I wouldn't mind seeing Saab go, but I would hate to watch Pontiac die. Although a number of their cars have been pretty bad, I still get a good feeling when I think about the old Firebird or the new Solstice.
GM needs a good American brand that can shrug off the oh-so-common bubbly rounded designs (although the G8 is still too rounded for my liking) and put something a little more aggressive-looking into the lineup. You could do that with Chevrolet, but I think the "We build excitement" brand still has something to deliver if they can just get a little edgier.

You have got to be kidding me!? We are going to keep Pontiac around because of memories of a the Firebird... that was exactly the same as the Camaro for many many years. Working class drivers need a sports car sure... but let them drive the Impala. Good riddance.

If GM is going to not only survive, but excel it is going to take drastic action. Buick and Pontiac have lousy lousy brand associations, but Chevy is as American Pie as brands come and only Chevy can bring GM back.

While we are at it... let's get rid of Chrysler/Plymouth.

Pontiac just needs some more compelling products. Allegedly a performance division, Pontiac requires some vehicles with rear-wheel drive! Solstice, G8 - now we're on the right track. Body-cladding? The Pontiac Aztek? Brand-killers.

GM in general (pun intended) needs to stop the bleeding of unused capacity and keep their various brands fresh by bringing vehicles in development to showrooms quicker. Fortune magazine (February 2006) did a great piece on GM's problems that is much more valuable than Alex Taylor III's over-generalizing piece of garbage article.

Well, there are a few things I'd like to point out.
Saturn is making the edgier Solstice cousin, the Sky, as well as badging the European Opel Astra and Corsa as their own Aura and Corsa. Pontiac is turning to Australia's Holden, which made the GTO (once Monaro) and the up-and-coming G8 (Commodore). Holden also makes something of a Caprice. In fact, they actually do something rather interesting: They make several cars that impede on the same market to add variety without having several brands. It makes it rather confusing for an American, but it seems to work. Our US Ford could do better to bring over some of their European and Australian models too, like the REAL 2nd gen Focus or the Falcon GT, which they get instead of a Fusion. Its also the standard-issue Police vehicle of choice.
I would really hate to see Saab go, but the only car I like that they make is the 9-3 SportCombi currently. Their quality has really taken a step down to using plastic-like leather and rough, hard plastic everywhere instead of the vinyl they used to use as a garnish.
Hummer is still a moneymaker, but I'm a Jeep fan so I automatically hate them.
Plymouth has been dead for a long time, actually. Its just Chrysler Dodge and Jeep. And Mercedes. Together they actually own more companies than you might think; just look at the corporate profile, they won't be gone any time soon. Jeep should switch from ditsy independent front suspension SUVs and go back to live front axles like they used to. Right now only the Wrangler has a solid front axle, and its the most off-road worthy of the bunch. But it looks too much like a Hummer. Which is why its called a Jummer. Also, I would like to see some better quality materials.
What GM should do is stop the badge engineering but keep the brands for special interest cars only, ones that are without similar siblings.

Ditch the Hummer. It should never have been built. They should follow the industry more closely. Have competeing products to all thier competition. Then execute by building high quality high value products. With determination and honest hard work they can win back the customers that have desrted them. The time for quick fix gimmicks is over. If they want to keep thier jobs they will have to compete.
People all over the world would be happy to buy American products if they are as good or better than the competitors.

Buick was for old white people from the post war era, and they're almost all gone, get rid of it, just like they did with Oldsmobile.

Pontiac just makes me think of cheap ass Sunfires and Grand-Am's and Grand-Prix's of the last 15 years- front wheel drive pieces of garbage, ie. RENTAL CARS. Kill it.

What they need to do is introduce an entirely new brand, and only releases their best vehicle under that line (aside from Cadillac; Chevy only has the Corvette that is worth keeping).

They would be so right to eliminate the brands. Is there really that much difference between a G6 and a Cavalier or whatever sedan, including Saturn GM is selling under the other brands. It reminds me of the Cadilac that had one of the original digital dashes. It was no different then my mother's Buick Skylark. They can keep the models that are interesting and just rebrand them Chevy, Caddy or Saturn. Saturn Solstice/Sky? Why support two cars that obviously compete against each other? The whole brand back-stabing and in-fighting has gone on enough to bite them in the wallet. Why bother even selling the brand Buick in China? Make it simple and just call them Chevys, the are going to be Isuzu or some other small asian car anyway.

They need to streamline or perish.

Toyota is succeeding because the majority of people want a small or mid sized, well priced, reliable and fuel efficient car. GM's cars are too big and too inefficient. The large number of brands inevitably add to costs and the excessively sized cars will continue to appeal to fewer and fewer people as petrol prices rise and environmental concerns continue to come to the fore. Any company that makes a car like the Hummer is not going to be seen as environmentally friendly. Get rid of the gas guzzlers and streamline the rest.

Toyota is succeeding because they build quality cars and they are not sucked dry by Unions. Unions need to go they are an outdated mechanism. If you want to get paid more, become a man and get a better job!

Pontiac is not what it used to be. Better kill it than release such crap. Buick is needed to compete with Camry. Bring back Oldsmobile. Stick a UHF - Unarmored Humvee Firecracker under Hummer. Invest in Saab. Make GMC oil-free with hybrid hydrogen electric. Look at Chevrolet. Try to compete with Lexus in a Cadillac. Kill Saturn, noisy, droning crappy cars.

Yea Carl, I guess we should just have a bunch of retards making our cars, just like our burgers at McDonalds; since that is the only people who are willing to get paid shit wages.

It's quite simple; people getting paid more are happier with their jobs, which in turn makes people care more about work quality.

Matt: LOL. LOL. LOL. LOL. Ah, yes, the fine, fine quality of the high-paid union worker. How many other industries have an entire decade of product they would rather forget? That's the 1970's, in case you are too young to remember. Should add U.S industries, some fine quality cars were being turned out elsewhere, um, like Japan. And, oh yes, union members have a reputation for being such happy creatures, too. Don't they?

GM's problem is not brands, it is cars. Everyone makes the same thing. Toyota makes them better. Take the brands and give them something unique, and start with Buick. Bring back the full size wagon, make a diesel/electric hybrid option, give it all the doo dads mini-vans get these days, and watch it sell like hot cakes. And if it doesn't, try again with another idea.

Christ is risen!

That's right. Toyota is number one.

Number one in luxury.

Number one in trucks.

Number one in compact.

Number one in hybrid technology.

Number one in sports.

One word: Camry.

