GM says it can make up the loss of 4 brands

• Source: Global Times
• [11:37 July 24 2009]
• Comments

Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors Co's executive director of global market and industry analysis said Wednesday the company has decided to focus on the Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Buick brands to make up for lost retail sales.

GM is packing up the Pontiac, and selling Saab, Saturn and Hummer as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.

The automaker sold about 143,000 Pontiacs, Hummers, Saabs and Saturns in the first half of 2009, about 15 percent of its total sales.

DiGiovanni said Chevrolet should be able to capture Pontiac buyers, and Chevrolet, Buick and GMC should be able to snag Saturn buyers.

With the expanding of Chevrolet and Buick model lineups, GM will pick up a lot of the lost sales from Pontiac and Saturn, he said, adding the company was going to expand the Chevrolet portfolio, and produce more models for Buick.

DiGiovanni said as GM has fewer brands, it would be able to roll out new models faster than it had in the past, and it would have more marketing dollars to spend promoting them.

Agencies and Shi Jierui contributed to this story