REPORT: Chevrolet to take larger role at GM, account for 70% of total volume
Forget about more cowbell, for GM it's all about more Chevy -- at least, that's the situation for Chevrolet's new VP Brent Dewar. So far this year the Bowtie has posted more than 60% of GM's North American volume, but Dewar wants that to get to 70%. "As Pontiac goes away, Saturn goes away," Dewar said, "Chevrolet has to step up. The 70 percent target is the right kind of number we need to work on."
The real perspective on that challenge is in the numbers: GM's market share was 22.4 percent a year ago and is now 19.7 percent. However, while GM is out to increase overall market share it has half as many brands as it did last year: Pontiac and Saturn are dead, Saab and Hummer have found other homes.
For Dewar, the general (if slight) upward trend in sales, as well as the coming Cruze and the Volt, will help Chevy achieve that number. But beyond that we have no idea what he plans to use to breach the 70 percent figure, and we find it interesting that Chevy is trying to make up for more even with Cadillac's and Buick's imminent models. Nor is it clear how GM will maintain its overall numbers globally without Opel, but we look forward to finding out.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
dak 8:39AM (10/12/2009)
should this not have been the plan from the get go....(on a side note) plz GM dont delay the next gen. malibu for 6 months until 2013....it competes in one of the most competitive classes and i just dont think holding out will help it...2's...
p.s. 1st lol
Reply
elprogramer 1:48PM (10/12/2009)
You people are deranged, the bowtie is a classic. It's simple, iconic, and highly recognizable.
Mark 8:41AM (10/12/2009)
Can we get a new logo? The bowtie simply looks awful on most car designs today. It doesn't integrate well into the design, and looks very old and awkward.
Reply
David 8:59AM (10/12/2009)
Agreed - I blacked out the bowtie on my black Malibu for that reason. The matt fake gold Looks cheap. Took pains to black out the ones on the wheels and steering wheel too. Don't need a reminder how chintzy Chevy has been. Get a new logo for the new GM/Chevy.
Shipey 9:19AM (10/12/2009)
Yeah, I'm sure they'll give up a century of global brand recognition because you don't like it.
Mike Se7en 9:26AM (10/12/2009)
It's storied that Durant copied the bowtie design from a wallpaper pattern he saw in a hotel.
henrykrinkle 10:27AM (10/12/2009)
@Shipey :
GM gave up on Pontiac after over 80 years of history and Oldsmobile after almost a century. Revising the oudated, cheap-looking Chevy bowtie would be a pretty minor thing in comparison.
jv2k 11:54AM (10/12/2009)
Gm used to modify the bowtie one designs that didn't look right with it(they'd shrink it and color it blue) and cars like the camaro and Corvette had different badges all together(though the vette still does the camaro does not)
Gary 11:55AM (10/12/2009)
I don't see the point of harping about the logo. I don't see what's so bad about it; redesigning Oldsmobile's logo didn't save the brand.
BigWill 3:54PM (10/12/2009)
The problem isn't the bowtie; the problem is that Chevy thinks that sticking the Silverado's nose on cars is a great idea.
Avinash machado 8:47AM (10/12/2009)
Could this mean that might be doing away with GMC? That way Chevy Trucks might get more sales since the option of buying GMC trucks won't be available for GM loyalist truck buyers.
Reply
alex 8:58AM (10/12/2009)
doubt it. more likely the increase will be largely due to pontiac and saturn going away. if pontiac / saturn buyers remain with GM, they would likely get a chevy. and even if they don't remain with GM, it will boost chevy's share of GM's sales.
jamie 12:00PM (10/12/2009)
I see GMC merging with Chevrolet Trucks in the not too distant future. GM cannot continue to fork out the expenses (even though they claim they are minimal) to keep GMC as a going concern.
A better approach would be for the 1500 series trucks to be tagged as Chevrolet Silverados whereas the 2500 and 3500 series would move upscale as GMC "Sierra" Silverados. This eliminates all the costly duplication of effort (sales, distribution, advertising, etc) in the current business plan.
Jared 12:13PM (10/12/2009)
Not going to happen. GMC trucks have the highest margin of any GM vehicles. The average transaction price for a GMC truck is a couple thousand higher than for the equivalent Chevy truck.
BoneHeadOtto 8:58AM (10/12/2009)
um as saturn and pontiac go away the percentage of Chevys automatically go up... its just math. All they have to do is kill Cadillac or Buick and the goal is met !!! WOO HOO!! 70% chevy here we come!!!
Reply
gstylezprodigy 9:06AM (10/12/2009)
NEW EMBLEM DESIGN PLEASE
Reply
The Other Bob 9:07AM (10/12/2009)
"Nor is it clear how GM will maintain its overall numbers globally without Opel..."
They still have a big chunk of Opel, about the same as Ford has with Mazda. I would not act as if Opel is completely gone.
I wonder if they previosuly made Chevy cheaper-looking to "make room" for brands like Pontiac and Saturn. With those brands gone, Chevy will be more appealing. If you look at the interior of the new Equinox, it seems that this is the case.
Reply
WoodburyMan 9:23AM (10/12/2009)
They assume most Saturn and Pontiac customers are staying with GM... the same mistake they made when they killed Olds. You know what happens when we assume.... Pontiac buyers have been Pontiac buyers for a reason, since they did not like the Chevy Camaro and wanted a Firebird.. because they wanted a GrandAm/G6, not a Malibu, showing most dislike Chevy's offerings. Saturn owners also always went to Saturn because it was "a different kind of car company" and offered buyers a completely different experience vercus other GM dealers.. and will flock elsewhere other than GM.
Reply
Volk 4:43PM (10/12/2009)
Totally agree. They must be utterly stupid to make such assumptions. Killing a good brand one after another, what are they collectively smoking at their meetings? Year ago was looking to buy an Aurora or Intrigue, not the morons killed it. Ok, got a GP which still like but it is not the same as the Olds. Was looking forward buying G8, no luck again, they killed it. So, when now I get card from the GM dealers, "Oh, please stay with us, we have so many nicer choices that the Pontiac' - are you crazy expecting me to continue to be loyal to such stupid idiots? The only model you still haven't kill that attracts me is CTS-V but it costs a fortune, I'm not a Wagoner or Henderson who are getting millions for that very lousy management they do.
WoodburyMan 5:17PM (10/12/2009)
Totally agree. I was going to buy a new G8 GT this fall or winter, and as soon as Pontiac was axed I picked myself up a used 2005 GTO in the begining of summer since I knew the G8 GT's would be impossible to find.
Likewise, a few weeks later, I got a coworker to buy a Aura XE.. weeks later after he's raving how nice they are and everything... Saturn dies. I was looking forward to getting a Saturn vehicle as well as I'm not a Ford guy, Mopar's deisgn doesn't excite me, and I feel GM betrayed me so I was going to betray it... and I wanted American.. so Saturn would have been perfect if Penske deal went through.