Olds Is Dead...another TACH'ers thoughts

14 December 2000

Its not often that a 103 year old brand dies, so here is my two cents.  GM
in their infinite wisdom decided to cut off a brand that actually had the
potential to turn the corner if they let it ride out a few more years, or if
they had pursued some different options.  Lets face it folks, if any
division should have been canned, it is Buick, not Olds.  What is being
offered by Buick that is compelling to the general population?  The
LeSabre??  My image of the LeSabre is of it veering left and right on the
road because the blue hair lady driving it can't see over the dashboard,
much less handle its excessive size.  And whats up with the Rendezvous - do
you think anyone is going to buy that thing (look at the Aztec, which is
only being driven by GM employees)?  The products that Olds was producing
were getting a lot of praise from the press and clearly were better than the
Olds of old.  In fact, the Intrigue was actually BEATING the Japanese cars
in some of the comparison tests published by C&D, R&T, etc., and this was
not an accident.

There have been opportunities for GM to save Olds, they just can't seem to
figure out how to run the place (so many executives, so little decision
making).  Does any one remember when Olds went to one-price selling?  Olds
and Saturn could have been combined into one division, used the Saturn name
(since it actually had some positive equity at the time), and both would
have been much better off.  Olds would have benefited from Saturn's
excellent customer sales and service reputation, and Saturn would have
benefited from actually having a product lineup (which they are feverishly
trying to develop now, at a cost which exceeds the $3 bil GM put into Olds
over the past few years).  Saturn could have had this lineup - SL/SC/SW,
Alero, Intrigue (instead of the LS), Bravada (although this is not the best
fit considering its price), Silhouette, and the Aurora could have been
handed over to Cadillac to be their entry level model rather than the Catera
(which hasn't set the world on fire, either).

I agree with an earlier e-mail which hints at the need for GM to do some
platform rationalization.  GM has spent tons of research money trying to
analyze consumer behavior and segment the market.  For example, the midsize
car market is one segment for most manufacturers, while for GM, they said it
was four (which just happens to match the number of their divisions that
sell a midsize sedan).  Is it any wonder why they still have 7 divisions to
support?  Most customers are unable to differentiate between GMs divisions
anyway, unless its Cadillac or Saturn.  I have to admit, I am an import
buyer, and will continue to be an import buyer until American cars really
change, but I think Olds was starting to show some promise, and GM made the
wrong decision.
 Robert A.