Lutz says GM, Ford can't kill off brands

[articsteve]

Very interesting insight into the elimination of certain brands.

Speaking with AutoWeek magazine, General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said GM doesn't plan to kill off any brands, and it's unlikely rival Ford will, either. "There's not enough money in the world to pay off all those dealers," Lutz said. "You're talking billions and billions and billions of dollars to settle all the lawsuits."

The analysts continually calling for Ford to kill Mercury or Lincoln "never get it," Lutz said. "And you guys — it's pathetic — can't seem to publish an article without quoting half a dozen of these weenies, with arcane titles from business schools nobody's ever heard of."

Lutz said while Toyota only has three brands in America, back in Japan it has several, and it doesn't seem to be a problem. "They've got names like Soaring Blue Bird, and you say, 'Where the hell did this come from? Oh, that’s one of the Toyota channels,'" Lutz told the magazine.

[TopGun]

Well, Bob, things are working out sooooo well...keep them all then.

Hey, maybe there won't be a need to payout dealers if GM and/or Ford go belly-up.

[tpl]

I dont see whay GM or ford need to kill off any brands...but if they did, could they not just do the US chapter 11 thing, kill 'em off and then come back?

But have not GM killed Olds, and Ford killed Merkur  with no repercussions?  Maybe I haven't been paying attention

[y2chuck]

Killing Olds didn't actually close down any dealers as they were part of Chev dealers.  I don't think there were any Oldsmobile only dealers so it was probably either kill Oldsmobile or Buick.

Lutz is my hero.  Calls it like he sees it without all the corporate BS.

[tenpenny]

The analysts continually calling for Ford to kill Mercury or Lincoln "never get it," Lutz said.

US laws being what they are, I'm sure he has a point, BUT...what about "Plymouth"....and what about "Mercury" in Canada?

[The Mighty Duck]

 

I'm sure if GM really wanted to, they could kill off a few of those brands.  This sounds like posturing...  easier to tell people "I can't" than "I don't want to".  Like when that girl you like tells you she has to wash her hair... 

[ovr50]

Not only did GM kill off Olds, but DC axed Plymouth not that many years ago. I do think in the US, there may have been some Olds only dealers, although they would be Olds/xxx and the xxx part would continue on. I know in Denver in the early 80s there was a Pontiac/GMTrucks/Saab dealer because I bought my only Saab from them (and traded in a gutless GM Jimmy S15 or S10 or whatever the little one was called).

I don't see why GM or Ford could not kill off (say) Buick or Lincoln. Here, both the old Ford store and the old Mercury/Lincoln store are both Ford dealers, but only one has Lincolns. I doubt that the lawsuits would be that great; but maybe? Who knows? 

[ar_ken]

Yeh keep talking Bob. That's why you keep losing grounds in the market. Useless bulls*it. Do you really need 3 copies of the same damn car in 3 different brands? Why don't you get your head out of your rear end and start making your people produce better cars? You're right, you shouldn't kill brands. Replace the brands you have ie. Saturn > Opel, Buick > Holden, maybe you'll have a chance. Wake up.

[Snowman]

Brands are hardly the issue with the Domestic automakers.

"can't seem to publish an article without quoting half a dozen of these weenies, with arcane titles from business schools nobody's ever heard of."

 

[Shemp]

Killing Olds didn't actually close down any dealers as they were part of Chev dealers.  I don't think there were any Oldsmobile only dealers so it was probably either kill Oldsmobile or Buick.

Lutz is my hero.  Calls it like he sees it without all the corporate BS.

You do have to give him credit for that.Who knows , in the U.S youcould probably be sued for spitting on the sidewalk.

[Allen]

They can't kill off brands , but their doing a great job killing off the companies

[Giant Dwarf]

Heh heh... no kidding Allen.  Maybe Bob figures if he holds on long enough, there won't be a parent company left to sue when all the divisions get flushed down the bankruptcy hole. 

I'm not buyin' what he's selling (and I mean that in every sense of the phrase  ).  As stated above, other brands have been killed off -- is there where he's learned that there are lawsuits as a result?  Who knows?  But look at it this way, if one or two brands (ie. Chevrolet, Cadillac and Pontiac) were set up to serve different target markets and actually excelled at what they do (the way, presumably the various Toyota brands do in Japan as Lutz referenced), rather than overlapping and sharing mediocre technology and engineering in many cases, they could really start to turn things around.  But hey... I don't have a business degree from a school he's never heard of, so my ideas have got to be worse than the analysts he hates so much.

[mrthompson]

Have another triple on the rocks, Lutz.   

[Mr. Meow]

Thats not the problem although Killing off brands makes sense in order to cut cost. You cut as many brands as you much like that still won't fix the issues. like I said thats isn't the Issue. The real Issue is, changing the publics peception on domestics. The only way to do that is with time and by building a quality brand, which they have yet to do. You only need one car to change the publics peception. So far I can't think of one car in the domestic line up thats doing that right now.
.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Actually, you would be surprised how many stand alone dealers there are in the US which sold only one division like Oldsmobile, or currently sell only Buick. I have to laugh when thinking about it but the franchise laws are different and in the US GM has run each division separately, which is kinda silly. Ditching Olds cost GM huge money way back in what, 2003-ish timeframe when the dealers launched a class action suit seeking compensation, etc. Big money. http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/08/31/for-gm-ford-getting-rid-of-brands-no-easy-task/

Here is an article from 2005 stating how many stand-alone single division dealers there are... As of this year, 198 of the stores handle Buick soley; 110 are Pontiac stand-alones; and 168 are GMC only. http://wdb.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_gms_combo_order/

GM is currently trying to move to set-up dealers like they are in Canada - Pontiac/Buick/GMC, Chevrolet/Cadillac, but with Saturn, Hummer, and Saab mostly separate thus far (which makes more sense if Saab is to be premium, but doesn't have much volume to support the franchise). http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_10/b3974065.htm

I never tire of hearing Lutz quotes.