The New GM?

As my luck holds, I caught the end of an interesting interview this morning on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street". The part of the interview I caught revealed the guest's view on the future of General Motors.

Here is the summary of what was said...

1. General Motors may have to declare bankruptcy soon.
2. A massive restructuring may have to occur as part of a bankruptcy plan.
3. That massive restructuring may have to include the elimination of all brands EXCEPT Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Saturn.
4. Rename the smaller restructured company Chevrolet Motor Company (or something similar as every other major car company has the name of the highest selling brand in it).

This could work, so let me have a little fun with it even though this guy mentioned Saturn as a survivor instead of Pontiac. In my hypothetical world...

• Buick - eliminate all models. Face it, there's really nothing special anymore about a Buick. I know, I've had 2.
• Cadillac - keep all models for now.
• Chevrolet - Keep most models. Given a choice between Impala and Malibu, keep the Malibu as it's a far superior vehicle to the Impala.
• GMC & Hummer - eliminate all models. In GMC's case, it's GM's most useless and redundant division anyway. There are no original models in that division's lineup.
• Pontiac - In my youth, the division's slogan was "We Build Excitement". That doesn't seem to be the case anymore in a division that builds lame cars with too many "G's" in them. Eliminate all models except the Vibe which could survive well as a Chevy or Saturn.
• Saturn - keep all models for now.

Again, these are just my ideas. I can't say that enough. The brass at GM have a much tougher job in the next year as they actually are the ones to make the decisions about each model's survival as well as the company's.