Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising, Cadillac, GM, HUMMER, Saab
GM's retail consolidation will form "luxury superstores"
Among the many ills plaguing automakers, and General Motors in particular, is an excessive amount of dealers selling their wares through competing outlets. GM has decided to rectify the matter by combining its top three "luxury" marques – Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab – into megastores that aim to provide consumers with a variety of choice without watering down each brand's distinct niche.
The plan involves consolidating the 1,400 Cadillac dealerships with the 238 Saab and 170 HUMMER outlets to form a one-stop shop for all things at the high-end of the General's spectrum. There have already been a few cases where GM has helped larger dealers buyout Mom and Pop operations that weren't willing to expand or were looking to get out of the retail game entirely. While the move has the potential to make it easier for consumers to get everything they want under one roof, the amount of capital GM might need to enable larger to dealerships to consume their smaller competitors could prove to be pricey. Plus, it's going to take a top-notch interior designer to combine the Quonset hut theme of HUMMER with the Kenny G stylings of Saab into a cohesive environment.
[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Steve Fox 5:04PM (3/24/2008)
I guess this means GM is gonna have to buy a luxury brand, because they sure don't have any luxury products to sell at the moment. Unless, of course, you are over 90 years old and still remember when Cadillac was a luxury brand...
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The Other Bob 5:25PM (3/24/2008)
Only in your world is Cadillac not luxury. Only Rolls good enough for you?
mammy 5:08PM (3/24/2008)
sounds cool, but how nice is it going to be? Like a BMW or the regular plastic crap that GM always uses?
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David 5:36PM (3/24/2008)
I was recently in a friends 2008 BMW 330i and I can honestly say that the interior, although nice, was not as sleek and as nicely laid out and put together as the new 2008 CTS. Around Silicon Valley, BMWs are a dime a dozen. The new Caddy stands out and demands worthwhile attention. Nice job, GM.
BowserUSC 5:10PM (3/24/2008)
I've never considered Saab a luxury brand. Don't get me wrong, my family has owned two (although before GM destroyed the brand) so I'm not getting down on Saab, but they're definitely not luxury.
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MemphisNET 6:55PM (3/24/2008)
I'd agree, giving it 'Premium' status over luxury.
psarhjinian 5:15PM (3/24/2008)
Queensway Saturn/Saab/Hummer (Toronto, Ontario) does exactly this (without Cadillac, mind you). The space is well-segmented and mantains appropriate look-and-feel. If GM hadn't thoroughly destroyed the Saab brand I say this was insane, but with the core Saab buyer a rare sight, this makes some sense.
I don't know if I quite agree with the pairing, though. I think it'd make more sense to do:
* Chevy/GMC/Pontiac/Buick
* Saab/Saturn
...and have Hummer, Cadillac and the Corvette as optional premium franchises available to either group.
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Paul P. 5:26PM (3/24/2008)
Nah, you can't put Corvette and Cadillac together, or else how would they sell any XLR's? ;-)
psarhjinian 5:31PM (3/24/2008)
Do they sell XLRs now?
montoym 5:57PM (3/24/2008)
They have already merged Pontiac, Buick, and GMC into single dealerships. It doesn't make sense to lump Chevy in with those three though since Chevy offers a full lineup already. The others were merged since each sells something the others don't.
psarhjinian 6:12PM (3/24/2008)
@monotym,
The idea behind lumping Chevy in with P/B/GMC would be to reduce the amount of crossover between brands forcibly. There's no reason for cars like the Cobalt coupe, G6 sedan, Traverse or Lacrosse to exist except to give dealers something to sell. Restructure the franchises to allow any dealer to sell any product thand that requirement largely goes away, leaving Chevy the mainstream, Pontiac sports, Buick near-lux and GMC trucks.
Saab and Saturn (in it's current "Opel West" form) are sufficiently different that they warrant their own dealership. Combining the two prevents Saturn from stepping on Saab's lower-end models.
dcwf 5:16PM (3/24/2008)
Having more Saab service departments should make it more marketable, no? New motto: "No matter where you break down, we'll be there for you."
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FThorn 5:31PM (3/24/2008)
This move makes sense.
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TriShield 5:45PM (3/24/2008)
Old news, these GM template luxury dealerships have been around for almost ten years now. There has been one in Sioux Falls South Dakota where I used to live forever.
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Ultimo Dragon 5:14PM (3/25/2008)
That's more likely due to coincidence than to a concerted effort to house GM brands together, especially toward the high end. I'd bet that your example came about from a dealer buyout.
Some dealership shuffling in Montgomery, AL years ago has lead to a new Cadillac/Hummer/Buick dealership, all in a beautiful new showroom. It was probably a buyout situation, but it's precisely the situation that GM is looking for.
Disgruntled Goat 6:19PM (3/24/2008)
I never considered Saab to be a luxury brand, and I REALLY never considered HUMMER to be a luxury make. An H2 is basically the anti-luxury car isn't it? Seemed that way when I rode in one. I thought a luxury car would have to be luxurious but I guess today expensive=luxury? Confusing. So does that mean International is a luxury brand?
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stang_fan 6:36PM (3/24/2008)
I agree with the comments of a few other posters: Saab, a luxury brand? I guess, considering how easily and often they break down it requires a pretty decent salary to own a Saab. But GM seems to have trouble deciding whether or not Saabs should have V6 power....while other luxury brands are powering their cars with V8s and V10s.
BTW, Cadillac and Saab have pretty much merged, Hummer... not so much. At least here in Memphis the Hummer dealer, who also sells GMC and Pontiac/Buicks, will be pissed if he has to give up his Hummer franchise.
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C 6:37PM (3/24/2008)
The H2 has some of the interior of an Escalade, but really it's not a luxury vehicle. It's a huge truck with bad gas mileage, but I would love to have a yellow one.
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MajorGeek 8:06PM (3/24/2008)
Love mine, pricing a new one now because the 08 has so much more over the 07. I really think it is closer to the luxury market seeing the new one, but I do beat on it pretty good. I towed a Grand National home with it for 5 hours no problem, drag and launch my jet skis, off road occasionally and just do silly stuff most vehicles cant when I get a chance. Just a ton of fun, or is it 6 tons of fun ;)
P.S as in all Hummer threads, I need to remind you I get 12.5 MPG on par with most large pickup trucks and better then some, I had a Hemi Ram that pulled 11.7 and I heard the Nissan and Toyota monsters are in the 10-12 range.
C 9:52PM (3/25/2008)
I know, there are some guys who own some 2's and love them. I've also got a relative with a Hemi MegaCab Ram and we got 13 mpg on the Interstate (but that's the Interstate not normal driving conditions).