General Motors filed for bankruptcy. Too bad for my hometown of Detroit, but maybe it needed to happen. The GM name has come to represent an overgrown, overly complex conglomerate that expanded into everything from home mortgages to aerospace to computer programming. It’s hard to run a great company when you’re tangled up in too many businesses. But there is still great potential for the company’s strongest brands.
At the heart of this company you’ll find nameplates like Cadillac and Chevy. Chevrolet alone accounted for half of all GM sales last year. It sold 10 times as many cars as the company’s other brands. (100 times Hummer.) All by itself, Chevy would be among the world’s largest car companies and one of the best loved.
Here’s a thought for my friends working at GM and their ad agencies: Why not change the company name to Chevrolet? Most other car companies are named for their primary car line. This includes Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, VW and many others. Most of these brands have high-end lines, like Lincoln, Lexus, Infinity and Audi – Chevrolet can do the same with Cadillac. The change would signal that the company was serious about focusing on its core brands and products. And that’s the right move for the company and for its customers.
Note: For more about GM’s brand, check out my interview on Fox Business here: GM Brand
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June 12, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Mariscia
That would a great idea to rename the company Chevrolet but before GM could that they would need to decide what do they want the Chevrolet brand to represent. Right now Chevy has a car for every market segment ranging from the budget Aveo to the expensive Corvette. Maybe a narrower segmentation could differentiate them from the other car brands?
June 12, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Kelly
Mariscia, I agree that they have some work to do to pare down the line. Toyota does a good job of having a line that is broad enough to serve different needs while feeling like it’s cohesive.
June 19, 2009 at 3:01 pm
mrsmilne
Hey Kelly,
Interesting idea on the name change—but I am afraid that GM’s problem runs far deeper than that. The cars look like the executives, slow, bloated and boring—both feel as if they are peddling a vision from the 1950′s. Until GM undergoes a radical visionary shakeup of personnel, maybe a more appropriate name would be Mediocre or Almost.
In the meantime, I think GM would do well to adopt the AA saying of “It’s my best thinking that got me here” and pray for an intervention.
Missed you at Modern Richmond. Next time.
Cheers.
Susan
June 19, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Kelly
Susan,
Thanks for the comment. As you’ll see from my Fox interview linked at the end of the story, I agree that GM’s problems are less about marketing and more about getting back to the basics of selling great cars.
I’m sorry I missed the Modern Richmond event. I was stuck in New York. I hope to make the next one.
Kelly