Now
Oldsmobile is on the way out, General Motors will gradually remove models in other
divisions that compete with each other, Automotive News reported.
Mid-sized Pontiacs and Buicks would first come under scrutiny, the newspaper
added.
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Automotive News said that GM introduced a channel strategy for dealers in 1996
which, among other things, allows Cadillac and Chevrolet to operate as stand-alone
sites while combining Buick, Pontiac and GMC.
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Strategic
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Now a sufficient number of dealers sell both Buick and Pontiac, ‘overlapping’
models can be culled, the newspaper said.
"You’ll see that," GM North America president Ron Zarrella told
Automotive News. "We’ve got too many mid-sized cars today. You look
at our mid-sized car lineup and we have more than we need."
He added that the model range will be reduced as the next generations arrive.
Automotive News said that one such candidate was the Buick Regal and Century
platform shared with the Pontiac Grand Prix and scheduled for redesign in 2003
or 2004.
Citing GM officials, the newspaper said that the channel strategy allows the
company to reduce its model range without shutting another division when Oldsmobile
is finally phased out in the next few years.
But remaining sole-franchise Buick dealers, already unhappy about a limited
five-model product lineup, will come under more pressure as a result, Automotive
News said.
The newspaper quoted Zarrella as saying that GM is reducing its range from
105 models for the 1994-95 model years to 65 to 70.
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