Business Week magazine ran an article about which car brands should be "retired."
(We all have our nostalgia-tinged favorites. Mine's a yellow convertible with a black top that a neighbor drove in the mid-seventies. Turns out it was probably a 1974 Buick LeSabre. I loved it. The day he let me ride in the back seat was a crazy, hair-whipping thrill. My parent's station wagon was undeniably square in comparison.)
Drivers and dealers are happy with a range of brands--but when you look at business performance weaker brands are not worth keeping around. Of course, getting rid of a brand means ticking off customers and dealers and also--the fallout--layoffs and plant closings.
Plus, even if you kill off a brand, there is no guarantee those customers won't jump ship to another company. Just because I drive a Buick doesn't mean I'd still buy another GM car if they were discontinued, for example.
What do you think? What brands are the problem children? If you ran a car company, what would you discontinue?
According to the poll on the BW article page, the leading contender is Mercury, with 33% of people picking it. Hmmm...What would you pick?
--Beth
Comments