Did people really think NASCAR, which is a joke compared to F1 or WRC, wouldn't be dominated by Toyota?

Fin

I believe that following this guys advice of killing *profitable* vehicles and brands would be idiotic. Kill off Hummer? No F**king way. It's way too profitable and it is in essence GM's Jeep. All they need are some smaller off-road capable models, like the upcoming H2.

Kill Buick? That's insane. There's still a decent market for large, smooth riding cars in North America. And with the success in China, it would be insane to kill Buick. It's GM's 'near luxury' brand... and can easily be Lexus competitor to that brands softer models.
And the brand is *profitable*.

Pontiac? Pontiac spent too many years playing second fiddle to Chevy. In many markets it already has a flashy, sporty image. All it needs is better vehicles. And the RWD vehicles in the pipeline will probably acheive this. The mistake with Pontiac was trying to make it appeal to everyone. Appealing to everyone is the job for the Chevy and Saturn brands. If GM turns Pontiac into GM's "Porsche equivillant", it will make them some very nice profits. After all, the most profitable car co
mpany (in terms of profit per vehicle) is in fact Porsche.

As for Saab, they were supposed to be GMs 'Euro-luxury' brand... but since Cadilac has been rejuvinated and has models that appeal to import and domestic buyers, it might make more sense for GM to sell off the Saab brand while it still has some value.

GMC is the only area I agree with the author. This has been a useless brand for a very long time. Either focus the brand to commercial trucks, or get rid of it.

My dad worked in the auto industry over 40 years and with the exception of a VW Beetle he breifly owned in the early 70's to convert into a dune buggy he never owned a foreign car.

I on the other hand have never owned an American car. So far I've owned a Honda, a Toyota, a Volvo and 3 Mazdas and none of these were made in American factories.

My dad is in the market for likely his last car (he's 79). He was a longtime Pontiac customer until they got ugly as crap then switched to Oldsmobile and Buick. His current car is an Aurora which is a pretty good car but now he is thinking about getting a Toyota Avalon.

My dad was a customer for GM's mid-line cars, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick. He's not going to pony up enough for a Cadilac and Chevys seem to cheap to him. He feels like a traitor buying a foreign car but he just can't find an American car he likes.

What GM has to do is not drop both of their mid-market cars, they should eliminate Pontiac or Buick then improve whichever brand they keep so it can compete with cars like the Toyota Avalon.

Or one could just do what I do - don't buy anything from GM so it really doesn't matter.

I understand the points of the ariticle.
I just wish car companies will make better cars rather than being so worried about evrerything else. There are too many reasons to list.

I'm very surprised that the real issues aren't being addressed. It's not about how many brands, types of vehicles made, etc. It boils down to quality and cost of construction. We're paying folks who barely graduated high school $50 an hour to do a non-skilled, non-intellectual job. The quality, sad to say, is not great. Buy a Toyota and it very well may last for your children, if properly maintained. Buy a GM, or even worse Ford or Dodge, and you're lucky if it lasts a few years, even properly maintained.

Why aren't the real issues being addressed? We're paying way too much money to employees in the US to build automobiles and the quality can't compare to Toyota. Those are the reasons GM has fallen behind Toyota. Unless something drastically bad happens to Toyota, such as their employees unionizing, which hopefully will never happen, GM will never catch up to Toyota again.

To the person who said toyota are number 1 in sports.... why exactly don't they have a sports car in their lineup then?

The toyota line is BORING, since the Celica and MR2 were dropped, there's not a single car worth owning, if you want any kind of driver satisfaction/fun.

Yes, they're reliable, but who cares if it's no fun? I don't.

I made the mistake of being tricked into thinking the Scion tC was a "sport coupe"... it's pretty much a 2 door camry, and is the most boring piece of crap I've ever driven. It has rattles in the trunk, squeaks in the dash, and the worst operating clutch I've ever used. It handles horribly and it's 2.4 liter engine is underpowered compared with GM's equivalent 2.4 liter engines. This car is only 9 months old, and I'll be trading it in soon for a real car, either from an american company, or one of the smaller japanese companies that everyone forgets (mitsubishi, mazda etc...).

The reason Toyota is successful, unfortunately, is that it seems the majority of drivers don't care (or even realize) how boring their car is to drive, they just want something to transport them from home to work, or to carry their kids around. The media makes the whole country think that anything except a toyota is going to break down on them after a month, which is totally untrue. This is all based on information from the last 10-15 years, when, yes, american cars were way less reliable, but now, you can buy ANY new car, and it'll be reliable, and in most cases a lot more interesting to drive than an old-man camry.
People are just too lazy to do a bit of independent research, they just take the media's word for it, and go for the toyota.

It's a shame that in the 50's and 60's the US produced some of the most interesting, and beautifully designed cars in the world, and now, mainly due to having to compete with toyota's boringness (and the US consumer's wanting plain boring vehicles), they've been reduced to the impalas and malibus that we see now.

At least there's still the corvette, mustang, and soon the amazing looking camaro and challenger.

US consumers just need to stop for a second, and realize that american cars ARE reliable now, and of similar quality to toyotas, and just need to stop, and give GM, ford and chrysler a chance to come back, get some more money, and start using it to build better and better cars.

Sigh... ive had Toyota's since 1973-4 during the Oil Crisis .
IN fact - my brother STILL has that old corolla -> SMALL, SPARTAN, incredibly reliable, and easy to maintain car running up in New Hampshire..1974 corolla with over 260,000 mi..

So,I guess im part of the problem - ive bought 6 toyotas: corollas,
camry's, Rav4,& next prob a hybrid Highlander for myself and
family in 3 states..
Everytime i needed a new car - i looked at my reliable toyotas
(only probs ive had is w Mufflers - other than that virtually ZERO
repairs and yet they've done FINE with (ashamed to to admit )
almost ZERO maintenance !

Then i look at American Cars ( i'd LIKE to buy american - i WOULD !) and see all friends with them having Problems with
Quality / Recalls / Maintenance .
(the only large recall w toyotas i ve heard about is VERY recently
and i can only assume with american made toyotas ... sigh :-(( )

Finally - someone smashed into my Rav4 and during repairs i
was out of town and had to rent an American car -Pontiac G6
(from National $278/week Hertz wanted over $580/week !!!)
and ..yup .,,, american car kinda SUKKED ! .. best thing about
it .. the heated seats .. otherwise - Rought Acceleration /
mediocre handling / confusing dash controls / INCREDIBLY bad
TC( traction control) - i mean -during snow storms here - all other
cars were able to get up my long steep driveway even in snow
- NOT this pontiac G6 even WITH the damn traction control...wow!
( this was 3 weeks ago and this G6 was NEW with only 16k mi !)

