GM is trying to whittle down the number of dealerships in certain regions, said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing. "We've got a big effort going on in the major markets," LaNeve told Automotive News earlier this week. There’s no word on which cities would get the new superstores but according to an inside source the final locations are still being evaluated.
GM has already consolidated a number of its brands into single stores but their results have been mixed so far. Despite this, LaNeve claims the future is about size and structure.
One problem is the similarity between many of GM’s models, which will only become more evident if the vehicles are being sold alongside each other. Take for example the Buick Enclave, GMC Arcadia and Saturn Outlook line of crossovers (set to be joined this year by the Chevrolet Traverse), all of these vehicles are based on the same platform, which may cause either greater cannibalization of sales for GM or a further lack of interest from consumers. The other problem is the varying level service expected for each brand. A Cadillac customer would expect to be treated far differently than someone buying a Chevy, fox example, something GM will find hard to overcome in a single dealership.