BEIJING – Do the Chinese understand brands better than the U.S.? In some ways, yes. The Chinese interest in American brands, it is hoped, will help preserve a few. But one good thing; it is China that helped save Buick. The success of General Motors’ Buick in China was soMORE HERE
We came across the below statistics from the website www.gm-volt.com. It turns out that the dead brands of General Motors accounted for one in six sales at the ailing U.S. automaker. Writes their editorial: Looking ahead, GM has a couple big issues. For starters, Pontiac sold 30,000 odd cars lastMORE HERE
General Motors thinks it has killed off the Pontiac. And what a brilliant move that is. Let’s see, you need to sell MORE cars cause your company is broke, and you cut out yet one more product line? And then cut out even more dealers? Thankfully, though, the brand willMORE HERE
We know that CAFE fuel standards are the culprit in killing off bigger cars in the U.S., but its manufacturers who are responsible for killing off the word STATION WAGON in their marketing. And so, brands like Volvo and Volkswagen now own the upper middle class consumer. We found aMORE HERE
DETROIT – Not that I really like Pontiacs these days. They’ve not been interesting for a long time. But now, there are serious discussions that GM will announce that Pontiac will be shut down as a brand. Frankly, it doesn’t make sense. If Pontiac sales stink, then so do Buick.MORE HERE
DETROIT – No brand is safe now and General Motors (NYSE: GM) is indeed in a mess. All the brands are damaged. It should not be this way. All of them lost sight of what their mission was in GM. You cannot have multiple platforms which cost you money andMORE HERE
DALLAS – Will Saturn become a retailer? Very interesting way for the brand to survive. An investor group that includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners, LLC, working together with a number of Saturn retailers, announced today that it has approached General Motors about buying and operating the principal assetsMORE HERE
DETROIT – We found the rather spectacular website Artificial Owl with some hauntingly beautiful photos of Detroit’s empty Union Station. The site is all about photos of abandoned places. I cannot help but think of the parallels between Detroit’s waste of this great building, and the waste that is theMORE HERE
IRVINE, Calif. – BMW is the coolest car brand in America. Or so says Kelley Blue Book, which has just released current winners of their 2009 Brand Image Awards. And Cadillac? Boy do Americans like the interiors. The Brand Image Awards are presented to the top brands in 10 categories,MORE HERE
A quick thought. What happened to diversified car companies. The nation misses diversified products, though they are sold by foreign companies, particularly Asian companies, all at the same time. The companies were more interesting when: Ford made Fordson (and Ford) Tractors, Tri-Motors and Philco Televisions. Kingsford charcoal was an interestingMORE HERE