So ... how the hell can i consider buying an American Car ???
Im truly SORRY for Detroit workers ,, its not their fault .. im
amazed that its taken toyota this long to clean GM's clock.
Its not the workers faults .. but they're making horseshoes
.
Its the UNBELIEVABLY BRAIN DEAD AMERICAN CAR MANUFACTURERS ... they just NEVER RESPOND TO
THEIR OWN CONSUMERS ... EVERYONEs BEEN WATCHING
and AWARE OF THIS FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS .

And whats the strongest reason GM/Ford and their boosters
give for buying their product ?? Simply to "buy American " .
But consumer patriotism is a poor substitute for quality when
these same companies still maintain their millionaire managers;
and yet REFUSE TO LEARN FROM THEIR PAST MISTAKES.
Henry Ford and American Car Pioneers created the US and
World Market by making Affordable/Reliable/Simple Cars .
When i see someone driving a Hummer ... i laugh .. no matter
how rich they might be .. for being such suckers .

I love america but what have we done to ourselves and our
industries is so so so sad ... and so short sighted and stupid..

Vast Majority of Americans spending $18-$40,000 of their
hard earned money are NOT stupid .. they have voted with their
sales ... we see the results on every highway in America.

US companies have/had tiny opening in NEW market of
electric/hybrid cars .. have they learned anything from watching
their decline sales figures decade after decade ....... ?

nope.

1. Most cars are pretty much the same today. They're all bubbly rounded crap and for the average driver they all perform similarly. There's as much variation in two cars from the same production line as there is between two different brands. No wonder you can't compare them by anything besides a price tag and American companies lose out. GM could drop every brand except one and still have as good a chance as ever.

2. Hummer isn't doing well because of an anti-SUV movement? I don't know about the rest of the country, but it seems like most of the northeast drives SUVs.

3. Are we paying our employees too much? Maybe, maybe not. We have two things to consider: cost of living and cultural norm. The US has a very high cost of living so you need to pay your employees more. People in the US also like a bit of personal space rather than being crammed into buildings like sardines, so you'll have to pay people to live that way. Add to that all the extra fees American companies pay for safety and environmental cleanup..

If GM wants to be on top again, they need to start offering something unique and useful for the price tag otherwise consumers will just follow their wallets and its clear who will win that war.

Maybe they should just concentrate on building good cars instead of worrying about brand loyalty when they have a dozen different brands? If you have the choice between building a bunch of slightly different crappy cars that few people actually want AND compete with eachother vs. building a few different cars that people might actually want and DON'T compete with eachother it is a choice of inefficiency vs. efficiency.

People who buy cars due to popularity or brand loyalty are merely reactionists and the actual name on the car is of little actual importance to them as they get their opinions second-hand from enthusiasts and the media. Car enthusiasts and automotive media outlets set the standards for which cars are popular and have brand recognician and again: the name on the car is of little importance to them, they pick the cars either by performance or by appearance (or a combination of the two). And then there are the people who don't care what the enthusiasts or media outlets say: the name on the car doesn't matter to them either. And then there are the people who just want cheap cars: the name on the car really doesn't matter to them and the cost maintaining several brands impedes GM from offering them compelling options.

Seriously, what kind of a moron is going to wake up in the morning and go "I want to buy a Pontiac" without even knowing what models branded by Pontiac are currently available? What kind of moron would then proceed to get upset if there were, in fact, no new Pontiac branded cars to buy at all? It's not the brand, it's the car, and the cars suck. No one is going to miss a brand that has been associated with a bunch of crappy cars. If you don't build any crappy cars you don't have to worry about hurting any of your brand names. If you have product lines that target different segments it's sometimes wise to have different brand names, but don't have multiple different brand names that all compete with eachother, that's retarded.

American brand Autos will be gone in 10 to 15 years. Foreign auto makers will purchase Ford and GM, then dismantle the companies to the core brands of Chevy and Ford. Most of the US's auto factories will be shut down because it's just cheaper to build in the third world.

American's would rather have those job producing factory sites torn down to make way for another WalMart® and Starbucks®, maybe even some swanky condos. Most Americans with money would NEVER be caught talking on their cell phones in an American made car. Look at the parking lots at the malls, They are mostly foreign makes now anyway. The NASCAR® bluecollar boys will come around to foriegn makes, hell they got a pretty Toyota to watch go round and round now.

I think the only REALLY die-hard fans of US autos are WWII vets that faught against Mercedes & Mitsubishi. What are we really giving up if we drive a Camry instead of a Malibu Gas is still $3.29

Toyota will fall soon, they're reaching the peak right now, just like other companies have in the past, then they'll get complacent and start to fall again

People will start to realize that toyota are trying to take away what american's love best - big excessive sized cars, and introducing more stupid little hatchbacks instead.

People will also soon realize that with the number of camrys on the road now, we might as well live in a communist country, where only 1 type of car is allowed for all. Toyota would love that.

You Think? The Hummer should have been gone along time ago. It was designed for the military where it shold have stayed. Lets see, you have got two truck divisions of look alike trucks GMC and Chevrolet. Drop GMC and stay with the Chevrolet line. If you want luxury SUV get a Cadillac Escalade. Drop the Pontiac line if need a sports car or musle car go with the Corvette and Camaro. Put all the money you save into making the Chevrolet a better car to rival Toyota's line and lexus way of thinking into your Buick and Cadillac The Cadillac is a real dog compared to Lexus. Do this and you will be on top again if not, enjoy playing second fiddle to Toyota.

"Kill Buick? That's insane. There's still a decent market for large, smooth riding cars in North America."

Smooth riding?! Are you kidding? Those things have such overly soft suspension that you hit a pebble on the road and 5 miles down you're STILL bobbing in all directions from it. I've literally thrown up in a Buick before because of their crap suspension. Buick is only liked by old fogies who still want a car bigger than their house -- and they're dying off! Why keep a company around when the customer base is declining with no hope of increasing (since you obviously can't resurrect dead senior citizens)?

If I had to choose between a buick and a camry, it'd be a buick every time.. and I'm 24... I wouldn't be seen dead in a camry.... (some of those senior citizens literally will be seen dead in their buick sometime though haha)

I had no idea that GM was still in the car business at all. Thanks for the heads up!

