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GM question
I like to think that I am pretty knowledgeable about the automotive industry and General Motors. However, I am no expert. The other day a question sprung up in my mind and I don't think I've seen it brought anywhere in the automotive press, blogs, etc. So I am going to throw it up here and see what kind of traction it generates.
The scenario is this: Let's imagine that "Old GM" never took on any expansion brands over the course of its history. By that I mean Saturn, Hummer, Saab, and even Geo. Let's imagine that all these years they had just remained Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Olds, Cadillac and GMC...call them the Classic 6 (not counting LaSalle or Oakland).
The question is this: If GM never took on the above expansion brands and remained with just the Classic 6 brands, would they have stayed profitable? Would they have been able to avoid bankruptcy/government assistance?
How was GM doing before they took on the first of these expansion brands? It can be argued that if GM never had the expansion brands, they would have had more resources available to the Classic 6 for product development, marketing, etc. Perhaps Olds would have survived. But say if they still faced bankruptcy, maybe we would have lost only one Classic brand rather than two.
What are your thoughts?
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John
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