 is the poorest Delta platform offering from GM The Vibe is a Toyota.

Chevy trucks stay as they 4 to 1 GMC.

The Astra, Aura, Vue and Sky are the only Saturns worth anyting and they are all Opels.

you may be right on dealers as 7,000 dealers are expected to die this year but not all of them are GM. GM will still need to pare down the number of dealers.

 

hyperv6....

You are probably correct about your assessments for the GM vehicle line for the 80's. But I was referring to the late 90's, early 2000. When GM finally announced the dissolution of Oldsmobile and provided purchasing incentives on those vehicles for the consumer (which resulted in the best years of Oldsmobile sales). Pontiac Division was the group considered for elimination......you know, when GM "powers" decided it was better to brag about market share and take losses on vehicles (i.e. Pontiac LOST $1500.00 ON EVERY FIREBIRD that was sold). However, some strong "arguement" for keeping Pontiac was constructed and they agreed to take responsibility for GMC. Both have floundered since then, however.

As far as China......remember GM ONLY sells money making assets, for some reason......EDS, Hughes, Electro-Motive, Allison Trans and Engines, GMAC all come to recent memory. For the "ol' timers".......Terex, Frigidare, etc. Of course, it would be difficult to sell something that is "worthless".

Anyway it was just a thought. Wall Street and the analysts are indicating GM will announce toward the end of next week. So we will probably know then.

Oh by the way, the wife ordered a 09' Saturn Vue Redline about 2 weeks ago. Build is the first week of December...with delivery before year end. Which will make a nice Christmas present.

 

I worked 12 years for Pontiac and I will always have good memories of the Pontiacs I owned, but if they must go, they must go. But Buick is to popular world wide, especially in China, so I believe it will end up being Chevrolet & Buick dealerships, Cadillac and GMC dealerships, and all the rest will have to go away. Global sales are more important than anything from here on out.

 

we have a sunfire, same as a cavalier. when we drove both, the sunfire had a smoother ride, and more options, at a better price.

compare GMC to chevy trucks, GMC comes with a better engine and more standard features. I believe the base price is cheaper than if you buy a chevy and add the options.

I didn't know about the discontinued wrx, but @125,000 cars thats not profitable.

Buick will never be like lexus, they only have 3 cars in their lineup, the enclave, lacrosse, and lucerne.

they could incorporate the lacrosse and enclave into cadillac and dump the lucerne

 

GM makes a lot of $$ off the Hummer Gov't division (I'm talking real Hummers not those retro Tahoe Hummers).

 

The bottom line regarless of the Firebird was Pontiac was in better shape and sold more cars so Pontiac lived. They were both on the bubble and Pontiac won ion number nothing more noting less. Olds of the 90's was bad and their numbers in the last few years were even worse.

GM is having a hard time selling because no one has money now. There are several who would like thave Hummer but to spend the money now is outr for most auto comapnies Not Nissan is not even going to Detroit to save money.

The new Vue is a nice vehicle and a rebadged Opel. But it is not selling like they had hoped. But the rest of the new Saturns are also not selling as was hoped.

It is hard to say if or when we will know anything. I think this was plan b all along but GM waited to leak the news till needed. Some of the move needed have already been made. No new product for Pontiac other than the G8 and Solstice. THe new Aura was canceled etc. THough they do have a lot of new Saab product coming.

 

I have been able to meet a lot of top GM people over the years. Some really nice fun people too.

One told me somthing I am sure you know working for Chevy.

"Chevy sells more cars so Chevy gets more say at GM"

At one time I though Buick would die in this country but I agree it looks like it might be saved with the used of Buicks they used in China.

They are quiet on GMC but I think in the end they may kill it if truck sales drop. Now if they stay up it will live. Volume has saved GMC this long.

The bottom line is if it is not sold globally it will not be sold at all. The Chevy Cruze is a good example of that. Europe and Korea is getting it even before us.