Restructuring Brainstorm for GM

[The_Blur]

Leftlane reports that Saturn isn't dead yet. It's a romantic notion, but I can do one better.

Before I continue, I remind you that this, like many of my posts tonight, are the consequence of being up for so long and not leaving the office for so long that I probably belong in bed at a sanitarium. I should probably bring that up to my boss who left me here to work a 16-hour shift.

Here is my crazy-genius idea for GM to survive and compete with the market.

Saturn
Saturn is doing a good job of advertising and redesigning cars to look more impressive. The image of Saturn is one associated with safety, so GM should get back to those classic dent-resistant panels.

On second thought, any brand can do that. We don't want GM to look too bland. Maybe Saturn should be advertised differently. We'll take for granted that the idea of "rethinking American" is planted in the minds of a lot of people. Saturn, after all, has introduced some pretty vehicles recently. Let's now advertise Saturn as out of this world.

This is where it gets fun. No one in America can say that they don't like Ferrari or Lamborghini. The style and shape of these cars is just amazing. Let's imagine that such an angular style can be applied to a 4-banger. There's no law that says angular cars have to have 8-cylinder engines in them, so let's take that shape and put it on a Sky and an Ion. Shorter fronts would still be able to fit the LNF if the driver is seated back a couple of inches, and the rear area that those exotic engines are placed can be a small back seat. Suddenly, you have what I would call mini exotics. They'd cost more than the average economy car, but they would look thousands of times better. Do you remember the Cadillac Cien? Take cues from that, make it smaller, and extend the rear window a little bit. Suddenly, you have my image of an exotic Saturn. No one in this price range will be able to compete with that sort of styling. Production doesn't have to be very high for models shaped that way. Dealers could probably price-gouge and still sell out their lots of these rare-looking Saturns. It's a win for everyone.

Pontiac
This brand should be an American BMW, but it should be priced closer to Chevrolet. GM needs to get its notoriety back, and Pontiac is the ticket to being respected. This is a brand that has a unique style that must be maintained. I would advocate bringing back the GTO based on the Camaro platform. I don't think the Trans Am is an option anymore because there were licensing issues that make that car impossible to try again.

Geo
It's been a long time since anyone talked about Geo. The name of the brand is perfect for a line of strictly fuel-efficient machines. Ford's Taurus recently overcame the stuffy, average tradition of its predecessor, so there's no reason to believe that a dead or dying brand is doomed to stay that way. Geo can be revived as GM's fuel efficient R&D brand, featuring both unique and rebadged vehicles that high exceptional fuel efficiency.

The catch is that none of the brands should have the same hierarchy that Chevrolet or Pontiac have. As we all know, top performers get special labels, like SS, GXP, or Redline. For a revived Geo, the only acceptable performer would be a high-performance alternative fuel car. I'll discuss this in more detail momentarily.

The lineup would be simple. Take all of GM's hybrids and R&D on alternative fuels and put it under the Geo name. The simplicity of organizing all of GM's green activities under this brand would easily take Toyota's thunder. As alternative fuel products become more popular, this brand can expand, and other brands will sell more Geo-inspired hybrids. Enthusiasts are sure to want in on the action as well, so bio-diesel and electric performers are a must for future development. I propose that GM, when it gets into a more stable market position, invests in an all-electric Corvette prototype and badge it as a Geo. Give Tesla a run for its money, and sell it at the same price as that Roadster. It doesn't need to have high-production. This would essentially be a niche brand anyway, but the image would be great for GM.

Chevrolet
Chevrolet has a strong heritage, and it should be that way for a lot of reasons. As the strongest marque in the GM line, Chevy has a family image, a performance image, a luxury image, and a green image. These may come in conflict when you put Aveos next to Suburbans, but they are all good for the brand. Advertising for this brand should be as conflicted as its image. It should have racing Corvettes and family-friendly Uplanders.

Bring back some classics. I want to see a Chevelle in the lineup with cues similar to the Camaro. It should be based off the current G8. There's a lot of opportunity for classics like that to come back.

Chevy should have a direct competitor for the Magnum. That car has been a successful enough muscle wagon to earn a competitor.

Bring back the Tracker. I know that it used to be a Geo, but it was most recently a Chevy, and I'm thoroughly frustrated that GM has no car that competes head-to-head with the Wrangler. The fact is that the Wrangler is a cool, stripped SUV that just looks like a lot of fun. If Chevy could build a small SUV like the Wrangler, it should. I guarantee it would sell in small quantities. A Tracker SS would be a great rival for the SRT division.

