Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp
Because the brand itself sucks. People know Chevrolet. Far fewer know Saturn.
So basically get rid of the best known brands and keep the ones that are marketed towards niche markets? Get rid of the iconic Corvette?
The high end is where the big money is. If they can come up with a product the public wants those brands still have value.
Chevy needs to be the mainstream brand and it can sell the Opel products that make sense to sell, like Ford does with its European products. Ditch Pontiac and Saturn.
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Chevy may be the better known brand, but its known as being junk, aside from a few icons, like the Corvette and Camaro. (I actually forgot about the Vette, I'd keep it around too). What Ford did right, is kept the Mercury as the inferior versions of the Ford models. Thus, when they ditched Mercury (in Canada), they weren't as tainted. GM did the opposite, and kept the sportier/more luxurious versions as Pontiac, rather than Chevrolet. People who know GM, know that Pontiac and GMC are the better brands. They're likely to think this will continue, except without the choice to upgrade.
I guess it really depends how ambitious they want to be in the rebuild. The "niche" brands are churning out better cars. Even if you renamed the Saturn Astra to Chevrolet Astra, the stigma continues that Chevy = Junk. As for replacing Pontiac, if they can convince people the Chevs are now the old Pontiacs but at increased price, go for it. They'd have to come out with yet another all-new line.
As for the high end = big money... this is true, if you have something that caters to the market and can compete. Right now, once they cross the 60k threshold, they are competing with vehicles that are frankly, outright superior. BMW X5 or Chevy Tahoe? Porsche Cayenne or Cadillac Escalade? Mercedes CLK or Corvette? Maybe the last one on sentimental value, but thats it.