A Revolt is Brewing

pingflood · 11-08-2011, 03:20 AM

Originally posted by LaurenOE

In the business world there are other examples of parent companies staying out of the brand they bought or are owned by.

Toyota/Lexus
Nissan/Infiniti
Honda/Acura
GM/Chevy/GMC
Pepsi/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut

That is pretty funny. Lexus, Infinity, and Acura are just brands created by Toyota, Nissan and Honda to differentiate their "premium" vehicles. In some cases these vehicles were simply rebadged for other markets. For instance, the Honda Integra, Honda NSX, Honda Legend were/are sold as Acura elsewhere -- simple "badge engineering". So that would equate to putting a Pentax badge on a Ricoh camera...

As for GM, they took several other manufacturers and started selling the same vehicles with very minor differences under the different badges. GMC Yukon / Chevy Tahoe, Buick Roadmaster / Chevy Caprice, etc etc. They also killed Plymouth and Pontiac after turning them into completely generic GM vehicles. Not sure that is the analogy you are looking for here.

RioRico · 11-08-2011, 05:09 AM

Originally posted by pingflood

As for GM ... They also killed Plymouth and Pontiac after turning them into completely generic GM vehicles.

You're right overall, but wrong here: Plymouth was a brand of Chrysler, not GM. I forget -- along with Pontiac, has GM killed-off Buick and/or Olds yet?

Brands die. Brands are sold-off, cut-out, rebranded, whatever. If you own the brand you can do what you want with it.

GM (and Ford and Chrysler, I think) are in a peculiar position as monster corporations. Long ago, the major USA automakers decided during an economic downturn that they didn't want to go bankrupt with unsold inventory. So they forced their dealers to buy the cars rather than front them for the carmakers. The agreement gave the dealers a stake in the business and a bit of say over it. So the carmakers can't just shut-down a losing brand. They must buy-out the dealer networks. Ouch. Quitting is expensive here.

Carmakers also insisted on separate health/benefit plans rather than a 'socialist' national healthcare system. And it's those bennies that kill them -- and the lack of bennies that kills the uninsured. I think we see The Law Of Unintended Consequences at work.

pingflood · 11-08-2011, 06:56 AM

Originally posted by RioRico

You're right overall, but wrong here: Plymouth was a brand of Chrysler, not GM. I forget -- along with Pontiac, has GM killed-off Buick and/or Olds yet?

You're right, I meant to put Olds, not Chrysler -- I know better, really.

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11-08-2011, 03:20 AM	#46
pingflood Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Borås, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,169	Originally posted by LaurenOE In the business world there are other examples of parent companies staying out of the brand they bought or are owned by. Toyota/Lexus Nissan/Infiniti Honda/Acura GM/Chevy/GMC Pepsi/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut That is pretty funny. Lexus, Infinity, and Acura are just brands created by Toyota, Nissan and Honda to differentiate their "premium" vehicles. In some cases these vehicles were simply rebadged for other markets. For instance, the Honda Integra, Honda NSX, Honda Legend were/are sold as Acura elsewhere -- simple "badge engineering". So that would equate to putting a Pentax badge on a Ricoh camera... As for GM, they took several other manufacturers and started selling the same vehicles with very minor differences under the different badges. GMC Yukon / Chevy Tahoe, Buick Roadmaster / Chevy Caprice, etc etc. They also killed Plymouth and Pontiac after turning them into completely generic GM vehicles. Not sure that is the analogy you are looking for here.

11-08-2011, 05:09 AM	#47
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	Originally posted by pingflood As for GM ... They also killed Plymouth and Pontiac after turning them into completely generic GM vehicles. You're right overall, but wrong here: Plymouth was a brand of Chrysler, not GM. I forget -- along with Pontiac, has GM killed-off Buick and/or Olds yet? Brands die. Brands are sold-off, cut-out, rebranded, whatever. If you own the brand you can do what you want with it. GM (and Ford and Chrysler, I think) are in a peculiar position as monster corporations. Long ago, the major USA automakers decided during an economic downturn that they didn't want to go bankrupt with unsold inventory. So they forced their dealers to buy the cars rather than front them for the carmakers. The agreement gave the dealers a stake in the business and a bit of say over it. So the carmakers can't just shut-down a losing brand. They must buy-out the dealer networks. Ouch. Quitting is expensive here. Carmakers also insisted on separate health/benefit plans rather than a 'socialist' national healthcare system. And it's those bennies that kill them -- and the lack of bennies that kills the uninsured. I think we see The Law Of Unintended Consequences at work.

11-08-2011, 06:56 AM	#48
pingflood Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Borås, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,169	Originally posted by RioRico You're right overall, but wrong here: Plymouth was a brand of Chrysler, not GM. I forget -- along with Pontiac, has GM killed-off Buick and/or Olds yet? You're right, I meant to put Olds, not Chrysler -- I know better, really.