What is the Point of Having the Chevrolet Brand?

[4WD]

It's all about packages & preferences between Chevy & GMC. It was my intention to buy a Colorado in 2015, but ended up with a Canyon due to fender design, wheel choices, and interior color availability (Cocoa Dune). At the time, Chevy didn't offer a tan leather interior, I didn't care for any of their wheel choices, and I preferred the GMC's grille and fenders to the Chevy's. This is GMs way of appealing to everyone, and I was glad I was offered the choice. At the moment, with GMC's rebate appearing on the website, where Chevy's doesn't, the GMC appears to be the better deal when you're talking about a base model crew cab pickup. But things change when you start adding options. They're going to get their money one way or the other, it just depends on your personal tastes. This sort of brand engineering has provided quite a few laughs over the years, especially when I worked at a Pontiac/Olds/GMC dealership. We had customers who believed that the GMC pickups were built better. I just smiled & nodded.

They also initially release features/packages on one line or the other … like the AT4 and/or the fancy tailgate …

 

[JHZR2]

Yeah. Kinda makes you wonder why there are Lexus and Infinity brands, doesn't it?

infiniti and Acura Id agree. Lexus offers some unique vehicles that aren’t badge engineered. The RX is similar to the highlander, but not the same. The Land Cruiser one and the ES are badge engineered and could go away. Too bad the GS is being discontinued.

I probably should have titled the post "what is the point of the GMC brand," since Chevy sells everything GMC sells, but GMC does not sell everything that Chevrolet sells. Chevy does offer a few token cars, where GMC does not sell cars. As far as I know, there is a Chevy version of every GMC truck.

I was going to say, this is probably more like it. I don’t know that any true “professional grade” features come in GMCs versus Chevy.

Id think they could either merge the Denali line with Cadilllac, or else offer a high end gas/diesel 3/4 ton type Cadillac pickup to go along side the Escalade, and cal it a day.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Aren't the Infinity/Lexus cars rwd,whereas the Nissan/Toyota equivalents fwd?

 

[Vern_in_IL]

GM can run two truck "brands" because of the explosion in the truck market. 50k+ trucks because Suberbian people buy them for play.

The Sedan market is dying, and honestly Toyota owns the low-mid range Sedan market. Still room for luxury Sedans.

All the buzz is in crossovers/suv's with AWD and flashy lights. See Ford's car lineup.

 

[Carmudgeon]

Aren't the Infinity/Lexus cars rwd,whereas the Nissan/Toyota equivalents fwd?

No hard and fast rules. Lexus' best selling crossover (and model) sits on a FWD platform, as does the top selling sedan. The discontinued compact hatchback and sedan were derived from the Prius, also a FWD platform. In the past, the RWD-based models carried Toyota badges in their home market.

Going by that criteria, their FWD-derived models outsold the RWD models by ~3-to-1 in the U.S. last year.

Infiniti's current lineup is all RWD based (after the Q30/MB A-class derivative quickly fizzled), but one could argue that the brand, and tech has been stagnating (VC engine aside). The number of RXs Lexus sold last year is just a few thousand shy of the entirety of Infiniti's U.S. sales.

The lesson isn't that specific technology drives these initiatives. It's utilizing the tech and other resources available to build a successful brand, and more profits.