I had no idea that camrys were actually considered cars. I thought they were just old-person sofas with wheels atached. Thanks for the heads up.

I have had a similar idea for a couple of years.
- Get rid of Buick, Pontiac, and Saturn
- Move all of Chevy's pickup trucks, SUVs and vans to GMC. Also move the Cadillac Escalade to GMC.
- If they decide to keep Saturn, it should be a low cost alternative to Chevy. The cars would not win any awards (like the Saturn Aura) but people would buy them because they want a new car without spending big bucks. Also make them light so they get better fuel economy.
- They won't have to shut down a lot of plants. Just convert most of the Pontiac and Buick factories to Chevy and Cadillac, respectively. Although, they would have to fire people that work for the marketing and engineering departments of Pontiac and Buick because GM won't need them anymore.

The author (Alex Taylor III) makes a good point to transform GMC into a commercial truck business. I think it is ridiculous to have the Silverado and Sierra exactly the same (except for the grill).

I believe most of the money GM lost last year was due to severance packages to laid off workers. I think the union workers make toooo much money for the simple jobs they do. Some jobs are dangerous and their bodies take a beating. But for doing something as simple as turning a few screws, they should paid $10 an hour, not $20 or $30. Most of the workers could be replaced by robots that don't need breaks, lunches, vacations, or sleep.

The Hummer undoubtedly has a high profit margin. Consider what it is. The H-2's and H-3's are simply a duded up, pseudo HMMV body on a 4-wheel drive truck chassis. It doesn't have the diesel engine or the 4 wheel independent suspension of the military vehicles. The only they have in common is the nickname "Hummer".

I work in Saudi Arabia. my company, by contract, has to use GMC vehicles. We use Suburbans - OK, 4WD GMC pickups - pretty good. Most have over 300,000 km's on them. We have one with over 600,000 km. The rest are Jimmy's.

The Jimmy's are cramped, uncomfortable, and noisy. The electrical 2w - 4w drive switching is problematic. Build quality truly sucks. The plastic gets loose and rattles by the 100,000 km mark. On mine, you can sit in the front passenger seat, look over your right shoulder and see daylight between the weatherstriping and the car body - with the door "fully" closed. Our opinion is that they are an excessively mediocre vehicle for the first 100,000 km. Then it is time to get rid of them. We are supposed to get Trail Blazers this year. I hope they are better vehicles. They couldn't be much worse. Oh, to be fair - the engines (4.3 l v-6's) are pretty good. They do tend to be gas guzzlers, but gas is cheap here.

At home, I have a 91 4-cylinder Camry (built in Lexington, KY) with 150,000 miles that I bought used in 93. Yeah, it's boring, but it just keeps on running - gas, oil, tires, and basic maintenance. It has broken down and stranded my wife once. Acid from a cracked battery cell ate the battery ground cable.

NONE of us here at my work site will buy a GMC vehicle of any brand for a personal vehicle.

Its a sad time to be a American...(Which I am sadly) This country hasn't done any thing good since the moon landings.
The leaders have given it all away !! This country doesn't know how the win ( look at the last few wars, products and leadership)
No wonder the world laughs at us when we tell them what to do.
We haven't been right thirty plus years !!

Here's what GM needs to do to get some buyers back.

Make some kind of agreement with european comapnies such as citroen or peugeot to use their small car designs.

I personally hate small hatchbacks, but coming from England (and now in the US), I see that the US company's attempt at a "small economic" car (ie. aveo) is crap. Take a look at something like a Citroen C2, C3 or Peugeot 206, and see how (relatively) good they look, compared to even the honda fit or toyota yaris. It'd blow both of those away if they came out with a US version of a small euro hatchback here.
One of the small citroensand 2 peugeots even come in a convertible version.
This kind of option would change people's mind about small cars.

Plus, in europe, they offer some power, even in their small hatchbacks. People often assume that a small hatchback has no power, because all they think of is the yaris' 1.5 liter engine, or the aveo's 1.6. In england, you can get a Renault Clio with a 3 liter V6 option. Just think, a V6 in a tiny, light hatchback.. that's gonna compete with some serious perfomance cars here, due to their heavier weight. There's also a turbo version of the peugeot 206 I believe, which flies.

Again - I personally hate the look and style of a small hatchback, but thats what people seem to be starting to want here in the US, and Toyota/honda are getting a headstart because they simply imported their euro/japanese models.

I'd rather the market be flooded with US small cars, than toyota small cars.

MOST people (those not posting on thetorquereport) really don't care if their car is FWD, RWD, AWD or 4WD. MOST people aren't car aficionados. MOST people buy a car based on what it looks like and what OTHER people (Consumer Reports, Dealers, Friends, etc.) say about a car. Marketers make it happen for GM. Vehicle quality makes it happen for Toyota. Too bad GM's marketers can't overcome shitty vehicles. GM had a principle of PLANNED OBSOLESENCE to prevent 'market saturation'. Keep people buying their cars... OOPS. Toyota just made good cars. If I buy a Toyota, I want the comfort of knowing it's gonna last 10 years. I don't have that with a GM (even though I pay the same amount for it). I'm not gonna own the car 10 years, I'm gonna trade it in 4 years later when its paid of and the newest model is out. Think about what you go through when you buy a car and simplify it 20 times. THAT is where the money is. Car companies, Tech companies, all companies don't make money and survive off a niche group of consumers. They sell to the group that makes them the most profit. With cars, the profit is with hundreds of thousands who want the quality, smooth and safe ride (read 'boring') and cool options. NOT the fanboys who want driving excitement. THOSE people don't buy Camrys... The enthusiast doesn't make the market. The enthusiast overpays because their demand curve is such. They overpay for handling and acceleration. Come on... think about where the money comes from...

Daniel is spot on. Unfortunately entusiats in any market don't make up a big enough percentage of their sales to justify catering to their needs.

I think the company we should all keep an eye on is Hyundai. Even Toyota came out and said they view them as their biggest competitor, even more so than Honda & GM, as their business model is solid. They've got a 300hp 2 door compact, a 4 door 350hp luxury car, and a 300hp SUV coming out in the next year or two, and all will be under $30k and have a 100k mile warranty. Now that's the kind of car that peaks my interest.

Unions are definately a big problem for Ford and GM. Being paid $50K+ year to put some bolts and nuts together is a bit rediculous. Unions are forcing American Car companies to compete price wise when their costs in labot are 4-5x's what other companies are paying for labor.

I am sure others have already said this but all this article is saying is simply that which is in GM's best interest. The ending of a brand is inevitable for every car maker. Nothing lasts forever and financially speaking GM needs to end a few brands to survive.

