I would like to change slightly the drift of this thread. During the 50's and 60's and early 70's, each auto division of GM had some unique characteristics. Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac all had their own engines and engine plants and engine design engineers. All the bodies for each division were assembled by Fisher Body Division, but each Fisher plant specialized on what they built. For examples, Fisher Plant #1 in Flint built Buick bodies and Chevrolet wagon bodies; Fisher Plant #2 in Flint built Chevrolet bodies; the Fisher Plant in Lansing built Oldsmobile bodies. I don't know, but I suspect that pattern was used throughout GM, more or less.
Starting in 1977, GM started putting whatever brand engine into whatever brand car. That is, you could buy an Oldsmobile and it would have a Chevrolet engine, etc. (I have a friend who experienced just that.)(GM, later, was forced to give him a check for $200).
My point is, over time, the brand identification was blurred or even lost since the difference between the brands became nothing more than interior and exterior trim. And what we have today are Chevy's, Buicks, and Caddy's with the same bodies, engines, and transmissions. The only real difference being exterior and interior trim.
Another action that helped cause the loss of identity was the requirement that all divisions had to move their headquarters to the GM building in Detroit.
A good business school case of how to take a company with five brands and slowly reduce them to one brand.
|