GM to consolidate luxury brands

General Motors is one of the most diverse carmakers in the business, commanding up to eight brands in the U.S. alone. Officials now hope to harmonize all of these brands into smaller groups and in the process make marketing and buying the vehicles simpler. Last month GM sales Chief Mark LaNeve told reporters there were plans to launch new brand superstores that would sell all of GM’s brands under the same roof, and now CEO Rick Wagoner revealed that efforts are already underway to speed up the consolidation of the brands and their respective dealerships.

GM has already made significant progress merging dealers for its Buick, Pontiac and GMC, and the next phase will be to restructure the retail network for the Cadillac, Hummer and Saab brands. Speaking with Reuters, Wagoner said GM wants to “run a little harder at the luxury side.”

Wagoner admits many of GM’s products overlap but instead of reducing the number of models and brands, officials want to focus on restructuring the retail sales network around them. But the process is going to take time. GM's ongoing overhaul of the Buick, Pontiac and GMC sales network, for instance, has taken about five years and according to Wagoner planners are just at the beginning of a similar consolidation for the luxury brands.