I am a car enthusiast and love a good looking, fast, great handling, sporty car. Not everyone cares about these things. A reliable, efficient, good looking car is fine enough for the majority of the population. The #1 car company is the one that caters to the majority.

The four main things the average car buyer looks for are:
1. Price
2. Reliability
3. Appearance
4. Fuel economy

Other than pricing (and not always), American cars just can't compete with their European and Japanese counterparts on any of the other factors. Since the majority of the car market consists of the average buyer, no wonder the US auto industry is struggling mightily. The situation would be much worse if not for the segment of the US population who would not buy anything foreign. Unfortunately for Detroit's Big Three, that segment is steadily shrinking.

For power, edgy designs and prestige, people look to European cars. For reliability and fuel economy, it's the Japanese cars that beckon. American cars tend to offer size, power and somewhat competitive pricing. Cost aside, these attributes aren't the priorities of most car buyers. And frankly, most American cars are just so damn ugly!

Poor reliability results in higher maintenance costs for consumers, and therefore many would rather pay a little more for a better-built product. So, offering lower prices than the competition isn't the solution. All it does is reduce profit margins.

While it is convenient to blame losses on unions and high labour costs, they are lousy excuses. Toyota, BMW and other foreign auto firms have invested in large assembly plants all over the US. They employ American workers and use American-made parts yet remain highly competitive.

Until US auto industry learns to listen to consumer needs and improve on quality, it will continue in its decline.

Some things about Japanese auto companies.

They tend to be non-union. This is mainly because they pay a good wage and have resonable benefits. They do pay less sometimes than union shops, but they balance this out by having upper management that make the employee's feel like a intrigal part of the orginization. I have dealings with many large Japanese business owners including car companies. They use what is called Maslow's concepts to keep unions out. There are some exceptions ,but in general the rule is they care about their employees. The unions do not even prescribe to the accepted managment standards set out by Maslow's experiments. They simply state that the highest need of a employee is to feel as they are part of a bigger picture and they are very important. all other factors are secondary.

Another reason for the success of the big T is that they recognize the better workmenship of US workers and have choosen to expand the US workforce rather than ship it off to Mexico or (Insert Country Here). Its pretty bad when a foreign automaker has more parts manufactered and assembled in the US than US based companies.

After living both in Europe and Canada GM in Europe is better than GM in America. Opel and Saab are as good in Europe as any other car in their segment. You can buy any vehicle with engines based on diesel or gas, and their fuel efficiency is as good as any japanese or european car. In North America..........all GM cars are based on big engines and low quality. If GM wants to became number one again maybe it's time to look what their customers really want, a quality vehicle. If they cannot make one in America they should bring them all from Europe. They can still keep their big monsters for people that can afford them and stop pushing them to everybody because i think that's how they lost their top spot.

Unions in Europe are worse than the ones in North America but still in my opinion any european vehicle it's better than the ones built here.

Well I am a Swedish resident so I am partial in this, but GM owns SAAB 100% so why not sell them for real in the US?

Let me explain; When GM bought SAAB in the 1990-ties the sales where maybe 130 000 cars/year. After 10 years the sales are still roughly the same. That says to me that although SAAB should have gotten access to thousands of GM resellers all over the world, they diden't.

SAAB is clearly treated like Cindirella here.

SAAB is a good brand, economical, safe and just what the americans are starting to demand.

all of the us branded cars are marketed on the notion small = cheep under equipped, big = well equipped and expensive
in europe you choose the size / style of car you want then choose how well equipped and how powerful / economical
so if you want a compact hatch WITH HP and all the options its available (not cheep)
or if you want a bigger car with small diesel engine and basic kit for less money you can have it to.
By offering cars that way they need less models, brands overall gm sells opel, cadillac ford only has 10 cars
in the UK including ranger and suvs

DEAR FOLKS, PONTIAC NEEDS TO BE REMOVED BECAUSE THEY ARE JUNK. BUICKS ARE BETTER LOOKING CADILLACS, AND I GAURANTEE THAT I SHALL OWN A BUICK OR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I HAVE HAD 3 BUICKS AND COUNTING. 1980 METALLIC GOLDEN BUICK REGAL, 1985 BUICK RIVIERA AND A CENTURY. ALL LASTED OVER 200K MILES AND THE REGAL LASTED TO 320K

By all means keep the Buick. I own a 2005 LaCrosse. The best car I ever owned. Just keep one model if that is all it would take.

Better than any Toyota I have ever driven.

Are you kidding me? I'm in the market for a new car and American car makers have NOTHING !!! they're all garbage, bad quality, ugly design, gas guzzlers and that is why they are cheaper and still don't sell. People tend to go for what is cheaper because they think they are saving money..only to spend half the time in the repair shop later.
First GM needs to hire some real designers, then invest in R&D and get some reliable fuel effiicient engines. Get rid of all the gandpa cars !!! UGLY UGLY !! kill the Hummer .. nobody needs a monstrosity like that ... unless ur 50 cents....ughh an even better reason to kill the Hummer.
Now i have to buy either european or japanese...i don't want to but I buy what I think is the best for the $$$$$
..while were at it .. kill Chrysler too.....nothing ever good came out of that .........why are these manufacturers living in their own fantasy world....don't they do surveys to see what people like and want???? GET WITH THE PROGRAM !!!...i can't believe they are still in business......who buys their crap?

GM better not cut off Buick, Hummer, and Pontiac. They are huge sellers right now and are rapidly improving on their vehicles. Pontiac is now bringing back the Challenger and have lots of AWESOME looking concepts in the makes. They are also become a LOT more sportier to compete with Nissan and Mitsubishi, which they have already seemed to exceed. Buick can't get cut because they're also starting to make vehicles that attract to people below 40 now. They are also become sportier too. Hummer definitely can't be cut because all the rich people love this beast and is one of the most spacious and comfortable vehicle on the road today! But i do think Saab is the next Oldsmobile with their blander looking styling and less sales.

I dont live in america, or drive an american car, but in Australia, we have the big car mentality here also - Ford and GM make the largest cars here, and today, they are both struggling - and our biggest selling car, is the toyota corolla i believe..Thats the first time thats happened since the 60's. Everyone likes the idea of a big car, just not prepared to part with so much money to fill it up with fuel.
DRichings

In my opinion killing off Hummer would be a mistake. Since hummers are basically one of a kind, I myself would purchase it a hummer but since the MPG isn't great and im still young, I don't.

