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Originally Posted by ChrisJericho
Additionally I think Ford and GM have the problem that they make the same undesirable vehicle three times over. For example the Ford Fusion = Mercury Milan = Lincoln MKZ. None of these renditions of the car are attractive, why are they being made in triplicate? At the very least eliminate the Mercury brand.
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I think this is one of the biggest problems GM is facing. They have too many brands and far too many dealers. All they really need is Chevy and Cadillac, If they didn't have to badge engineer vehicles for Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer they could put more resources into the handful of vehicles they do make. I read GM has a total of about 7,000 dealers in the U.S. Toyota has about 1,600. Earlier this year GM had about 21% market share, Toyota had 17%. They have more than 4x as many dealers selling 20% more product. And yet GM can't just yank franchises under most states franchise laws, they either have to buy out the franchise or hope the dealer goes under on its own. Getting rid of Oldsmobile cost GM billions just in legal fees and buying out franchises. They need to trim down their dealer base but it is almost impossible.