Hummer
The alternative to the Chevy Tracker idea is to make a small Hummer that people can actually afford to take off-road. If I had the money for a chrome-plastered Hummer, I guarantee you that I wouldn't be off-roading it. The truth is that those gorgeously ostentatious machines are built for anything, but they don't take anything because people are too scared to get a scratch on their ridiculously expensive dirt monster.

Hummer should build a small SUV. It doesn't even have to be an alternative to the Tracker idea. They can both sell it with different styling. Think of this little Hummer as the H0.5. It'll cost half as much; be half as big; handle half the load. Despite this, it will sell because Hummer's image will be a little greener. This can be produced in the same low volumes other Hummers are produced so that Hummer can keep its niche image.

Additionally, every Hummer should be E85-compatible. It's inexcusable that a brand that wastes so much gas on every trip uses ordinary gas. That's just irresponsible. I also want to see some bio-diesel Hummers in the near future.

GMC Trucks
Sell big trucks, not rebadged Silverados. The Silverado will pass the F150 when GM stops splitting its production with the Sierra. Why wouldn't GM want the top spot in truck sales? Every GMC owner knows that their Sierra is really a poorly disguised Chevy. A lot of GMC guys are Chevy guys who just liked the GMC interior better anyway.

At the very least, dealers that sell GMC should start selling Chevrolet equivalents as an alternative in the near future, fading out GMC over a long period of time. GMC dealers should be independent and sell large, industrial trucks. I'm not talking about pickups anymore.

Cadillac
Build the Cien. That thing is gorgeous. Share the basic design cues of that car with some of the Saturn platforms that I described above. Those same cues can be used in a future generation of the CTS, which could feasibly share the lines with a Saturn. The Saturn would be the average exotic, but the Cadillac would be the one everyone wants. It would be the difference between a Camaro LS and a Camaro SS. Both will sell, but it is clear which one has the better numbers. Cadillac should continue to build these new, angular designs with the best parts, most refined tuning, and luxury-oriented goals. I want to see Cadillac beat out BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes in terms of quality and recognition.

GM Performance Parts
Wheels should be as standardized as humanly possible across all brands. Each brand should have unique wheels, but they should all have comparable lug patters and sizes so that someone could go to GMPP and order a wider range of wheels with optional company or GM center caps. In other words, I want to see that every brand's wheels can be changed with that of another brand. This keeps costs down. There should be as few lug patterns as possible in the GM lineup. They should all be standard sizes that are easy to replace.

GMPP should offer as many performance options as possible. This should make Scion a weak competitor. Kits should be produced for every conceivable design. I want to see DJ kits for HHRs and aftermarket lift kits for Silverados that dwarf the quality of marginal aftermarket companies. These parts and installs from GMPP-authorized installers should be granted warranties for a long period of time to show off GM's confidence in its parts. Such warranties should have special terms, much like the Chrysler Lifetime Powertrain Warranty that only makes guarantees if the car goes through routine checkups.

Aftermarket Compatibility
All automakers are integrating their vehicles so extensively that it is nearly impossible to install aftermarket parts. If GM is the one company that is easy to integrate, then tuners will prefer GM cars. The Cobalt will replace the Civic as the car that every kid wants. While the negative consequence of this is that they will install all sorts of stupid crap on their cars, the upside is that GM will get lots of sales. All the real performance drivers don't like FWD anyway, so the fact that a bunch of immature 16-year-old tuners want American cars shouldn't bother anyone because those reckless idiots that blow their money on aftermarket parts that GMPP should be offering allow for our more powerful cars to exist.

Dealer Enforcement
Your dealer is an idiot; therefore, your dealer should not sell GM cars. I'm so sick of stupid dealers. I know that GM promised the US government that it would cut dealers quickly, but I want GM to take its time. Dealers with poor consumer ratings, regardless of whether they are successful, have to go.

I call it the Wal-Mart problem. When a company, such as Wal-Mart, promises a huge staff to help customers, low prices, and products of equal quality when compared to competitors, it is easy to choose that company. Unfortunately, one of the many reasons that Wal-Mart sucks is that those seemingly hundreds of employees are so busy stocking the warehouse of bargain-priced merchandise that they rarely help customers except to anonymously put merchandise on shelves for customers to buy. Every employee seems to hate his or her job, and the fact that managers have a wage ceiling makes it impossible for many quality managers to stay employed. As a result, the good go elsewhere.