I honestly wouldn't mind and I doubt it make a difference if they kill off Saab, I believe Saab is the only brand worth killing since sales are low and the cars themselves aren't even that nice.

The rest should stay. The year is 2007 and young American men need and want fast cars with good gas mileage.

GM did a good job with adding the Sky to the Saturn brand and adding the Solstice to the Pontiac brand.
I'm currently thinking of which I should get. Without either of those cars I wouldn't have even thought about A Pontiac or a Saturn.

Young Americans want fast cars with good MPG!

No one wants to drive a mini van or a truck, we want a Ford Mustang a Saturn Sky a Pontiac Solstice!

Keep making these cars and don't kill of any brands unless its Saab, I've been a GM fan for years. I won't purchase anything other then an American car.

As much as I hate to say it, but after visiting a Cadillac, Buick and Pontiac dealer this week. Pontiac's have not evolved much in the last 15 years. Buick owners could easily drive a Chevy. I drove more Pontiacs over the years than anything else.

Pontiac seems to be becoming a young girls first car (G6). The Grand Prix (which I owned in the past) is going finally and boy it is time. I sat in one and it has become a second rate vehicle with a low quality interior. But all of the car models look alike even as they get bigger. Pontiac needs a face lift or it should just be let go.

I think Buick should just go as well. Buick's just aren't selling. They are a car of the past. Buick was known as the car for folks who couldn't afford a Cadillac (like Oldsmobile), but wanted quality and class. Well it just isn't there anymore. Except for the new Enclave SUV. Which won't save sales for GM and Buick. Even the big Buick just doesn't have the style of the old Buick. The back end just doesn't do it for me. The 90's and 2000's have hurt Buick. The styling is gone. I don't think Buick will ever come back in sales.

Hummer should go, and sell Saab already. Who buys Saab's anyway?

I am hoping that the Chevy line continues to get better. Cadillac is definitely doing the right things.

Everyone is ga ga over Japanese vehicles. Well when the American car companies are gone, you will all be sorry. It will affect everything. The US car companies have made a lot of mistakes and labor unions did screw the industry, but the Japanese car makers take their profits back over seas. They spend and invest very little here in the US.

Young car buyers have followed the lead of their parents and bought into this Japanese car frenzy in the last 20 years. They have no idea what a real quality American car was like. We did it better in the past. We could do it again. More folks should give the US automakers a chance. Once they are gone things will be different, mark my words.

I still buy American.

I have a saturn ion 3 QC, and while it has its interior faults (the styling is just too generic) It always starts, handles very well, and gets 32-33MPG.

Its a good car. I have owned two Nissan 200sx's that have died, an Isuzu trooper that always had to have the breaks done (Complete brake job not just pads) twice a year, and two volkswagons that the windows would never stay up.
I am not very impressed with the imports any more than the US cars.

-D

Just to put my oar in so to speak: GM may have an ulterior motive,let all are cars be Saturns ,the plant is still not unionized? Better profit makes better cars ? Maybe.
I think if GM wants out of BUICK it must render Sam Maclaughlins deal ,who owned the buick name, moot.
Sam guaranteed a plant in Oshawa Canada if GM wanted the buick name.At least that's the gist of it.
The benefits of a plant in Canada with its quality record and Medical program not Blue Sheild& Cross may overshadow the board room . But still Saturn is GM's long term strategy for giving UAW a nudge, as is production in Saltillo Mexico.

Just to put my oar in so to speak: GM may have an ulterior motive,let all are cars be Saturns ,the plant is still not unionized? Better profit makes better cars ? Maybe.
I think if GM wants out of BUICK it must render Sam Maclaughlins deal ,who owned the buick name, moot.
Sam guaranteed a plant in Oshawa Canada if GM wanted the buick name.At least that's the gist of it.
The benefits of a plant in Canada with its quality record and Medical program not Blue Sheild& Cross may overshadow the board room . But still Saturn is GM's long term strategy for giving UAW a nudge, as is production in Saltillo Mexico.

How GM can keep Pontiac, Buick, GMC, and Saab alive?

Keep em... but make them exclusive RENTAL CAR units. I can tell you I have driven the full line of Pontiac vehicles - from all the times I have rented a car. Sell the used Pontiacs back in the US. Sell the used Buicks to China. Sell the used GMCs to those who need trucks and SUV's. Sell the used Saabs to Europe. Happy jobs saved. Happy brands saved.

There, we have solved the problem to killing off brands and the declining value of regular civilian vehicles.

Instead of killing Hummer, just incorporate it into another SUV's name. If we can name a vehicle the "GMC Yukon XL Denali SLT: Special Victims Unit", then adding "Hummer" to its name shouldnt be a problem.

Please please please kill that mysterious silver unreadable GM badge.

Pontiac really should be kept around. It would be rediculous to get rid of such a long lasting and quality automaker. They have done an amazing job with bringing back the GTO and coming out with the new G8 really shows what they can do to make a family car and sports car merge into one car for everyone. I have a Grand Am and my parents are both pontiac owners as well. My mother drives a 2000 Bonneville and my father drives a 1997 Grand Prix GTP Supercharged and they are both devoted to owning pontiacs for the rest of their days. And so am I.

I think GM should keep the Hummer. They should make smaller versions of it. The Hummer 4 should be the size of the Chevrolet Blazer. The Hummer 5 should be the size of the Cheverolet Sidekick. :) I think they should produce the hybrid Hummer that they had at a car show.

GM should keep the other brands. Just because they are now number two does not mean they will go out of business.

Here's what i think...

Sell off Saab. its not doing anything... luxury??? thats what cadillac is for.
Get rid of Buick in the U.S i barely see any Buicks on the road. Make them like Opel or Holden.
Make Pontiac into Holden USA. The GTO was good but the problem was the name. The car was good but it didnt live up to the GTO name. Holden has some good cars. If Pontiac takes lessons from Holden it can live up to be a profitable brand.
Get rid of GMC or make it for commercial cars only (rental fleets and work trucks). its a waste of money to be selling clones of Chevy SUVs and Trucks with NO cosmetic diffrence except for the name.
Cadillac is on the right track. They're cars are unique and are not branded another thing, with the exception of the Escalade.
Stop branding Daewoos as Chevys. The Aveo doesnt fit with other cars. Make Chevy a brand in between Entry Level and Performance. In other words, everyones car but don't rebrand their cars as Pontiacs or GMCs.
Hummer... sell it back to American General. The brand's going to die with high fuel prices.
Sell GMDAT (Daewoo) to Hyundai or SsangYong. Its a waste of money and their cars are ugly. Its a shame Chevy USA is better than Chevy Europe.
Saturn should be the real entry level car. If you're going to sell a Daewoo Kalos (Chevy Aveo) sell it as a Saturn Aveo. The Red Line/Green Line cars should be what Chevy does. Stop trying to make Saturn into the entry level/performance car. Make Chevy that.

