Almost all auto analysts agree that as the industry restructures and heads into a frightful year for sales, there are too many brands on the market.
But getting rid of them isn't easy. It can provoke touchy dealers, who are the life blood of a manufacturer's sales.
When I put the question to GM Chairman Rick Wagoner in January, he responded that GM had too many dealers, not too many brands. Two years earlier, Bob Lutz touched off a storm with dealers when he stated flatly that GM had too many brands, and hinted that Buick and Pontiac may be put on the chopping block.
GM isn't alone. Read after the jump.
And just last week, Jerry York, an aid to Kirk Kekorian, told a trade magazine, "there's no rational reason for keeping Volvo or Mercury." Kekorian now owns 52 percent of Ford. Meanwhile, CEO Alan Mulally insisted that for now, the two brands aren't on the market. Ford had an easier time unloading Land Rover and Jaguar, primarily because they were foreign brands and because they were simply changing hands, not being killed outright.
GM's answer has been to reshuffle its U.S. brands into four retail channels. Buick, Pontiac and GMC, all of which have sales weaknesses, are being combined. So are Cadillac, Hummer and Saab. The automakers strongest brands,
Chevrolet and Saturn, stand alone.
Chrysler, which is privately owned, probably has an easier time of eliminating overlap. But which brands get killed is open to speculation. The company is consolidating dealers,but has publicly stated that for now, it won't be eliminating brands.