What has happened at many dealerships is that one dealer buys a franchise that sells a GM product and commits to selling the best service and products available. What they forget is that they have to have that passion to serve when they have 15 dealerships and hundreds of salespeople. They take for granted their income and fail to enforce that their employees be good people who truly want to serve their customers. GM must weed out these assholes from their dealer network, even if they sell a high volume of cars, because they represent the worst in the car industry. As GM knows, image is very important. GM is still haunted by an image of mediocrity even in the face of some of the best products to ever hit the roads. GM must eliminate dealerships that have bad reputations.

[CamaroScotty]

slow night at work?

I still think Saturn, Hummer, SAAB, GMC, Pontiac will be dead. Buick will move the big two cars to Chevy for its success oversea's.....

Chevy needs to KILL the Colorado. For the price, you can nearly get a full sized Silverado... No one likes a in line 4 or 5. Bring back the S10, with a 4 cyl and 4.3 V6....to the DAY I have people calling for S10 pickups! Lower priced and better MPG...and since the Ford Ranger is out - there is a huge hole that could be filled. I don't think the Chevelle would come back....another performance car isn't the direction they want to go, now with the Camaro to supplement the Corvette....The CHEVETTE on the other hand.....

With the elimination of the other brands (who have twins to most of the Chevy line up), Chevys will be an easier buy. Tha bad thing is, Chevy won't be able to look to the sister plants to see what issues they had and have with a cureent vehicle, before they build a similar unit (more improved) in their own plants...Like the Malibu (from the Saturn Aura) and the Traverse (from the GMC, Buick, and Saturn).....which seems to have a better ride than the Acadia, from the people I talk to - and could be why these are selling like hotcakes.

anyhoo - there's no easy answer, or a sure thing. What ever they do, it will be a dice roll.

[bigralph]

I think GM needs to offere as a option more AWD cars. for example the cobalt, Malibu, HHR, and act.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

slow night at work?

I still think Saturn, Hummer, SAAB, GMC, Pontiac will be dead. Buick will move the big two cars to Chevy for its success oversea's.....

Chevy needs to KILL the Colorado. For the price, you can nearly get a full sized Silverado... No one likes a in line 4 or 5. Bring back the S10, with a 4 cyl and 4.3 V6....to the DAY I have people calling for S10 pickups! Lower priced and better MPG...and since the Ford Ranger is out - there is a huge hole that could be filled. I don't think the Chevelle would come back....another performance car isn't the direction they want to go, now with the Camaro to supplement the Corvette....The CHEVETTE on the other hand.....

With the elimination of the other brands (who have twins to most of the Chevy line up), Chevys will be an easier buy. Tha bad thing is, Chevy won't be able to look to the sister plants to see what issues they had and have with a cureent vehicle, before they build a similar unit (more improved) in their own plants...Like the Malibu (from the Saturn Aura) and the Traverse (from the GMC, Buick, and Saturn).....which seems to have a better ride than the Acadia, from the people I talk to - and could be why these are selling like hotcakes.

anyhoo - there's no easy answer, or a sure thing. What ever they do, it will be a dice roll.

All I want to see if Saturn gets the Axe is for the Sky Stay alive... even if that means changing it to a Chevy, making it look even more like a small Vette and changing the name to Stingray or even Maco Shark.... I definately would trade my Sky for one..

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

I still think Saturn, Hummer, SAAB, GMC, Pontiac will be dead. Buick will move the big two cars to Chevy for its success oversea's.....

Stop it Scott!!! You're making way too much sense!!!!

[FenwickHockey65]

I have so many restructuring ideas that it'd take a whole day to post them.

But Saturn, Saab, and Hummer are gone in my lineup.

[FxsX24]

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

Chevy needs to KILL the Colorado. For the price, you can nearly get a full sized Silverado... No one likes a in line 4 or 5. Bring back the S10, with a 4 cyl and 4.3 V6....to the DAY I have people calling for S10 pickups! Lower priced and better MPG...and since the Ford Ranger is out - there is a huge hole that could be filled.

the s series in GMs eyes burned out. they tried to get the s10 customers to buy a colorado with the v8 that we wanted since 1982.

