Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinjlm
My point about VW’s multiple brands, as well as the other automakers, is not a point about cross-shopping, but more about having brands differentiated by vehicle type or segment (Bentley / Lamborghini / Porsche) and/or geographical region of sale (SEAT in Spain, Skoda in Eastern Europe) and price points (VW / Audi) without significantly cannabalizing each other’s main markets. GM actually does this quite well since dropping Oldsmobile (vs Buick) Pontiac (vs Chevrolet) and Saturn (also vs Chevrolet).
Buick buyers tend not to cross shop Cadillac or Chevrolet. GMC buyers and Chevy truck buyers would seem to overlap, but the whole “Professional Grade” marketing campaign appears to have brought home the higher content message for GMC trucks, because they transact at higher prices and the demographics of the buyers show higher average income for GMC buyers.
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Jim, could you see a point in time where Buick becomes irrelevant? GMC could be replaced by high end Chevrolet’s, but I can agree it’s working so far. It just seems that the two prong, as opposed to four, seems to be more efficient.