The new marketing boss for General Motors in North America talked extensively about the firm's product and marketing plans for the U.S. recently, but it's hard to tell what kind of affect they'll have here in Canada.GM is not planning to get rid of any of its divisions, Mark LaNeve said, but it is possible that some of them won't have as many models as they do now. That might mean some of the duplication that exists now in GM's stable, with variations on a them wearing as many as four nameplates, might come to an end. He also talked about getting closer to transaction pricing, to help them get away from rebates.But that may only be for the U.S., since GM of Canada has recently made considerable effort to go its own way with unique models and pricing attitudes. How these things works out in Canada remains to be seen, then, but it's nevertheless interesting to consider what LaNeve has in mind, particularly with regard to the different goals the brands will shoot for.''Far from being a liability,'' LaNeve said, ''we believe that GM's eight brands constitute one of our greatest assets, giving us market coverage no other carmaker can touch. If you sort through the data -- and we get pounds of it --what's clear is that strong brands win... and weak brands lose. It doesn't matter if a company carries one brand or a dozen. Strong brands win ... weak brands lose. End of story.''In order to make all of GM's brands strong, LaNeve said, the company has to do what it did with Cadillac, which is to ''make every one of our brands more focused, relevant, more competitive, and more profitable. Each brand has to stand for something very clear in the consumer's mind consistently, and provide a fair return on investment to both GM and our franchised dealer partners.''Each brand must have a distinct role in the GM portfolio, LaNeve said, with each one ''standing for something, and sticking to it for the long term.''On the subject of multiple variations on a product theme, LaNeve agreed with many of GM's critics when he said that ''we have also had numerous products in the past that have been indistinguishable from one division to the next, and that's hurt our brands and, more importantly, diminished the promise we made to consumers.''By way of example, he uses the Pontiac brand, which many ill-informed observers have said might be shut down. ''I'd rather have four great Pontiacs that are really distinct and stand for athletic design and performance, than seven or eight capable but undistinguishable Pontiacs that fail to fully deliver on the brand's promise.'' That's where GM seems to be going in the U.S., though again it may not work so well in Canada.GM's big picture includes ''one characteristic that all successful automobile companies share, which is that ''they're anchored by a great 'volume' brand at one end ... and a great 'premium' brand at the other.'' He mentioned Toyota and Lexus, VW and Audi, and ''in our case, Chevrolet and Cadillac.''Cadillac's renaissance was a critical step for GM, LaNeve said, adding that ''we'll continue to stoke the pipeline with leading-edge products that further define Cadillac as the Pinnacle of Performance Luxury.''As for the other end of the market, said LaNeve, ''Chevrolet has quietly been improving very nicely.'' With more than a dozen new products in the last 20 months in Canada, and more coming, ''we're strengthening Chevy's lineup with new cars that embody 'expressive value' and trucks that also deliver great value through a position steeped in 'rugged dependability'.''Chevy needs to have segment-leading products in every segment where it competes, LaNeve said, from Aveo to Corvette Z06, and from Equinox to Suburban.''
GM marketing boss talks about product plans All brands will survive; all models might not