they didnt keep up with the things that needed to be fixed, such as the noisy interiors, leaky oil cooler lines and all the stuff i cant think of. and that is why they lost the sales, the interest is and was always there but they didnt satisfy the customers in terms of fixes

the 2.2 is (as it was) out of production. but something can fill in for it. the 4.3 needs to be updated to sell more if it were in the s10 again, it has not had a power increase since 1996.

they still sell the s10 and blazer in brazil. americans want to buy them, they are just not listening to us.

they are dropping the trailblazer , actually yesterday the plant closed.
they need a midsize suv, they just made it too big, same with the colorado
they are not mini trucks anymore



too bad the linden plant was destroyed, had the requirements to produce the brazil s10, it is a mixture of 94-97 and 98+ parts,

the colorado is due for a body/interior change anytime. should be totally updated or dropped in 2014 (following the 5 year refresh , and 10 year "generation" change, that exists on most gm platforms)

the trailblazer was due for a refresh but was not worth it to gm. if they drop the colorado anytime soon i expect to see a new GMT325 variant soon after

[storm79]

k 2 things...i kinda doubt the whole lamborghini saturns would work...and one thing else is that if i recall the magnum got axed and i doubt a wagon would work..the only thing i can see being a successful wagon is the CTS wagon

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by storm79

k 2 things...i kinda doubt the whole lamborghini saturns would work...and one thing else is that if i recall the magnum got axed and i doubt a wagon would work..the only thing i can see being a successful wagon is the CTS wagon

That's why its a brainstorm. The idea doesn't have to be easily achieved or even reasonable. Even after waking up and not being deliriously tired, I don't think there's any reason that a car with similar lines can't be sized to a compact. All you have to do is make it wide enough to have those lines. It would clearly require a new platform. With a stance that wide, I imagine it would handle really well.

AWD is a great idea. I'd like to see more AWD GM cars.

I probably would have posted more last night, but the boss came down so we could do paperwork, and then my cover showed up 5 hours late, allowing me to go home.

[theholycow]

Wow, I've got a lot to say about what's been said in this thread...

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Saturn is doing a good job of advertising and redesigning cars to look more impressive. The image of Saturn is one associated with safety, so GM should get back to those classic dent-resistant panels.

I wasn't aware of Saturn's image being safety. Dent-resistant panels aren't safety-related anyway. Saturn has lost its identity and become just another brand like any other. It was started as being a whole different experience -- shopping, owning, right through the junkyard. The brand and its cars were meant to appeal to the market segments that are mostly ignored. Of course, they succumbed to the inevitable erosion of that branding. Scion is Toyotas duplication of the same thing, and their erosion happened faster.

Saturn would have to abandon its entire image and branding to do what you suggest, but there's not much there so it wouldn't be losing much.

This is where it gets fun. No one in America can say that they don't like Ferrari or Lamborghini. The style and shape of these cars is just amazing. Let's imagine that such an angular style can be applied to a 4-banger.

I'm pretty sure that European exotics like that CAN be found in 4 cylinder versions.

Pontiac: This brand should be an American BMW

I can kinda see that. My 1997 Grand Am's front end was quite obviously designed to mimic BMW style:
http://www.thomasautoworld.com/image...GRAND%20AM.jpg
http://images.automotive.com/reviews/images/96bmwz3.jpg

However, Pontiac would need to abandon its entire customer base and all its branding to become BMW. Pontiac still has pretty strong branding as excitement/performance sold cheap to young buyers. If they could deliver your BMW-like product at Pontiac prices, your idea would work; but if they could deliver that, it wouldn't matter WHAT name they put on it...they could call it Turdnugget and it would sell like hotcakes.

It's been a long time since anyone talked about Geo. [...]

Your Geo ideas make sense, I like them a lot.

GMC: Sell big trucks, not rebadged Silverados.

This is the most common idea cited in these types of discussions, and logically it makes sense until you look at the big picture. The fact is that GM sells more full size pickups (the badge-engineered Silverado/Sierra) than other brands -- in fact, GMC and Chevy brands sell enough to each stand on their own in the market. I think total market share would go down if they were united.

This is not from the point of view of a GMC owner; I really don't care, and I just learned today in this thread that GMC and Chevy offer different interiors. I don't remember that from when I was test driving trucks to buy my GMC, and I chose the GMC because the dealer was offering a better deal. I just can't ignore the data...having the two brand names works, and I'd hate to see GM mess with one of the few things that's working out really successfully for them.

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

Chevy needs to KILL the Colorado. For the price, you can nearly get a full sized Silverado... No one likes a in line 4 or 5. Bring back the S10, with a 4 cyl and 4.3 V6....

