General Motors Death Watch 173: Eight into Four Does Not Go
GM is re-organizing its corporate structure. It’s putting its eight brands into four divisions under four car czarettes, in a three-three-one-one configuration. For those of you who can’t guess which GM brand will go with which (as there’s no neat, logical way to make these groupings), it’s Cadillac, Hummer and Saab; Buick, Pontiac and GMC; and Saturn and Chevy on their lonesome. “We are further streamlining the organization,” GM’s President of North America announced. “To reduce complexity, align resources to improve the consumer experience and improve bottom line business results.” It’s a deeply misguided maneuver.