Checking In On The GM Bazaar

Day by day we are learning a little bit more about the direction that General Motors is taking, moves being made to return the company to profitability at some future date. Already, Pontiac has been given the ax as soon will Saturn, Saab and Hummer, the latter three likely to be sold off or shut down.

But, these brands aren’t the only ones in the news nor do they tell a whole lot about which models may go away regardless of the fate of a particular brand. Rumors, speculations, and hints being made by GM itself are revealing what few people have come to accept: when all is said and done, GM will be a much smaller company, likely trailing Toyota and Ford in US sales and finding itself much further down the global pecking order.

Among the “other” GM stories of note include the following:

• GM’s business relationship with Toyota — NUMMI or New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. — will continue although it does mean the end of the line for the Pontiac Vibe.  GM says that the Vibe will be discontinued when Pontiac closes up at the end of 2010, but a new, not yet disclosed model will be sold by one of GM’s surviving divisions which are Cadillac, Buick, GMC and Chevrolet. Read more….

• Holden, which is GM’s Australian brand, will suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in losses with the demise of the Pontiac G8 sedan. Earlier this year, Holden learned that GM would not import the Holden Ute to the United States a car truck that was to be sold as the Pontiac G8 ST. With Holden facing steep losses and likely layoffs, will GM decide that Chevrolet would be the next beneficiary of the Holden Commodore based G8 or will GM simply continue with the Chevy Impala as its flagship sedan? Read more….

• Opel will probably continue to operate as GM’s top European brand, selling Opels and Vauxhalls throughout its many markets. However, there is a distinct possibility that a significant interest in Opel may go to the highest bidder as Magna International and Fiat seek to get a share of the German automaker. Read more….

• Asia rising? One of the few bright spots for GM is its Asian operations thanks mostly to continued strong demand for its Buick models in China. In addition, the automaker has several partnerships in China which means the company is able to sell more than one million cars annually in the world’s most populace nation. No word yet on GM Daewoo, the automaker’s financially troubled Korean arm. With the Pontiac G3 coming to a quick end, Daewoo will still have the Chevy Aveo to fall back on. Read more….

Of course, additional GM subsidiaries could also find themselves being sold off, especially if cash flush buyers step forward to acquire control or at least a significant investment in that business. AC Delco remains an attractive unit for any company, the aftermarket and replacement parts arm of GM.  OnStar provides navigation and communications technology for more than six million GM drivers while GMAC could eventually be offloaded completely to Cerberus who bought controlling stake in GM’s financing unit in 2006.

So if you have the money to invest (or burn) and are so inclined to shop at the GM bazaar, then why not submit your bid while the bidding is in your favor?