Originally Posted by FxsX24

the 2.2 is (as it was) out of production. but something can fill in for it.

Ecotec!

Originally Posted by The_Blur

I don't think there's any reason that a car with similar lines can't be sized to a compact. All you have to do is make it wide enough to have those lines. It would clearly require a new platform. With a stance that wide, I imagine it would handle really well.

[DGthe3]

There is no point to having a competitor to the Magnum. It was killed off a year ago to make room for the Challenger. Likewise, GM has suspended plans for a G8 wagon that would have gone head to head with it.

Saturn should return to economy cars. And every saturn model should have a hybrid, alt fuel, or electric version as an option.

Pontiacs should all be good handling cars with a decent power to weight and features to enhance the driving experience. But keep it reasonably priced. It would almost be the opposite of Saturn. And no trucks, SUV's, minivans, or crossovers.

I would like to see hummer reduced to an offroad package for GMC trucks. Might not work so well though. But I doubt we will ever see a resurgance of the luxury SUV market so the brand needs to change or die.

They don't need to brink back Geo. Saturn could fill the same role.

Thats all I have for now.

[kanys]

Excellent post with many great ideas! However I do disagree about Saturn, at least for the time being. With vehicle sales expected to drop substantially in the coming years, I feel Saturn would be sucking too much money from GM. They should get rid of it for now and maybe buy it back later. I have similair feelings towards Pontiac. I think for the time being GM should stick with the basics - Chevy for entry level and Cadillac for luxury, and then bring back Pontiac in a few years for something in between. Depending on the success of Pontiac and overall sales, then bring back Saturn. To me Saturn is too much like Pontiac, and GMC is way too much like Chevrolet. As far as who to get rid of completely, I say there is no need for Hummer, Saab, or Buick.

I don't really like the Geo idea in that I think it would take away from the "greenness" of the remaining companies, and therefore hurt sales. I think ridiculously fuel efficient/low emissions vehicles should be distributed throughout GM's brands.

[UCF w00t]

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

Chevy needs to KILL the Colorado. For the price, you can nearly get a full sized Silverado... No one likes a in line 4 or 5. Bring back the S10, with a 4 cyl and 4.3 V6....to the DAY I have people calling for S10 pickups!

I disagree completely. I love my Canyon. People don't seem to like the 4 & 5cylinder because they don't understand them it seems. The i5 makes more power and gets better mpg than the old 6 did. And now they have the 5.3 v8 which is PLENTY of power for it. My i5 is quick for what it is but granted, I don't tow anything. The interior is pretty solid and quiet, much more so than the s10. I can make the comparisons in good faith as my brother drove a v6 s10 for quite a while.

Above all that, the styling is MUCH improved over the s10. But from your post I take it they don't sell well? I do agree though that the price difference (or lack of) is what ultimately hurts the colorado/canyon.

The only thing I'd trade my Canyon for is a Camaro

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by kanys

Excellent post with many great ideas! However I do disagree about Saturn, at least for the time being. With vehicle sales expected to drop substantially in the coming years, I feel Saturn would be sucking too much money from GM. They should get rid of it for now and maybe buy it back later. I have similair feelings towards Pontiac. I think for the time being GM should stick with the basics - Chevy for entry level and Cadillac for luxury, and then bring back Pontiac in a few years for something in between. Depending on the success of Pontiac and overall sales, then bring back Saturn. To me Saturn is too much like Pontiac, and GMC is way too much like Chevrolet. As far as who to get rid of completely, I say there is no need for Hummer, Saab, or Buick.

I don't really like the Geo idea in that I think it would take away from the "greenness" of the remaining companies, and therefore hurt sales. I think ridiculously fuel efficient/low emissions vehicles should be distributed throughout GM's brands.

I was thinking more long-term when I came up with these. That's why it's a brainstorm. There's just no way that GM could meet many of these goals right away—too many contracts and negotiations to waste time figuring out.

I'd hate to see Buick go, being that it is GM's foundation company. Remember that the guy that founded Chevrolet opened Buick years beforehand, and it was a great success. It also sells very well in China. The image is what is wrong with it. Being stuffy makes it a weak competitor in the market. They need to compensate with something over-the-top. I think Buick should get a Corvette to redesign, a muscle car to run with the big dogs, and an economic luxury car that features green technology. These ideas would produce a diverse image and will allow the unique design components of Buick cars to more parts of the market.