Here's what i think...

Sell off Saab. its not doing anything... luxury??? thats what cadillac is for.
Get rid of Buick in the U.S i barely see any Buicks on the road. Make them like Opel or Holden.
Make Pontiac into Holden USA. The GTO was good but the problem was the name. The car was good but it didnt live up to the GTO name. Holden has some good cars. If Pontiac takes lessons from Holden it can live up to be a profitable brand.
Get rid of GMC or make it for commercial cars only (rental fleets and work trucks). its a waste of money to be selling clones of Chevy SUVs and Trucks with NO cosmetic diffrence except for the name.
Cadillac is on the right track. They're cars are unique and are not branded another thing, with the exception of the Escalade.
Stop branding Daewoos as Chevys. The Aveo doesnt fit with other cars. Make Chevy a brand in between Entry Level and Performance. In other words, everyones car but don't rebrand their cars as Pontiacs or GMCs.
Hummer... sell it back to American General. The brand's going to die with high fuel prices.
Sell GMDAT (Daewoo) to Hyundai or SsangYong. Its a waste of money and their cars are ugly. Its a shame Chevy USA is better than Chevy Europe.
Saturn should be the real entry level car. If you're going to sell a Daewoo Kalos (Chevy Aveo) sell it as a Saturn Aveo. The Red Line/Green Line cars should be what Chevy does. Stop trying to make Saturn into the entry level/performance car. Make Chevy that.

Here's what i think...

Sell off Saab. its not doing anything... luxury??? thats what cadillac is for.
Get rid of Buick in the U.S i barely see any Buicks on the road. Make them like Opel or Holden.
Make Pontiac into Holden USA. The GTO was good but the problem was the name. The car was good but it didnt live up to the GTO name. Holden has some good cars. If Pontiac takes lessons from Holden it can live up to be a profitable brand.
Get rid of GMC or make it for commercial cars only (rental fleets and work trucks). its a waste of money to be selling clones of Chevy SUVs and Trucks with NO cosmetic diffrence except for the name.
Cadillac is on the right track. They're cars are unique and are not branded another thing, with the exception of the Escalade.
Stop branding Daewoos as Chevys. The Aveo doesnt fit with other cars. Make Chevy a brand in between Entry Level and Performance. In other words, everyones car but don't rebrand their cars as Pontiacs or GMCs.
Hummer... sell it back to American General. The brand's going to die with high fuel prices.
Sell GMDAT (Daewoo) to Hyundai or SsangYong. Its a waste of money and their cars are ugly. Its a shame Chevy USA is better than Chevy Europe.
Saturn should be the real entry level car. If you're going to sell a Daewoo Kalos (Chevy Aveo) sell it as a Saturn Aveo. The Red Line/Green Line cars should be what Chevy does. Stop trying to make Saturn into the entry level/performance car. Make Chevy that.

How many grannies are now driving Camrys? A lot from what I have seen! The Taurus used to be their car of choice...what did Ford do? Got rid of it!! Stupid! I agree with many of you...Gm needs toal restructuring. Most of Pontiac IS crap! (Although I own one) LOL>>>Damn ignorant Americans! Sad to see the Grand Prix go! I own a GXP. An awesome car. An example of what can be done to make a mediocre car into something fun to drive and own. You wouldnt believe the looks you get with this car! The V-8 is fast and good economy with variable displacement. GM....make more cars like this...

Let me get this straight: You folks think that GM will get back into #1 by downsizing?

Remember the source of this article FORTUNE MAGAZINE. These folks are all about short term stock price increases, not 10 and 20 year growth plans. Their answer will always be to downsize and fire workers in order to realize short term portfolio gains.

Downsizing, steamlining, etc are strategies for a company to constrain costs in a contracting market. The entire arguement for downsizing GM is that they suck, will continue to suck and need to amputate their broken limbs in order to save the rest of the company.

This is loser thinking.

Remember, Toyota got to #1 by adding Scion and Diahatsu, not by streamlining out Lexus.

So, if a brand is making money and can be differentiated from the others through styling, marketing, etc, how will eliminating them increase sales? It won't. Cost cutting is not growth. It is the illusion that investment advisors support to make the numbers look pretty.

The only place GM needs streamlining is in their mololithic management style that failed through the 80s and 90s to keep up with selling what people wanted.

I think that GM is not wrong to eliminate saab because of my opinion it is not very beautiful cars, that cost expensively moreover, and I also think that we should remove buick of the US market because it is cars made for seniors, and because we should sell the firm to the Chinese market; however, I would not like that GM eliminates pontiac and hummer because pontiac is a mythical range and we should turn pontiac to the buildings of holden Australian carsfor US market.

I think that GM is not wrong to eliminate saab because of my opinion it is not very beautiful cars, that cost expensively moreover, and I also think that we should remove buick of the US market because it is cars made for seniors, and because we should sell the firm to the Chinese market; however, I would not like that GM eliminates pontiac and hummer because pontiac is a mythical range and we should turn pontiac to the buildings of holden Australian carsfor US market.

I think that GM is not wrong to eliminate saab because of my opinion it is not very beautiful cars, that cost expensively moreover, and I also think that we should remove buick of the US market because it is cars made for seniors, and because we should sell the firm to the Chinese market; however, I would not like that GM eliminates pontiac and hummer because pontiac is a mythical range and we should turn pontiac to the buildings of holden Australian carsfor US market.

i think that if gm cuts off all these models it'll be a big mistake everybody knows and loves these models. young and old people know these cars in my opinion just like everybody else they can cut off saab i could care less people jst arent intrested in cars like the saab. i personaly know people with saabs but their cars cant stand up to all the others. people want fast cars like the well antisipated camaro and trucks like gm has always made they have power that out matches all the rest. me and my parents have been loyal to Gm my mom has a 2004 impala that she loves my dad has a 2004 avalanch that he's loves since they came out and i drive a 1996 silverado with 260,000 miles on the original engin. so needless to say we love chevrolets and in my opinion getting rid of all these cars wold be the worst thing gm ever doas. i actualy am thinking bout buyin a hummer becaus they are beautiful pieces of machinery so i think that if you got rid of all these cars especialy the ones for the people with less money then i would screw up Gm's reputation!

