poita
19th February 2009, 04:09 PM
http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/News/BLOG:+Brands+on+life+support.html?open&template=domWheels&pagenum=2&fullarticle=yes
Where is General Norman Schwarzkopf when you need him? Someone needs to crank up another Desert Storm - Hummer’s great marketing tool.
Hummer has been on the market for some time now, with General Motors keen to get some cash from a source other than the US taxpayers. With sales plummeting to fewer than 38,000 sales in 2008 – a plunge of 43 percent – Hummer is hardly a prime buy in a soft market where fuel prices have had a massive impact. The greenhouse gas debate has turned it into an automotive dead man walking.
GM chief executive Rick Wagoner said this week his company was talking with potential buyers of Hummer. One is a Chinese company.
If no sale is forthcoming, the Hummer brand would be swiftly wound down after March 31, which is the next deadline GM faces in its fight to convince Washington that it can survive.
SsangYong Motor Company, South Korea’s fourth largest car company, went into receivership last month after posting a US $75.42 million loss.
Saab is another GM chattel with a For Sale sign out front. Saab has been a technologically interesting car maker but these days, under GM’s heavy handed control, is a bit player on the world stage with sales off 25 per cent last year to a sad 93,000 units.
The possible sale of Saab has been a major discussion point in Sweden where it rates up there with fellow icons Abba, Britt Ekland, Ikea and Volvo.
GM’s Wagoner has indicated the company is in talks with the Swedish Government over financial support for Saab. But few among Swedes, a pragmatic lot, want the Swedish Government to buy it.
Wagoner said that if the government doesn’t contribute to saving the niche brand, Saab would face bankruptcy.
Some pundits are musing about a possible sale to Tata. Saab's aircraft division has good contacts with Tata. Saab's JAS Gripen multi-role fighter is among possibilities being considered for the Indian Air Force; if chosen, Tata will build it.
It’s a tough time for both Swedish car companies.
Having flogged off Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata of India, Ford is also keen to offload Volvo.
The Geely company of China has been recently linked to Volvo. It deserves better.
While Volvo has plenty going for it, it’s unlikely that Ford would get anything like the US$6.4 billion it paid for the Swede in 1999. Ford has reportedly also approached Chery Automobile Co. and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co.
Volvo went from a global high of 458,000 sales in 2007 to the worst performance in 12 years in 2008 - 374,297 cars, a slide of 18.3 per cent. The biggest declines were in the US and the Swedish markets. The UK and China actually improved slightly.
Of course there are no guarantees that GM, Chrysler LLC and Ford – the Detroit majors - will emerge from the financial tsunami intact.
At best some brands and lines will have to be euthanised. Between them, GM, Ford and Chrysler sell 112 different car and truck models through 15 brands in the US. The proliferation of models and duplication of brands line-ups are some of the reason the American giants are losing so much money as vehicle sales dive to their lowest point in 15 years.
If the Big Three were to fail, what then of the Australian subsidiaries? Jeep-Dodge-Chrysler is a relatively minor player here, but Holden and Ford have an illustrious history and were second and third on the sales totem last year. Would anyone be interested in buying the Australian Holden and Ford operations?
Let’s hope it never happens but we are in a period of turmoil unprecedented since the 1930s. Big companies can fail: think Ansett, Lehman Brothers, Pan Am, Opes Prime, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Waterford Wedgewood, Enron, Polaroid, Northern Rock, Commodore Computers…
Car brands that no longer exist include Oldsmobile, Studebaker, Tucker, DeLorean, Plymouth, AMC, Morris, Austin, Lagonda, Wolseley…
Does the world have too many car brands? The chances are it will have fewer car makers in the coming few years.
Which ones do you think are endangered?
Will any wither and die without much in the way of consumer regret?
Which of the feeble ones must be saved at almost any cost?
Where is General Norman Schwarzkopf when you need him? Someone needs to crank up another Desert Storm - Hummer’s great marketing tool.
Hummer has been on the market for some time now, with General Motors keen to get some cash from a source other than the US taxpayers. With sales plummeting to fewer than 38,000 sales in 2008 – a plunge of 43 percent – Hummer is hardly a prime buy in a soft market where fuel prices have had a massive impact. The greenhouse gas debate has turned it into an automotive dead man walking.
GM chief executive Rick Wagoner said this week his company was talking with potential buyers of Hummer. One is a Chinese company.
If no sale is forthcoming, the Hummer brand would be swiftly wound down after March 31, which is the next deadline GM faces in its fight to convince Washington that it can survive.
SsangYong Motor Company, South Korea’s fourth largest car company, went into receivership last month after posting a US $75.42 million loss.
Saab is another GM chattel with a For Sale sign out front. Saab has been a technologically interesting car maker but these days, under GM’s heavy handed control, is a bit player on the world stage with sales off 25 per cent last year to a sad 93,000 units.
The possible sale of Saab has been a major discussion point in Sweden where it rates up there with fellow icons Abba, Britt Ekland, Ikea and Volvo.
GM’s Wagoner has indicated the company is in talks with the Swedish Government over financial support for Saab. But few among Swedes, a pragmatic lot, want the Swedish Government to buy it.
Wagoner said that if the government doesn’t contribute to saving the niche brand, Saab would face bankruptcy.
Some pundits are musing about a possible sale to Tata. Saab's aircraft division has good contacts with Tata. Saab's JAS Gripen multi-role fighter is among possibilities being considered for the Indian Air Force; if chosen, Tata will build it.
It’s a tough time for both Swedish car companies.
Having flogged off Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata of India, Ford is also keen to offload Volvo.
The Geely company of China has been recently linked to Volvo. It deserves better.
While Volvo has plenty going for it, it’s unlikely that Ford would get anything like the US$6.4 billion it paid for the Swede in 1999. Ford has reportedly also approached Chery Automobile Co. and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co.
Volvo went from a global high of 458,000 sales in 2007 to the worst performance in 12 years in 2008 - 374,297 cars, a slide of 18.3 per cent. The biggest declines were in the US and the Swedish markets. The UK and China actually improved slightly.
Of course there are no guarantees that GM, Chrysler LLC and Ford – the Detroit majors - will emerge from the financial tsunami intact.
At best some brands and lines will have to be euthanised. Between them, GM, Ford and Chrysler sell 112 different car and truck models through 15 brands in the US. The proliferation of models and duplication of brands line-ups are some of the reason the American giants are losing so much money as vehicle sales dive to their lowest point in 15 years.
If the Big Three were to fail, what then of the Australian subsidiaries? Jeep-Dodge-Chrysler is a relatively minor player here, but Holden and Ford have an illustrious history and were second and third on the sales totem last year. Would anyone be interested in buying the Australian Holden and Ford operations?
Let’s hope it never happens but we are in a period of turmoil unprecedented since the 1930s. Big companies can fail: think Ansett, Lehman Brothers, Pan Am, Opes Prime, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Waterford Wedgewood, Enron, Polaroid, Northern Rock, Commodore Computers…
Car brands that no longer exist include Oldsmobile, Studebaker, Tucker, DeLorean, Plymouth, AMC, Morris, Austin, Lagonda, Wolseley…
Does the world have too many car brands? The chances are it will have fewer car makers in the coming few years.
Which ones do you think are endangered?
Will any wither and die without much in the way of consumer regret?
Which of the feeble ones must be saved at almost any cost?