i think that if gm cuts off all these models it'll be a big mistake everybody knows and loves these models. young and old people know these cars in my opinion just like everybody else they can cut off saab i could care less people jst arent intrested in cars like the saab. i personaly know people with saabs but their cars cant stand up to all the others. people want fast cars like the well antisipated camaro and trucks like gm has always made they have power that out matches all the rest. me and my parents have been loyal to Gm my mom has a 2004 impala that she loves my dad has a 2004 avalanch that he's loves since they came out and i drive a 1996 silverado with 260,000 miles on the original engin. so needless to say we love chevrolets and in my opinion getting rid of all these cars wold be the worst thing gm ever doas. i actualy am thinking bout buyin a hummer becaus they are beautiful pieces of machinery so i think that if you got rid of all these cars especialy the ones for the people with less money then i would screw up Gm's reputation!

i think that if gm cuts off all these models it'll be a big mistake everybody knows and loves these models. young and old people know these cars in my opinion just like everybody else they can cut off saab i could care less people jst arent intrested in cars like the saab. i personaly know people with saabs but their cars cant stand up to all the others. people want fast cars like the well antisipated camaro and trucks like gm has always made they have power that out matches all the rest. me and my parents have been loyal to Gm my mom has a 2004 impala that she loves my dad has a 2004 avalanch that he's loves since they came out and i drive a 1996 silverado with 260,000 miles on the original engin. so needless to say we love chevrolets and in my opinion getting rid of all these cars wold be the worst thing gm ever doas. i actualy am thinking bout buyin a hummer becaus they are beautiful pieces of machinery so i think that if you got rid of all these cars especialy the ones for the people with less money then i would screw up Gm's reputation!

This article is crap!

uhh keep chevy, hummer, and possibly GMC lol the rest when i see them are just pure tourist cars that end up in the junkyard =\ same for chevy and GMC but they have potential!!!!!
Hummer= doing ok til it made tiny little non offroading "suv/jeeps"!!! just like jeep they are not making great offroad vehicles which is missed!!!!
Chevy going good with the new ls malibu, cobalt ss seems nice but not enough power, corvette great, and the silverado v6 model needs some more torque!!!
GMC just remodel there vehicles or at least put them together like the suvs and just have them as different types like ltz, Ts or something not totally different names =(!!!
but if they make better interior and an audio system that play simple mp3, RW, or just burned discs in general i might actually drive one other then that i will just wait hehe!!!

GM needs to put more quality parts in there cars especially SAAB. This brand would flourish since most people don't buy them because there crapy reliability.

I would love to buy American cars, but the build quality just isn't there. Thus, what GM needs to do, beyond cutting brands and redesigning its current models, is to build cars that are actually half decent (I have a 1993 SAAB 9000 CSE, by the way -- a pre-GM SAAB, and still going strong at 150,000 miles.) However, in the interest of economising and making the models it does sell more appealing to the modern consumer, I suggest that GM do the following:
1. Kill GMC.
2. Sell SAAB, so that it isn't hurt more than it already has been. (GM has, in my opinion, destroyed SAAB -- the 9-7, I mean, come on -- Oldsmobile Bravada calling?)
3. Kill Saturn and rebrand the Aura and Astra as Chevrolets. The Aura could replace the Epica, and the Astra hatchback could become a sport subcompact Chevy.
4. Kill Pontiac and make up for the loss by introducing sport models of the larger Chevys. Rebrand the G8 as a big brother to the Impala, possibly with the name "Bel Air" (or even, "Caprice.")
5. Keep moving Buick and Cadillac upscale.
6. Kill Hummer.
7. Supplement the existing Buick lineup with a high-performance RWD sedan, and a bring back the Riviera.
8. Introduce an Impala sport wagon to combat the Ford Taurus X and the Passat wagon.
9. Drop the Suburban. It's a bit of a relic, don't you think?
10. Above all, make all GM models more efficient and safer -- this doesn't necessarily mean less powerful, just better engineered and better built.

No i do not think they should get rid of Pontiac it is one of the most popular selling in GM. Pontiac and Chevy are the best for everone. keep just Saturn, Pointac, and chevy.

Get rid of Hummer and all those SUV's. GM needs to get excitement in their lineup. If they downsize according to this opinion, I'll be moving over to something else. Give me a new Caddy or Pontiac anyday, the hell with the aging bowtie. Camaro, please, give me a Corvette with a trunk.

Okay, theirs no way that GM is gonna get rid of Pontiac. In my eyes I think Chevy is the worst brand. They take a design and just kill it. The HHR and Aveo are the ugliest cars I have ever seen. They even recked the new Silverado. Ever since like 1999 Chevy has gone down hill. Saturn has improved, and Buick and declined in appeal. With gas the way it is Hummer will kill its self and doesnt need GM for that. If they want to kill Saab then just have the Chevy designers work for them ;)

Hey man!

I am 26, and I love Buick and I am still alive and I am not going to die so soon:)))))))! I have a Buick Regal, and never like to change it with one of those stupid looking Asian cars!

What can seat in the place of a Buick! No thing, I even believe it was really shame that Buick stopped constructing Buick Regal (and even Century!). They were great.....

American flavor is different from that of Japanese or European. People here love having cars that they really love! and different brands (with all of their historical backgrounds...) fulfill the people with different choices. Instead of killing Buick or Pontiac go ahead and improve the fuel economy and a bit reliability of American cars.... That is the way that GM must go...

Ditch, Pontiac? Fools!
Pontiac Grand Prix was around for over forty years, with countless units sold, untill they replaced it with that god-awfull G8.

Im in the car business. My dad sells used cars for a living.

Im also a Gm fan, so im not biased against them at all.

what vehicles do we have the most problems with, have to buy the most expensive parts for and have the most time down?

its Gm Cars.

and i do mean gm cars.

Their Chevy truck and Gmc lines are still built the old way are more of an evolution over 30 or 40 years than a new vehicle.

i dont think gm ever really comes out with a new truck.

they just reskin the body every 10 or so years and update the suspension.

the motor in them today is still based on the small block 350.

i hate gm cars though. noisy, underpowered rattling pieces of junk, except for caddy and buick.

pontiac has released nothing but garbage since the new GTO. it sure didnt have the looks, but man was it built right.

the only reason in this world that im sad that pontiac is gone is the release of the new Camaro. This means their wont be a new Trans am to go with it.